Karthik shines again as Tamil Nadu enter final

Chasing 304 to win, the India A batsmen got their team off to a good start with Mayank Agarwal and Mandeep Singh scoring 31 runs in the first three overs before Mayank was out for 12. Mandeep, in the company of Ambati Rayudu steadied the ship and saw through the field restriction overs without any further hiccups. Rayudu departed for 21 after he was caught and bowled off the bowling of Sai Kishore. 

Mumbai Indians’ all-rounder Krunal Pandya, who had a brilliant Vijay Hazare Trophy, kept his team in the hunt with some sensible batting. Mandeep reached his 50 off 51 balls and Krunal was dismissed soon after for 36. Manoj Tiwary lost his wicket against the run of play, thanks a brilliant piece of fielding by Tamil Nadu skipper Vijay Shankar. Rishabh Pant followed Tiwary back to the pavilion in quick time and the new batsman Deepak Hooda threatened to take the game away from Tamil Nadu. 

Hooda was dismissed by Sai Kishore for a 23-ball 26 and in the next five overs, India A lost their next 4 wickets for just 16 runs as they were bundled out for just 230. Mandeep was the last wicket to fall for 97. 

Earlier, Tamil Nadu managed to post 303/6. Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur made some early inroads by dismissing both the Tamil Nadu openers in the ninth over. N Jagadeesan (71), in the company of Karthik rebuilt the innings and took Tamil Nadu to a decent position.

Harbhajan Singh had yet another forgettable match as he conceded 57 runs for just one wicket in his 8 overs and with the bat, he was dismissed for a second-ball duck. The finals will be played at the same venue a couple on March 29. 

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 303/6 (Dinesh Karthik 93, N Jagadeesan 71, Shardul Thakur 3/49) beat India A 230 in 44.4 overs (Mandeep Singh 97, Sai Kishore 3/39, Rahil Shah 3/37) by 73 runs.