Opener slams fastest List A double and highest individual score
BENGALURU: For a change, the weather stayed pleasant, but it still rained — records this time — at the Chinnaswamy stadium where Tamil Nadu played Arunachal Pradesh in a Vijay Hazare fixture. Tamil Nadu batters, led by N Jagadeesan (277; 141b; 25x4; 15x6), broke seven world records and one Vijay Hazare mark, dec imating Arunachal in the process. Opener Jagadeesan himself bettered four individual marks.
Batting first, Tamil Nadu amassed 506/2 — a record — with Sai Sudharsan also helping himself to a century (154; 102b; 19x4; 2x6). In reply, Arunachal were bowled out for 71 in 28. 4 overs with M Siddarth returning 5 fo r 12. Jagadeesan, 26, amassed the highest score in men's List A cricket, surpassing the mark of Surrey's Alistair Brown, who scored 268 (160b) against Glamorgan in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy in 2002.
The wicketkeeper-bat also became the first player to score five consecutive centuries (114 n. o, 107, 168, 128, 277) in men's List A. The double centu ry in 114 balls is now the joint fastest, equalling Travis Head's feat for South Australia against Queensland in the Marsh One-Day Cup in October last year.
Jagadeesan an d Sudarshan's opening association of 416 runs (232 balls) surpassed West Indies' Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels' second-wi cket partnership of 372 against Zimbabwe in 2015. The 15 sixes smashed by the right-hand bat is another record in Vijay Hazare Trophy, bettering Mumbai' s Yashasvi Jaiswal's 12 against Jharkhand in the 2019-20 season.
Tamil Nadu, last year's finalists, helped themselves to a few records as a team too. The 506 is the highest team total in the format. The previous highest was England's 498 against Netherlands earlier this year. The 435-run victory is another landmark with the previous best being Somerset's 346-run win over Devon in 1990. Minnows Arunachal employed eight bowlers, but still could n ot stop the onslaught. Leggie Chetan Anand conceded 114 runs in 10 overs, the most by a bowler in List A cricket.
Until Jagadeesan returned to the dressing room in the 42nd over, he was unaware of the milestones he had crossed. On the landmark innings, he said, "Just like any other innings, I started by pla ying to the merit of the ball. I was focused on starting well. Once I got in, I felt I could take on the bowlers and make good use of the situation."
In six matches so far, Jagadeesan has scored 799 runs at a strike rate of 125. 82 and he attributes his purple patch to a healthy mental space. "It has just been about being in a good state of mind before coming into the tournament and trying to stay in the moment. I'm not really worried about the scores, insteadI'm concentrating on the process. Yes, I'm happy with the runs I've made, but I play more for the intent and the mindset," said Jagadeesan as he looked set for a triple hundred.
"Missing out on the triple hundred is defini tely going to haunt me, since there were a lot of overs left.
Nevertheless, I feel proud of myself for being brave. Sometimes, when you close in on a landmark, you tend to curb your instincts to achieve the landmark, but I didn't do that," signed off Jagadeesan, who was released into the auction pool by Chennai Super Kings.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 506 for 2 in 50 overs (N Jagadeesan 277, B Sai Sudharsan 154, B Aparajith 31 not out, B Indrajith 31 not out) beat Arunachal Pradesh 71 all out in 28. 4 overs (M Siddharth 5/12) by 435 runs
