Tamil Nadu opened its campaign in the South Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament 2017-'18, with an easy seven-wicket win over Andhra Pradesh at Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Monday.
The experienced Dinesh Karthik guided Tamil Nadu home with a quickfire 57 off just 28 balls (nine fours and two sixers) with 32 balls to spare after the bowlers had restricted the opposition to 119 for 7 in 20 overs.
Opting to bat first, Andhra was in trouble in the very first over, losing opener Ashwin Hebbar for a duck, castled by K Vignesh. Captain G Hanuma Vihari (5) fell to Athisayaraj Davidson soon after to leave the home side at 6 for 2.
Ricky Bhui (25) and D B Ravi Teja (19) rebuilt with a 44-run stand but once they were separated within the space of six runs, the other Andhra batsmen struggled to get going.
A 20-ball knock of 20 by Shoaib Mohammed Khan helped the team reach 119.
Chasing 120 for victory, Tamil Nadu saw experienced opener Abhinav Mukund become a run-out victim with 17 runs on the board.
Dinesh Karthik, who was part of the India ODI and T20 teams in the recent series against Sri lanka, came in at No.3 and played shots from the word go.
Though he lost M S Washington Sundar (13) with the score at 49, Karthik continued his aggressive ways and fell in the 11th over for 57.
B Aparajith (28 not out), who led the side in the absence of Vijay Shankar due to fitness concerns, saw the team home in the 15th over.
Himachal beat Haryana
Himachal Pradesh beat Haryana in a thrilling 'Eliminator' during a North Zone leg encounter of the National T20 Championship for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Batting first at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Himachal Pradesh scored 194 for 2 riding on opener Prashant Chopra's 64-ball-99 that had 11 boundaries. Veteran Paras Dogra also scored 47 off 32 balls.
In reply, seam bowler Harshal Patel, who was promoted up the order to open the innings smashed 73 off 32 balls with seven fours and five sixes to keep his team in the hunt.
Saurashtra win
Bowlers helped Saurashtra successfully defend a small total and record an exciting four-run victory in the West Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 league at the SCA stadium here on Monday.
Chasing Saurashtra's modest tally of 142 for 9, Maharashtra started well in their quest to score their second win on the trot in as many days before falling short, ending up at 138 for 7.
Meanwhile, in the second match of the day, Mumbai defeated Gujarat by five wickets in a thriller, to record their first win of the tournament.