Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a spell of 2/34 and also scored a 9-ball 16* in the crunch phase for Tamil Nadu but couldn't take his team past the finish line against Karnataka in a topsy-turvey final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (Domestic T20 tournament) this Sunday (December 1).
In a game where fortunes changed by a minute, Tamil Nadu needed 13 runs off the final over bowled by off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham with Ashwin one of the batsman in focus. However, unfazed of the pressure on him, the all-rounder struck two successive fours to bring the equation down to just five runs off the four balls left.
WATCH- R Ashwin showed fans a glimpse of Mushfiqur, Dhoni, and Tahir in final
Then in another twist, he found it difficult to smash the ball away for the next two balls, including a dot and a single. Vijay Shankar, who was batting quite well, got run-out off the penultimate ball going for an impossible second run. But that meant, Ashwin was left at the non-striker's end with onus now completely on tailender Murugan Ashwin to get the three runs required off the last ball which he failed to get as Tamil Nadu eventually lost the game by just one run.
It was a painful feeling for the more experienced Ashwin who was really involved in the contest despite this being a domestic game only.
"It’s so hard to wake up after games like what we had last night," Ashwin tweeted before congratulating both the teams for putting on a great show in Surat.
"#KarVsTN and to play a game of such intensity in the domestic circuit is a delight to say the least. Well done again to both teams."
