New Delhi: M Shahrukh Khan smashed a dramatic last ball six to help Tamil Nadu defend the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 title with a thrilling four-wicket win over Karnataka in the summit clash here on Monday.
Needing 16 runs off the last over bowled by Prateek Jain, power-hitter Khan kept his cool under pressure to clobber the final delivery over deep-square leg to take Tamil Nadu to 153 for 6 and seal a famous win.
The burly 26-year-old right-hander remained not out on 33 (15 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes) while R Sai Kishore was 6 not out (3 balls, 1 four).
Tamil Nadu thus avenged their heart-breaking one-run loss to Karnataka in the 2019 final.
Earlier, Karnataka rode on some aggressive batting by Abhinav Manohar (46, 37 balls, 4X4, 2X6), Praveen Dubey (33, 25 balls, 3X4, 1X6) and J Suchith (18, 7 balls, 1X4, 1X6) to post 151 for 7.
Thanks to their aggressive batting, Karnataka recovered on time after their batters were stifled by some good work by left-arm spinner Sai Kishore (3/12) and other Tamil Nadu bowlers.
Karnataka slipped to 32 for 3 in the sixth over with Sai Kishore getting the big wickets of the consistent Rohan Kadam (0) and captain Manish Pandey (13, 15 balls, 2X4) while Sanjay Yadav nailed Karun Nair (18).
Tamil Nadu looked in control of proceedings and kept the opposition batters under check before some poor bowling by T Natarajan (1/44 from 4 overs), brought into the XI in place of P Saravana Kumar who took a fifer in the semi-finals, and Sandeep Warrier (1/34 in 4) gave away runs towards the end.
In their run chase, Tamil Nadu appeared to stutter after a bright start by opener C Hari Nishaanth (23, 12 balls, 1X4, 2X6) before he was run out. N Jagadeesan, the other opener, struggled to force the pace, making 41 from 46 balls as did skipper Vijay Shankar (18, 22 balls).
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, TN captain Vijay Shankar praised Shahrukh Khan for his brilliant innings.
“Overall, we played amazing cricket. Everyone fought really hard. This innings was due from Shahrukh. He stepped up and did very well,” he said.
Hearty congratulations to champions TN. Well played.