Goa posted an upset seven-wicket win over Tamil Nadu in an Elite Group A match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament here on Monday, handing the defending champions their first loss in four games.
Sent into bat, the Tamil Nadu batters could not get going and the regular loss of wickets didn't help. Save for opener N Jagadeesan (21), none of the others in top five made a good contribution.
Skipper Vijay Shankar, back in the XI after missing two games due to a niggle, could only make 4 before being caught behind by the 'keeper off Suyash Prabhudesai (1/9 in 2 overs).
It was only a 67-run stand for the sixth wicket between Sanjay Yadav (38, 29 balls, 2X4, 2X6) and M Shahrukh Khan (26, 24 balls, 3X4) which shored up the Tamil Nadu innings.
Left-arm medium-pacer Shrikant Wagh, who moved from Vidarbha to Goa, missed out on a hat-trick in the 19th over, but his strikes helped the team restrict Tamil Nadu.
He first removed Shahrukh Khan to a catch by Deepraj Gaonkar with third ball of the 19th over before bowling the top-scorer Sanjay Yadav with the next delivery.
M Ashwin denied him the hat-trick by taking a single from the fifth ball but Wagh had M Mohammed (0) caught by substitute fielder MG Sirur to finish with three wickets from four balls.
Wagh's 4 for 36 was largely responsible for Goa restricting TN to a modest score.
In reply, Goa got off to a poor start losing opener captain Eknath Kerkar for a duck and Lakshay Garg to to debutant P Saravana Kumar in the first over.
Aditya Kaushik (41, 43 balls, 4X4), the other opener, and all-rounder Shubham Ranjane (52 not out, 42 balls, 3X4, 2X6) added 66 runs for the third wicket to put the chase back on track.
Suyash Prabhudesai, who joined Ranjane after the fall of Kaushik, batted aggressively for 43 (24 balls, 2X4, 3X6) to take Goa home in the 19th over.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 136 for 9 in 20 overs (Sanjay Yadav 38, M Shahrukh Khan 26, Shrikant Wagh 4/36) lost to Goa 140 for 3 in 18.4 overs (Shubham Ranjane 52 not out, Suyash Prabhudesai 43 not out, Aditya Kaushik 41, P Saravana Kumar 2/17) by seven wickets. Goa: 4 points, TN: 0.
