New Delhi: Defending champions Tamil Nadu's star batter Shahrukh Khan hammered the final ball of the penultimate over for a stylish six to help his team attain a four wicket win over Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 Final on Monday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. This is Karnataka's first-ever loss in the white-ball final.
Tamil Nadu won the toss and invited Karnataka to bat first. Karnataka did not have a good start as after the first six overs, they lost 3 wickets for just 34 runs. BR Sharad and Manohar then steadied their team's sinking ship by sharing a 55-run partnership. Praveen Dubey and Jagdish Suchit also contributed with some important runs in the last few overs of their innings to propel Karnataka to a 150-plus total. For Tamil Nadu, Sai Kishore was the pick of bowlers as he ended up taking 3 wickets for just 12 runs in his 4 overs.
Shahrukh's decisive knock power Tamil Nadu to historic title win
Chasing a small target of 152 runs, Tamil Nadu started well but things got pretty tight when the middle order failed to maintain the required run-rate. Karnataka's bowlers' spirited fightback ensured that in the last 2 overs, their opponents needed 30 runs to win.
Tamil Nadu needed five runs off the last ball of the last over and then 'Man of the Match' Shahrukh Khan (33 runs off 15 balls) played the decisive innings, hitting the last ball for a massive six to finish off things in style.
With this victory, Tamil Nadu also avenged their heart-breaking loss against Karnataka, two years ago. The two teams had come face-to-face in the final match of 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final too, Karnataka had then registered a thrilling one-run win over Tamil Nadu.