Baroda vs Tamil Nadu, Final at Ahmedabad, SMA TROPHY, Jan 31 2021 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10.30pm And that is it! TN raise the trophy and it's a subdued celebration. The winners of the first tournament in this curtailed domestic season. And that closes our coverage for tonight as well. We will see you soon. Good night!

Dinesh Karthik: It really hurt us last year, we lost by a whisker. This year we had our sights on the knockouts and then we got consistent. It's the sign of a good team. I think just the fact that there are players like Natarajan and Sundar in the Indian team, who were in this team last year, is the sign of a team doing well. I'm sure there are a few who'll go on from this team as well. I think over a period of time you understand a lot of things, the reason you play the sport; these last 4-5 years have been great for me. Playing for the country has made me urge to do well for the state team as well. This is the biggest stadium, when you have an IPL game here it's going to be fantastic. Throughout the tournament it's been competitive, can't wait to play an IPL match here. I think our support staff has done a great job. The assistant coach Prasanna, he and I do all the strategy work. We have a very good working relationship. Over a period of time we've understood how to take this team forward. I would like to thank the Gujarat Association, Jay Shah, Arun Dhumal for looking after us well.

M Siddharth: I just wanted to keep it simple for the team and it paid off. I'm glad it paid off. I've been working hard on my variations. My arm ball always gives me wickets and I just go with it.

M Siddharth is the Player of the Match.

Kedar Devdhar: I want to congratulate the TN team and also my team. Without our big players we reached here. Win and loss is part of the game, we should be proud of this effort. The support staff and strength and conditioning guys, the assistant coach, the players, have all put in big efforts in the tournament. Once in a while you have days like this, it's alright. We'll take the positives.

10:13pm That is SMA title number two for Tamil Nadu, who came so close last, falling short by only a run. This year, they've gone unbeaten the whole way, with seven successful chases. an incredible, unstoppable team this season and deserved winners. They're now tied with Baroda and Karnataka with two SMA titles. a 22-year-old Dinesh Karthik was the captain when they last won it in 2007, and here he is again. Used his resources considerably well. The conditions were tilted towards their strengths in spin, and they made the adjustment after going for runs in the semi-final against Rajastan: brought in the extra spinner in M Siddharth today, and he took four wickets straight away. And then a measured chase. It was a pitch where you had to be watchful, but once the dew came in, batting eased out. And they planned the acceleration perfectly to hunt down the target.

For Baroda, an unreal season comes to an end. No Pandyas, no Hooda, and until today, they hadn't lose a game in the tournament. That experience is perhaps what could have made a difference for them today as they were blown out of the contest inside ten overs. Still, they mustered a fight, as they have all season. They made half a game out of it, but it would never be enough. A bittersweet end to Kedar Devdhar and his team.

Vishal Pawar: "That shot, that dismissal and the timing of it sum up DK's career. So much talent, so much promise, yet quite not up there! "

Vishal Pawar: "That shot, that dismissal and the timing of it sum up DK's career. So much talent, so much promise, yet quite not up there! " --- But it was clear that he was here to play the boundary-hitting role, so the shot was on

Ashwin: "A team chasing at a rate of just over 6 rpo with 8 wickets left in the last 5. There is no thought of a low score thriller! It has been and will be TN's game!"

Kunal: "@Neev, at 89/2 in 15 overs chasing 121, a low scoring thriller is all one can expect, really!"