Opener’s 86-ball 107 goes in vain as Tamil Nadu comes up trumps in high-scoring match.

Mumbai opener Akhil Herwardkar cracked a brilliant century (107, 86b, 16x4, 1x6), but his effort went in vain as Tamil Nadu showed great fighting qualities under pressure to script a 26-run win to notch up its second consecutive victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Friday.
Chasing a challenging 313 in a Group A match at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad, Mumbai seemed well and truly on course thanks to a superbly-paced ton from southpaw Herwardkar. He was in a hurry, literally, treating both pace and spin with disdain. And the way he even handled the quality spin of India star Ravichandran Ashwin, stepping out of the crease with ease to hit three consecutive fours, was a treat to watch.
With right-handed opener Jay Bista rotating the strike quite efficiently, Mumbai looked comfortable. But at 127 for no loss in the 20th over, Bista reverse-swept Ashwin to square-leg to give Tamil Nadu the much-needed breakthrough. The team then showed great character to fight its way back into the game. Tamil Nadu was lucky that Dinesh Karthik’s inability to stump Herwardkar, who was way down the pitch, did not prove costly. A little later, R Sathish came up with a brilliant effort in the deep to send Herwadkar back and make it 141 for two in the 23rd over.
Herwardkar’s dismissal proved to be the turning point. Even though Siddhesh Lad showed his capabilities with the bat, a suicidal run-out by Iqbal Abdullah and some poor batting from the rest effectively nullified the brilliant start provided by the openers. Tamil Nadu finished a deserving winner with leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin picking up three wickets.
Earlier, put in to bat, Tamil Nadu, after a dismal start, thrived on twins Baba Aparajith (77, 112b, 8x4) and Baba Indrajith (60*, 52b, 5x4) even as M Vijay (55, 59b, 2x4, 3x6) and R Sathish (52, 30b, 5x4, 3x6) scored handy half-centuries.
The one knock that really propelled Tamil Nadu past 300 was the brilliance of the vastly under-rated Sathish who hit medium-pacer Sagar Trivedi for 6, 4, 6, 4 in one over to show his efficacy down the order.
For Mumbai, Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul. More importantly, he gave away just 47 runs in 10 overs.
Mumbai will take on Assam on Sunday. Tamil Nadu will meet Punjab on the same day.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu: Abhinav Mukund c Tare b Kulkarni 1, Dinesh Karthik c Tare b Kulkarni 18, B Aparajith c Kulkarni b Nayar 77, M Vijay c Yadav b Nayar 55, B Indrajith not out 60, R Sathish c Tare b Thakur 52, R Ashwin c sub (Raut) b Kulkarni 16, J Kousik c Yadav b Trivedi 11, M Ashwin not out 0; Extras (b-2, lb-3, w-17): 22
Total (seven wickets; 50 overs) 312 (6.24 runs per over)
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-28, 3-156, 4-182, 5-257, 6-284, 7-308
Mumbai bowling: Shardul Thakur 9-1-67-1 (w-3), Dhawal Kulkarni 10-1-47-3 (w-7), Abhishek Nayar 10-0-56-2 (w-2), Sagar Trivedi 9-0-65-1 (w-4), Iqbal Abdulla 10-0-46-0 (w-1), Jay Bista 2-0-26-0
Mumbai: Akhil Herwadkar c Sathish b M Ashwin 107, Jay Bista c Mukund b R Ashwin 28, Shreyas Iyer c Aparajith b Mohammed 44, Suryakumar Yadav c Sathish b Mohammed 5, Aditya Tare b Shah 21, Siddhesh Lad c Karthik b M Ashwin 47, Abhishek Nayar c Vijay b Aparajith 6, Shardul Thakur c Aparajith b M Ashwin 3, Iqbal Abdulla run out (Mukund) 9, Sagar Trivedi st Karthik b Shah 1, Dhawal Kulkarni not out 4; Extras (lb-2, w-9): 11
Total (all out; 45.2 overs): 286 (6.30 runs per over)
Fall of wickets: 1-127, 2-141, 3-153, 4-205, 5-217, 6-224, 7-232, 8-252, 9-260
Bowling: Rahil Shah 10-1-55-2, M Mohammed 8-0-68-2 (w-3), R Sathish 2-0-10-0, R Ashwin 8-0-42-1, B Aparajith 7-0-40-1 (w-1), J Kousik 3-0-31-0, M Ashwin 7.2-0-38-3.