Dhull shines as Delhi beat Tamil Nadu

Yash Dhull made an explosive fifty, leading Delhi to a thrilling, last-ball six-wicket victory over Tamil Nadu in a Group D match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) match on Friday. Once Tamil Nadu scored a competitive 198 for seven in 20 overs, Delhi needed a strong, collective batting effort to overhaul the target. Dhull (71, 46b, 4x4, 4x6) glued together Delhi’s chase with his aggressive fifty, as they ended up with 203 for four in 20 overs.

During his stay, the 23-year-old engaged in three partnerships of considerable significance — a 52 for the opening wicket with Priyansh Arya (35, 15b), a 58 for the second wicket with skipper Nitish Rana (34, 26b) and then the most crucial 61-run alliance with Ayush Badoni (41, 23b) for the third wicket. But Dhull fell to TN left-arm seamer T Natarajan, and Badoni departed, giving a catch to Shahrukh Khan off pacer Sonu Yadav.

Delhi still needed 12 runs off the last over and two runs off the last ball to register a win. Himmat Singh eased the worries in Delhi camp with a six off the final ball. Earlier, India batter B Sai Sudharsan, who joined the TN squad after the second and final Test against South Africa at Guwahati recently, failed to get going. Sudharsan was ousted by former India pacer Ishant Sharma for 13 off 10 balls.

But Tamil Nadu found other saviours on the day in openers Tushar Raheja (72, 41b, 7x4, 3x6) and Amit Sathvik (54, 40b, 8x4, 1x6), who added 115 runs in 12 overs. It laid the platform for a near-200 total, and for Delhi pacer Prince Yadav took three wickets in the middle-overs, slowing Tamil Nadu a bit.

Brief scores:

Tamil Nadu: 198/7 in 20 overs (Tushar Raheja 72, Amit Sathvik 54; Prince Yadav 3/43) lost to Delhi: 203/4 in 20 overs (Yash Dhull 71, Priyansh Arya 35, Nitish Rana 34, Ayush Badoni 41) by 6 wickets.

Delhi: 4 points; TN: 0.

Tripura: 169/7 in 20 overs (Hanuma Vihari 36, M Murasingh 40, Sridam Paul 37; Kamlesh Nagarkoti 3/34) lost to Rajasthan: 171/5 in 18.5 overs (Shubham Garhwal 50, Kunal Rathore 33 not out; Swapnil Singh 3/42).

Rajasthan: 4 points (total: 8), Tripura: 0.

Saurashtra: 183/7 in 20 overs (Prerak Mankad 52, Jay Gohil 32, Ruchit Ahir 30 not out; J Suchith 3/20) lost to Uttarakhand: 184/4 in 18.1 overs (Kunal Chandela 94, Aanjaneya Suryavanshi 73 not out; Chetan Sakarya 2/37) by 6 wickets.