Tamil Nadu steal victory over Andhra in nail biting finish

After making heavy weather of a target of 172 off 50 overs, Tamil Nadu managed to edge past Andhra by two wickets in their South Zone Ranji One-Day encounter at the CPT-India Pistons Ground at Chennai. On winning the toss, Andhra skipper AS Pathak elected to bat first on a slow wicket. This turned out to be a good decision for the skipper, but not necessarily so for the team. Opening the innings for the visiting side, Pathak made a steady 80 (100 balls, 9 fours) before he was run out by substitute fielder R Satish.

Unfortunately there was no serious support for Pathak other than a innings of 32 from Faiyaz Ahmed. With seven batsmen failing to make it to double figures, Andhra slumped to 171 all out in 49.2 overs. Chasing a target of 172 should not have been a tall order for the Tamil Nadu side. However, they have not been in the best of batting form in the tournament and this hampered them.

Free stroking southpaw Sridharan Sharath opened the innings and looked to get his eye in. After he was well set he began to open up, driving the ball well square of the wicket. After making an enterprising 47, he departed, falling to offspinner Vatekar. The middle order failed yet again and a mini collapse was at hand. At 114 for 6, it looked like Andhra would pull off an upset victory.

Aashish Kapoor and Thirunavukarasu Kumaran ensured that this did not happen. Batting sensibly, Kapoor managed 19 from 26 balls before being trapped leg before wicket by Vatekar. At this stage Tamil Nadu were 144 for 8 and there was still a bit of work to be done. Kumaran mixed a cautious straight bat with several well placed heaves and Tamil Nadu were nearly home. A frantically scampered leg bye off the third ball of the last over took the home side to victory by just two wickets.

Tamil Nadu take on an inform Hyderabad tomorrow, and will have to do much better if they want to come out of the game with a positive result.