Sports
Tamil Nadu win Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020/21: Key numbers
Tamil Nadu were crowned champions of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after claiming a seven-wicket victory over Baroda in the final on Sunday. This was their second title, after first clinching it in 2006/07. Baroda, which had won the title twice in past (2011/12 and 2013/14), ended as runners-up this time. We take a look at the key numbers from the tournament.
How did the final pan out?
Baroda made a shaky start after Tamil Nadu elected to bowl in the final. They were reduced to 6/33, suffering an untimely batting collapse. With the help of Vishnu Solanki's 49, Baroda managed 120/9 after 20. For TN, left-arm spinner Manimaran Siddharth scalped four wickets. In reply, the Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu easily chased the target with 12 balls to spare.
Tamil Nadu's second title under Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik was the captain when Tamil Nadu won their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title back in 2006/07. They defeated Punjab in the final by two wickets. Notably, that was the inaugural edition of the T20 tournament.
A look at Tamil Nadu's performance in 2020/21 season
Tamil Nadu remained the only unbeaten team in the season. They won eight consecutive games, which included seven run-chases. A look at their run: beat Jharkhand by 66 runs, beat Assam by 10 wickets, beat Odisha by 8 wickets, beat Hyderabad by 7 wickets, beat Bengal by 8 wickets, beat HP by 5 wickets, beat Rajasthan by 7 wickets, beat Baroda by 7 wickets.
Jagadeesan emerges as the leading run-scorer
Tamil Nadu batsman N Jagadeesan finished as the highest run-scorer of the tournament. He amassed 364 runs from eight games at a formidable average of 72.80. His strike-rate during the tournament read 141.09. Interestingly, Jagadeesan was retained by his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Punjab's Simran Singh slammed the most number of sixes (22) in the tournament.
Highest wicket-taker: Ashutosh Aman
In the bowling section, Bihar captain Ashutosh Aman turned out to be the leading wicket-taker. He scalped 16 wickets from six matches at an astonishing average of 7.62. The left-arm spinner was one of the few bowlers to have taken two four-wicket hauls. Besides, fast bowler Chetan Sakariya was the only other bowler with 10+ wickets (12) to have an average below 10 (8.17).
M Siddharth named Player of the Match in maiden appearance
It it interesting to note that left-arm spinner M Siddharth played his first match of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the final, this season. After registering bowling figures of 4/20, he was named the Player of the Match.
