SMA Trophy 2021: Arun Karthik slams 54-ball 89* to script Tamil Nadu’s 7-wicket win over Rajasthan in 1st semi-final

Tamil Nadu chased down Rajasthan's 154/9 with 8 balls to spare.

By Salman Anjum - 29 Jan, 2021

The first semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2021 saw Tamil Nadu facing Rajasthan at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday (January 29).

Opting to bat first, Rajasthan posted 154/9 in 20 overs on the back of skipper Ashok Menaria’s 51 off 32 balls. Arjit Gupta also played a valuable knock of 35-ball 45.

M Mohammed (4-24) and Sai Kishore (2-16) were the pick of the bowlers for Tamil Nadu. Sonu Yadav (1-27) also bowled economically and took a wicket.

In reply, Tamil Nadu lost their top three for 69 runs but the duo of Arun Karthik and captain Dinesh Karthik shared an unbroken 89-run stand to take the team over the line with 7 wickets in hand and 8 balls to spare.

While Arun remained unbeaten on 89 off 54 balls (9 fours and 3 sixes), Dinesh finished with 26 not out off 17 deliveries.

Tamil Nadu will now face the winner of the second semi-final between Punjab and Baroda in the summit clash on Sunday (January 31).

Brief Scores:

Rajasthan 154/9 in 20 overs (Ashok Menaria 51; M Mohammed 4-24) lost to Tamil Nadu 158/3 in 18.4 overs (Arun Karthik 89*; Tanveer-Ul-Haq 1-22) by 7 wickets

By Salman Anjum - 29 Jan, 2021

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