Karnataka-Tamil Nadu will clash in the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, last encounter was interesting

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Final 2021: The final of the domestic tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be played at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on 22 November at 12 noon. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will face each other in the final match. Earlier, both the teams had faced each other in the final match of 2019, in which Karnataka registered a thrilling 1 run win.

Tamil Nadu will be eyeing to settle the account of this final held two years ago. She has also been the winner of 2020. In the final of this domestic tournament of the year 2020-21, Tamil Nadu won the trophy by defeating Baroda. On the other hand, the team of Karnataka will be hoping to win the third trophy. Karnataka has won 4 out of the last 5 matches between the two teams.

Karnataka batsmen have to show their mettle
Karnataka opener Rohan Kadam is in good form and another big innings is expected from him in the final. He played an innings of 87 runs in 56 balls against Vidarbha. Kadam and captain Manish Pandey would like to give their team a quick start by proving weak Tamil Nadu’s strong bowling attack.

The team will also expect its middle-order to continue, where the players have been consistent. Karun Nair is unable to collect runs and this time he would like to make his presence felt. In-form Abhinav Manohar, Anirudh Joshi and BR Sharath will need the support of the top order.

Karnataka’s bowling average
Karnataka will be more concerned about their bowling attack. Vidyadhar Patil has so far taken only four wickets in the tournament. The performances of V Vyshak (seven wickets) and MB Darshan (six wickets) have also been average. This trio is also less experienced though they have done well in difficult situations.

Karnataka will miss K Gautam (7 wickets), who has been selected for India ‘A’ team. The team’s hopes will be tied on the spin pair of KC Cariappa (10 wickets) and J Suchit (six wickets).

Tamil Nadu batsmen in great form
The entire team of Tamil Nadu has performed well in the tournament. A lot will depend on how the opening pair of N Jagadeesan (163 runs) and C Hari Nishant (177 runs) give the team a start. B Sai Sudarshan (173 runs) will be responsible for taking this start forward. Captain Vijay Shankar is the highest run-getter of the team, with 181 runs to his name. He can change the course of the match with his batting. If the top order is unable to do anything special, then all eyes will be on M Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Powerhitting’.

Tamil Nadu hopes for T Natarajan’s return
In the bowling, as left-arm pacer T Natarajan missed the last two matches due to injury, the team will look forward to his availability. Although Sandeep Warrier and P Sarwan Kumar (5 wickets in the semi-finals) have done a decent job so far while spinners R Sai Kishore, M Ashwin and R Sanjay Yadav have also been excellent.

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