A century by Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and a five-wicket haul by S Sriram, including a hat-trick, helped Tamil Nadu beat Bengal by 27 runs and reach the final of the Ranji Inter-State one-day tournament, at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Sivaramakrishnan smashed 123 runs off just 120 balls, hitting 13 fours and a six, to enable his team post 277 in its allotted 50 overs before Sriram, despite failing with the bat, claimed a five-wicket haul with his left-arm spin as Tamil Nadu dismissed Bengal for 250 in 49.3 overs.
Making first use of the wicket after winning the toss, Tamil Nadu lost opener S Suresh cheaply, as he was bowled by medium pacer S S Paul for just five runs with the team's score reading 25 runs.
Seasoned Sriram, who joined the other opener, Sivaramakrishnan, also did not last long, bowled by Sourashish Lahiri after scoring 17.
However, skipper Hemang Badani joined Sivaramakrishnan in the middle and together they added 103 runs for the third wicket before Badani was caught by S S Paul off Rohan Gavaskar. Badani scored 54 runs in 68 balls, including four boundaries.
After his captain's wicket, Sivaramakrishnan, who held the other end tight, was looking for partners. The other Tamil Nadu batsmen fell cheaply but Sivaramakrishnan did not lose heart and continued to dominate Bengal bowlers before being caught by Ranadeb Bose off Gavaskar.
S S Paul was the main wicket taker for Bengal, claiming three wickets while Ranadeb Bose and Gavaskar took two wickets each.
