On this day in 2021, Tamil Nadu won their second consecutive Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy by beating Karnataka in a thrilling final. Shahrukh Khan showed incredible grit and smashed a six on the very last ball to clinch a 4-wicket win for TN. Having won the title in the previous edition in 2020, Tamil Nadu became one of the few teams to have defended their title in the tournament.
Karnataka batted first and posted 151/7 on a tricky surface. R Sai Kishore was brilliant with the ball as he claimed 3/12 in his 4 overs. It stopped Karnataka from adding on a few runs in the powerplay and the middle overs. For Karnataka, Abhinav Manohar and Praveen Dubey played their part to get their side to a decent total on the board. 152 was not an easy target to chase.
Nishaanth started on a good note for Tamil Nadu. His short stay in the crease lasted till he scored 23(12). His wicket led to the Tamil Nadu batters taking the defensive approach. N Jagadeesan struggled in the middle as he scored 41(44), putting pressure on the batters at the other end. Sai Sudarshan and Vijay Shankar struggled to get going as well.
In the end, it came down to Shahrukh Khan and the Karnataka bowlers. Led by KC Cariappa, the bowling unit had done well till Khan was in the middle. But the extremely talented batter put pressure on the bowlers by his constant hammering. When he came into the middle, TN needed 57 runs in 34 balls with 6 wickets in hand.
Also Read: OTD | Australia beat India in 2023 to become ODI World Cup champions for the sixth time
When M Mohammed was dismissed, TN needed 22 in the last 7 balls. It was a big challenge considering the pressure of the final. However, Khan kept on hitting boundaries and ran faster to claim two runs and retain the strike. It all came down to six runs off the last ball. Khan aced the challenge and smashed the last one out of the park. In the process, he helped TN to claim a thrilling win.
Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.
Predicting Melbourne Stars Women’s playing XI for their match against Brisbane Heat Women in WBBL
Top three players to watch out for in England Women’s team against South Africa women’s team for 1st ODI game
India’s Top 3 wicket-takers in Pink-ball Test matches 
OTD | Australia beat West Indies to register their record 12th consecutive Test win in 2000
