Sai Kishore’s hat-trick took him to ten wickets, and Tamil Nadu beat Uttarakhand by an innings inside three days
The Tamil Nadu captain took three wickets in three balls at Chepauk and finished with 10 for 74 in the match.
Oct 20, 2026
R Sai Kishore took a hat-trick at Chepauk on Tuesday, and Tamil Nadu beat Uttarakhand by an innings and 66 runs inside three days. The captain bowled Lakshya Raichandani, had Saurabh Rawat caught by Baba Indrajith in the slips and then found the edge of Aditya Rawat for N Jagadeesan to catch. Uttarakhand went from 103 for 5 to 103 for 8 in three balls and were all out for 113 soon after.
Sai Kishore finished with 6 for 34 in the second innings and 10 for 74 in the match. Tamil Nadu took seven points, the bonus included, for their first win of the season after a draw with Rajasthan in Jaipur.
“I think we’re even now”
The hat-trick had been a running joke. Speaking after the match, in comments reported by Cricinfo, Sai Kishore said his personal coach, Ramkumar, once took one for Tamil Nadu and kept reminding him that he never had. “I already have a T20 hat-trick and now I have one here as well,” he said. “I think we’re even now.”
On the field he barely celebrated, and he explained why. “I take it very personally that we have to win the Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu,” he said. “So, whenever that is done, I think I can actually celebrate.” Tamil Nadu have not won it since 1987-88.
How the match went
Tamil Nadu chose to bowl, and Gurjapneet Singh took 4 for 34 as Uttarakhand were bowled out for 134 on the first day. Avneesh Sudha’s 54 was the only score above 33. Sai Kishore had four in that innings too.
The batting then took its time. Pradosh Ranjan Paul made 136 off 279 balls and Indrajith 77 off 217, and the pair put on 171 for the third wicket. Mayank Mishra’s 5 for 118 from 37 overs and four wickets from Sudha pulled Tamil Nadu back to 313 all out, but the lead was already 179. Paul was named player of the match.
Uttarakhand’s second innings lasted 45.4 overs. S Ajith Ram took 4 for 33. Once Sai Kishore broke through in the 43rd over, the last five wickets fell for 10 runs.
Where Sai Kishore is now
He missed the South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy at the start of the season and played six first-class games for Gloucestershire instead. One of his wickets there, Ben Stokes bowled by a ball from around the wicket that turned back in, did the rounds online. He said a finger injury had held him back last season, when he took about three wickets a game.
Against Uttarakhand he worked both sides of the wicket, a habit he credits to his years around MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings. “MS Dhoni was very heavy on that, but at the time, I didn’t have understanding of it,” he said. He bowled two or three carrom balls and kept the rest simple because the pitch was helping his stock ball.
He has three T20I caps from the 2023 Asian Games, and ten wickets in a Ranji match is the sort of return that gets noticed. I would still bet he cares more about the other number: 38 years since Tamil Nadu last lifted the trophy.