The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : TN in last four

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Friday, Sep 14, 2007
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TN in last four

Principal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The three-day wait ended finally on a happy note for Tamil Nadu. With the first three days’ play having to be abandoned due to poor ground conditions in the quarterfinal against Karnataka in the 77th all-India Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup invitation cricket tournament, Tamil Nadu emerged the winner by a four-wicket margin in the one-day match conducted in order to decide the issue at the NFC Grounds here on Thursday.

Electing to bat, Karnataka started off on a sedate note scoring 29 for one in the first 10 overs. But, thanks to Deepak Chougule (76, 103 balls, 7x4, 1x6) and S. Shinde (45, 59 balls, 2x4, 1x6), the innings gained momentum later on. With 69 coming from the last 10 overs, Karnataka ended up with a total of 207 for eight in 50 overs.

M.R. Srinivas (three for 31) and Aswin (two for 34) were the pick of the bowlers for Tamil Nadu.

When it began the chase, southpaw Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan (72, 103 balls, 5x4, 1 x 6) batted with authority and Tamil Nadu was rarely in trouble. Complementing his effort was a fine knock by K.Vasudeva Das (35, 4x4, 1x6).

If Karnataka had any hopes of coming back into the game after a couple of quick wickets, they were dashed by a disciplined Anirudha Srikanth (34, 5x4, 1x6). It was a pleasing knock dotted with some fine cricketing strokes on either side of the wicket.

And when K.S. Gopinath (24 not out) hit the winning boundary, there was the predictable joy in the Tamil Nadu camp.

In the three-day semifinal matches starting on Friday, Tamil Nadu will take on Saurashtra at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (Uppal) and IOC will clash with Madhya Pradesh (which got a bye into the semifinal), at the NFC Ground.

The scores: Quarterfinals: Karnataka 207 for eight in 50 overs (Deepak Chougule 76, S. Shinde 45, M.R. Srinivas three for 31) lost to Tamil Nadu 210 for six in 46 overs (Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan 72, K. Vasudeva Dass 35, Anirudha Srikanth 34).

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