Watch: Tamil Nadu blasted 13 sixes in seven overs during an exhilarating 2022/23 Ranji Trophy finish against Hyderabad that agonisingly ended due to bad light with the away side needing 36 runs more to win in four overs.
Set a target of 144 off 11 overs to win their first game of the season, Tamil Nadu started off in blistering fashion. Openers Sai Sudharsan and Narayan Jagadeesan began aggressively as they walked out with the intent of chasing down the steep target. Sudharsan started off the innings with a six on the fourth ball before going on to hit four more maximums, racing away to 39 off 17 deliveries, with Tamil Nadu making 45-0 in the first four overs.
Jagadeesan, who was on four off seven at that point, took on the initiative thereafter, sending the bowlers all around the park, ending with eight sixes in his next 15 deliveries. Tamil Nadu raced away to 93-0 in six overs before Sudharsan was dismissed for a 20-ball 42 off the bowling of Kartikeya Kak, which brought skipper Baba Indarajith out in the middle.
With nothing to lose after having gained a first innings lead, Tamil Nadu and Jagadeesan kept going after the target, the latter reaching his fifty with a stunning six down the ground. He took 20 balls to reach the landmark and needed two more to score his next ten runs, as his team looked on track for a remarkable run chase.
In a bid to reduce the time that would have been wasted in finding the ball and then throwing it back into the field of play, Tamil Nadu stationed their players in the stands and outside the boundary ropes, a move that was lauded by the commentators. However, with four overs to go and 36 more to get, the umpires took out their light meters, before finally deciding to call off proceedings, much to the anguish of the batters.
Rohan Gavaskar, on commentary, did admit that “rules were rules” but also hoped that the umpires could be more flexible when the game was heading towards a close finish. Earlier, he had also pointed out the time-wasting tactics of the Hyderabad team, with the skipper Tanmay Agarwal walking up to the bowlers before every delivery to have an animated discussion with them. “The umpires have to step in here and have a stern word with the captain,” Gavaskar said.
Hyderabad bowled 7 overs in 38 mins. Thats 10 mins behind.
— Krishna Kumar (@KrishnaKRM) December 16, 2022
Tamil Nadu were able to end with three points from the clash, courtesy of a first-innings lead. Up against Hyderabad’s 395, Tamil Nadu posted a mammoth 510-4 declared and then were set a target of 144 after they managed to bowl out the rivals for 258 in the second leg.
