CRICKET | TN eases past Maharashtra for C.K. Nayudu Trophy title

Tamil Nadu clinched its maiden Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy title, chasing down 66 to beat Maharashtra by seven wickets on the third day of the final at the NPR College Cricket Ground here on Wednesday.

In doing so, it completed a double, having already lifted the BCCI men’s u-23 State-A (One-Day) Trophy this season.

Earlier in the day, Kiran Karthikeyan’s influence continued after his innings. Having been the last man out for 86 (207b, 9×4) in Tamil Nadu’s 334, which secured a first-innings lead of 96, he ran out opener Vicky Ostwal at the striker’s end with a sharp piece of fielding from backward square leg on the second ball of Maharashtra’s second innings (161).

Left-arm spinners Sachin Rathi and P. Vignesh took three wickets each. Sachin (three for 57) had skipper Sachin Dhas (25) miscue to mid-off, Arshin Kulkarni (44) top-edge a slog sweep to wide mid-on, and Kiran Chormale (4) edge to slip. Vignesh had Digvijay Patil (6) and Ajay Borude (8) caught behind, while Vaibhav Darkunde (7) holed out to deep square leg.

Off-spinner Mohamed Ali (two for 18) trapped Harsh U. Mogaveera (3) leg before and had Sahil Autade (1) caught off his own bowling. Fellow off-spinner Manav Parakh had top-scorer Niraj Joshi (55, 129b, 3×4, 1×6) caught at silly point.

Defiance came through a 78-run fourth-wicket stand between opener Niraj and Arshin.

The scores: Maharashtra 238 & 161 in 53.2 overs (Niraj Joshi 55, Arshin Kulkarni 44, P. Vignesh 3/42, Sachin Rathi 3/57) lost to Tamil Nadu 334 in 115.5 overs (S.R. Athish 35, G. Govinth 31, Boopathi Vaishna Kumar 44, Kiran Karthikeyan 86, S. Mohamed Ali 31, Manav Parakh 47, Abhishek Nishad 4/71, Kiran Chormale 3/62) & 67/3 in 20 overs (Vicky Ostwal 3/32).