Dinesh Karthik leads Tamil Nadu to T20 success for second time, 14 years after the primary

Moments after Shahrukh Khan drilled Lukman Meriwala via extra-cover for a boundary to seal victory, the cameras centered on Dinesh Karthik. He was Tamil Nadu’s 22-year-old captain who led them to the title within the inaugural version of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2006-07. More than 14 years later, Karthik continues to be the undisputed chief of this crew, as they secured their second home T20 crown on Sunday. It’s been a stellar march this season, as they received seven matches on the bounce, all via effectively orchestrated run-chases.
Sunday’s 121-run chase towards a reliable Baroda assault at Motera was not presupposed to be a cakewalk. The pitch had sharp activate supply, which was evident when the Tamil Nadu spinners operated within the first innings. However, the night dew compromised the effectiveness of Baroda’s bowlers. Consequently, batting second grew to become a lot simpler, as Tamil Nadu coasted to a seven-wicket win, reaching the goal with two overs to spare. This win, in some ways, additionally made up for final yr’s agonising 1-run loss to Karnataka within the title conflict.

D.O.M.I.N.A.N.C.E! 💪👍
The @DineshKarthik-led Tamil Nadu unit beat Baroda by 7⃣ wickets within the #Final and clinch the @Paytm #SyedMushtaqAliT20 title in fashion on the @GCAMotera. 👏👏 | @TNCACricket
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/UAB2Z0siQm pic.twitter.com/MARKSY4rLK
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 31, 2021
“It really hurt us last year. We lost by a whisker. This year, we had our sights on the knockouts and then we got consistent. It’s the sign of a good team. I think just the fact that there are players like (T) Natarajan and (Washington) Sundar in the Indian team, who were in this team last year, is the sign of a team doing well. I’m sure there are a few who’ll go on from this team as well,” a euphoric Karthik stated on the post-match presentation ceremony.
Solanki affords Baroda hope
Irrespective of the match scenario, the Baroda dug-out breathes simple at any time when Vishnu Solanki is on the crease. These days, the 28-year-old has develop into his crew’s disaster supervisor. So, whether or not the aspect wants 15 runs off the ultimate 3 balls of the match, or is in bother at 36/6 on a sluggish, gripping floor, Solanki is invariably the person to bail Baroda out of bother.
Even because the Baroda prime order was laid low with the precision and guile of the 4 Tamil Nadu spinners, it was the 58-run seventh-wicket stand between Solanki and Atit Sheth that navigated the crew to a place of some respectability. Such was the sway that the spinners had that at one stage, even a three-figure rating didn’t look doubtless.

With scoring towards spinners proving to be a treacherous proposition, Solanki focused the 2 medium-pacers —- Sonu Yadav and M. Mohammed. His batsmanship is predicated on hanging deep within the crease and utilizing his supple wrists to nice impact. In the partnership with the resourceful Sheth, they dug deep, rotated strike admirably, earlier than teeing off within the last three overs to complete at 120/9. Yet once more, Solanki’s 55-ball 49 proved to be the cornerstone of Baroda’s innings. Without him, they wouldn’t have had any complete to defend.
For Tamil Nadu, left-arm spinner M. Siddharth, enjoying his first match of the event, proved to be a trump card. Karthik’s plan to unleash him contained in the Powerplay was a masterstroke. When Sidharth tossed it up, he extracted prodigious flip and bounce. His arm ball was rewarded with the wicket of Smit Patel. Finishing with figures of 4/20 on Sunday, Sidharth, who has been launched by Kolkata Knight Riders, is bound to draw consideration at this yr’s IPL public sale.
Brief scores: Baroda 120/9 in 20 overs (Vishnu Solanki 49, Atit Sheth 29; M. Siddharth 4/20) misplaced to Tamil Nadu 123/3 in 18 overs (C Hari Nishanth 35, Baba Aparajith 29 not out) by 7 wickets
Looking forward… to the IPL public sale
Kartik Kakade
During the lockdown, Kakade labored on his power-hitting and developed an arm ball and a carrom ball, including layers of intrigue as an off-spinner. The onerous work has paid dividends for the 25-year-old, who impressed on this version of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His artful bowling bewitched opposition batsmen (he picked 5 wickets at a good economic system charge of 6.7), and he was electrifying within the area. With bat in hand, Kakade walloped a match-winning 41-ball 53 towards Punjab within the semifinal. Blessed with these all-round skills, his coaches describe him as a participant with the ‘X-factor’.
Vishnu Solanki
Solanki is without doubt one of the heart-warming tales of home cricket. He grew up in Undera, only a stone’s throw away from the IPCL Stadium in Baroda. Fans will keep in mind two of his knocks on this version of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. First, an unbeaten 46-ball 71 – towards Haryana within the quarterfinal, when he hit a six, 4 and 6 off the final three balls to seal an unbelievable victory, the final of the three strokes being a helicopter shot. The second knock showcased his composure within the last towards Tamil Nadu, the place he guided his crew to a semblance of respectability from 36/6.

Mohammed Azharuddeen
The 26-year-old hails from Thalangara, a uncommon Kerala city the place youngsters desire to hit a ball with a bat and never kick it. In Kerala’s league encounter towards Mumbai on the Wankhede Stadium, he smashed a 37-ball ton en path to a 54-ball 137. The blistering knock consisted of 9 fours and 11 sixes, and was the third-fastest T20 century by an Indian after Rishabh Pant (32 balls) and Rohit Sharma (35 balls). The century not solely despatched social media right into a meltdown, but additionally piqued appreciable curiosity amongst expertise scouts and franchises forward of the IPL public sale.
M Siddharth
Manimaran Siddharth, a skilful left-arm spinner, made his home T20 debut for Tamil Nadu in 2019. After a splendid outing for his state crew (he picked 12 wickets from 5 video games), he was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for a base worth of Rs 20 lakh. But he didn’t play a single sport for the franchise and was launched after the 2020 season. But after a match-winning haul of 4/20 within the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last towards Baroda, the 22-year-old is bound to draw franchises’ consideration.