Tamil Nadu are well on course for a record fifth Vijay Hazare Trophy after the Southern side scored a convincing six-wicket win over Baroda in the first semi-final of the domestic ODI tournament at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu, who won the trophy four times earlier, last qualified for the title clash way back in 2009-2010 season.
Invited to bowl, Tamil Nadu first shot out Baroda for a meagre 219 in 49.3 overs and then chased down the runs with consummate ease in 47.3 overs.
India discard wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik top-scored for Tamil Nadu with a patient 107-ball 77 while skipper remained unbeaten on 53 off 67 balls.
Earlier, left-arm orthodox bowler Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore (4/59) registered his best List A figures as Baroda suffered a middle-order collapse after Kedar Devdhar (46) and Aditya Waghmode (45) stitched 92 runs for the opening stand.
Krunal Padya (30), Pinal Shah (360 and skipper Irfan Pathan (27) also got starts for Baroda before giving away their wickets.
Besides Sai Kishore, Washington Sundar (2/20), A Aswin Crist (2/22) and Rahil Shah (2/36) shared the spoils for Tamil Nadu.
Chasing the modest target, Tamil Nadu lost openers Kaushik Gandhi (19) and V Ganga Sridhar Raju (15) in quick succession before Karthik and Baba Aparajith (28) steadied the ship with a 60-run third wicket partnership that laid the foundation for the win.
Atit Sheth (3/36) and Soaeb Tai (1/45) were the wicket takers for Baroda.
Brief Scores:
Baroda: 219 all out in 49.3 overs (Kedar Devdhar 46, Aditya Waghmode 45; Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 4/59) vs Tamil Nadu: 220 for four in 47.3 overs (Dinesh Karthik 77, Vijay Shankar 53 not out; Atit Sheth 3/36).
