Skipper Mahipal Lomror with a strokeful unbeaten 78 (52 balls, 6X4, 4X6) starred in Rajasthan's emphatic 53-run win over Tamil Nadu in a Group 'B' match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, which began here Thursday.
Sent into bat, Rajasthan recovered well from 7 for 2 to post a score of 181 for 4 in 20 overs with Lomror leading the way and handy contributions from T N Dhillon (38, 19 balls, 1X4, 4X6), Aditya N Garhwal (30, 21 balls, 4X4, 1X6) and Chetan Bist (28).
In reply, Tamil Nadu was bowled out for 128 in the final over.
M S Washington Sundar, coming back from injury, got M N Singh (1) off the final ball of the first over as Tamil Nadu got off to a good start.
Four balls later, the experienced Robin Bist bowled the Abhishek Tanwar for a duck as Rajasthan slipped to 7 for 2.
The left-handed Lomror, who walked in at the fall of Robin Bist, went about steadying the ship and played shots whenever he got the chance to.
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First, he was involved in a 42-run stand with Garhwal, before the latter fell to leg-spinner M Ashwin.
Tamil Nadu skipper Ravichandran Ashwin kept the batsmen in check with his clever variations but went wicketless, conceding 26 runs in his quota of four overs.
Lomror put on 51 runs with Chetan Bist and his 81-run association with Dhillon for the fifth wicket, made things difficult for Tamil Nadu.
The skipper and his partner (Dhillon) went on the offensive, blasting 81 runs in the last 5.4 overs as the TN bowlers bore the brunt.
Lomror hammered four sixes as did Dhillon to power Rajasthan to a formidable total.
Chasing a stiff target for victory, Tamil Nadu lost newcomer C Hari Nishaanth for 6 with the score at 18.
Wickets fell at regular intervals as Rajasthan bowlers led by Deepak Chahar (3 for 30) and S K K Ahmed (3 for 14) never allowed the Tamil Nadu batsmen to get going.
Young Shahrukh Khan with 21 (19 balls, 2X4, 1X6) was the top-scorer as the team collapsed to 128 all out in 19.5 overs.
In other matches, Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha beat Himachal Pradesh by three wickets and Gujarat defeated Meghalaya by 13 runs.
Brief scores: Rajasthan 181 for 4 in 20 overs (Mahipal Lomror 78 not out, T M Dhillon 38 not out) beat Tamil Nadu 128 all out in 19.5 overs (Shahrukh Khan 23, S K K Ahmed 3 for 14, Deepak Chahar 3 for 30).
Points: Rajasthan: 4, TN: 0. Gujarat 146 for 8 in 20 overs (Axar Patel 48) beat Meghalaya 133 for 8 in 20 overs (Punit Bist 56, Piyush Chawla 3 for 17).
Points: Gujarat: 4, Meghalaya: 0. Himachal Pradesh 167 for 8 in 20 overs (E C Sen 52, N A Sharma 36, S B Wagh 3 for 32) lost to Vidarbha 171 for 7 in 20 overs (Atharva Taide 43, J M Sharma 37).
Points: Vidarbha:4, Himachal: 0.