Kolkata: Thanks to C Hari Nishaanth’s unbeaten 92, Tamilnadu posted a 66-run win over Jharkhand in its opening match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.Asked to bat, Tamilnadu scored a formidable 189 for five before restricting Jharkhand to 123 for seven. Southpaw Nishaanth (92 n.o., 63b, 8×4, 3×6) batted confidently and executed some clean hits on both sides. He forged a 72-run stand with fellow opener N. Jagadeesan to give Tamilnadu a strong start against an attack that lacked discipline.
Jharkhand struggled in its reply as its batsmen played some poor shots in the Powerplay overs. Ishan Kishan edged Sandeep Warrier to Karthik, Utkarsh Singh chipped Sonu Yadav to square-leg, and Kumar Deobrat was caught at deep point off Warrier, as Jharkhand was reduced to 47 for three in six overs.