Vijay Hazare Trophy: Abhinav Mukund, Dinesh Karthik shine in Tamil Nadu’s win over Rajasthan

Dinesh Karthik with a brisk knock of 52 not out (52 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) saw the team home in the company of M Shahrukh Khan (47 not out, 39 balls, 6 fours).

Half-centuries by out-of-favour India opener Abhinav Mukund (75, 83 balls, 7 fours) and Baba Aparajith (52, 67 balls, 2 fours) helped Tamil Nadu put it across host Rajasthan by six wickets in its opening Group ‘C’ match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Jaipur on Tuesday.

A file photo of Dinesh Karthik. (Action Images via Reuters)

Skipper Dinesh Karthik with a brisk knock of 52 not out (52 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) saw the team home in the company of M Shahrukh Khan (47 not out, 39 balls, 6 fours).

The left-handed Mukund and Aparajith set the platform for Tamil Nadu after the aggressive N Jagadeesan (7) fell in the seventh over to left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary.

Mukund played some fine shots while Aparajith preferred to be watchful and rotated the strike well.

Earlier, sent in to bat by Tamil Nadu, the home team recovered from 53 for 4 to post 261 in the 50 overs, thanks to a strokeful knock of 77 by right-hander Arjit Gupta.

Gupta, who hit seven fours and three sixes in 82 balls, was involved in a 87-run partnership with Ashok Menaria (35).

Medium-pacer K Vignesh bowled well to start with and got opener Chetan Bist (4) in the second over. He dismissed the other opener Manender Singh (7) and the key wicket of captain Mahipal Lomror (11, 27 balls) to reduce Rajasthan to 53 for 4.

In other matches on Tuesday, Tripura defeated Jammu & Kashmir by two wickets and Gujarat beat Bengal by 38 runs.