Tamilnadu thrashed Gujarat by 78 runs in its final Group C match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday to finish with an all-win record in the 10-team group. Tamilnadu, which topped the group with 36 points from nine games and second-placed Gujarat (32 points), qualified for the knockout phase to be held in Bengaluru from 20 October.Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel won the toss and put Tamil Nadu in to bat and saw the experienced Abhinav Mukund (79, 68 balls, 13 fours) and Murali Vijay (94, 106 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes) rattle up 130 for the first wicket.
The opening partnership was broken by the experienced Piyush Chawla, who had Mukund stumped by Parthiv. Then Washington Sundar made 42 (65 balls, 2 fours) and added 82 runs for the second wicket with Vijay. However, Tamilnadu suffered a jolt, losing Vijay and the prolific skipper Dinesh Karthik (0) in quick succession. Barring a partnership of 43 runs between all-rounder Vijay Shankar (23, 28 balls, 1 six) and the in-form Baba Aparajith (25, 22 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes), the Tamil Nadu lower order fell apart to finish at 274 for 9 in 50 overs.
