4:36 PM IST & Local Time: That’s the end of the contest! Jharkhand have completely outplayed Tamil Nadu in Ahmedabad, sealing a dominant 9-wicket victory with 24 balls to spare.
Play began late due to damp conditions, leading to the match being curtailed to 45 overs per side, with Jharkhand winning the toss and choosing to field. Shubham Singh struck in his very first over, removing N Jagadeesan for a duck, before Athish and Pradosh Ranjan Paul steadied Tamil Nadu with a solid 65-run partnership for the second wicket. Utkarsh Singh eventually broke the stand by dismissing Athish for 33 and Pradosh Ranjan Paul soon followed after throwing his wicket away on 49, falling just short of a deserved half-century.
Baba Indrajith anchored the innings through the middle overs but also missed out on a fifty, departing for 48. Tamil Nadu found useful lower-order contributions from Mohamed Ali (26 off 32), R Sai Kishore (24 off 21) and a brisk cameo from Sonu Yadav, who struck 31 off 22 balls. The innings ended on the final delivery with Tamil Nadu posting a competitive 243 in their 45 overs, while Shubham Singh once again impressed for Jharkhand, finishing as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/53.
In reply, Jharkhand made a flying start as openers Shikhar Mohan and Utkarsh Singh put together a massive opening partnership. They punished anything loose, kept the runs flowing and completely took the game away from Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu were sloppy in the field and paid the price by dropping a few costly chances.
Utkarsh Singh went on to register a well-deserved century and stayed unbeaten till the end on 123 off 120 balls. Shikhar Mohan missed out on his hundred after throwing his wicket away in the nervous nineties, departing for 90. Virat Singh then walked in at number three and finished things off, remaining unbeaten on 20 off 18 balls as Jharkhand chased down the target with ease, winning by 9 wickets and with 24 balls to spare.