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Tamil Nadu takes on determined Bengal

G. Viswanath

Ahmedabad: Tamil Nadu is just a win away from retaining the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It has virtually crushed every opponent on its way to the final where it will meet a determined bunch from Bengal at the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera here on Tuesday.

Except for a league tussle against Karnataka where a mere two runs separated the top two teams in the South Zone, Tamil Nadu has hardly broken sweat.

Seven outright wins fashioned by its competent batting and bowling departments, especially in the knockout matches leading to the title round, has put Tamil Nadu on a firm footing against a side whose top-order has delivered in the knockout phase.

The return of Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay and R. Ashwin after their stint with the Indian team in the third ODI against South Africa will bolster the side.

Top priority

Winning the silverware in the premier limited-overs tournament is a top priority for Tamil Nadu which had good reason to be disappointed at the turn of events in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Delhi. But, Tamil Nadu coach W.V. Raman, not long ago the coach of Bengal, is not complacent.

“It will be a good final. We don't want to give excuses that we could not field a full team,” Raman said after the nets session watched by national selection committee chairman K. Srikkanth. The latter also took the opportunity to have a meeting with the team in the dressing room.

Last year, Tamil Nadu beat Bengal in the final at Agartala. “They made 284 and I was run out at a crucial stage. We are in the final for the third straight year. Hope we will be lucky this time,” said Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Manager Rusi Jeejeebhoy expressed similar sentiments.

Bengal lost two matches in the league, but beat Saurashtra and Karnataka in the knockout stage, thanks to two solid opening stands between Arindam Das and Shreevats Goswami and some solid performances by Sourav Ganguly, Manoj Tiwary and Wriddhiman Saha.

Goswami to the fore

Bengal's campaign has been led by the diminutive left-hander Goswami.

He is the tournament's top run-getter with 487, four more than Abhinav Mukund.

Tamil Nadu has arrived here with two 300-plus scores on the flat deck at the Race Course ground at Rajkot while Bengal played in conditions that assisted the seamers at Moti Bagh Palace ground at Vadodara.

The defending champion must be pleased with the way V. Yomahesh has bowled in the tournament.

He leads the table with 17 wickets at 16.94 in seven games.

The teams (from):

Tamil Nadu: D. Karthik (capt.), M. Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, S. Badrinath, R. Satish, R. Suthesh, Suresh Kumar, Arun Karthik, S. Anirudha, K.H. Gopinath, L. Balaji, R. Ashwin, Yomahesh, Arun Kumar, K. Shri Vasudevadas, C. Ganapathy, M. Prabhu and R. Prasanna.

Bengal: Laxmi Ratan Shukla (capt.), Manoj Tiwary, Sourav Ganguly, Wriddhiman Saha, Arindam Das, Shreevats Goswami, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Sourasish Lahiri, Ashok Dinda, Ranadeb Bose, Arnab Nandi, Sudip Chatterjee, Soumya Pakre, Sourav Sarkar, Mohd. Sami Ahmed and A. Mujumdar.

Umpires: A. Saheba and S. Tarapore .

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