Published: Sep 17, 2016, 05:22 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 17, 2016, 10:38 PM (IST)
Lyca Kovai Kings will be squaring against Chepauk Super Gillies today for the second semi-final of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2016 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The last time these two teams faced each other was in the group stage matches wherein The Kovai Kings won the match by 11 runs. But things have changed for the both the teams since then. The Super Gillies have come up as the strongest team of the lot. They topped the table in the group stages with just two defeats from seven matches they played. While the Kovai Kings stood fourth in the table with eight points from seven games out which they won four and lost three.
Both teams have had a contrasting way to qualify for the semi-finals. The Super Gillies won their last group stage match against the VB Thiruvallur Veerans with a big margin of 41 runs. On the other hand, the Kovai Kings came out victorious against the Dindigul Dragons in a tight contets by 16 runs. Moreover they also had to wait for the result of the last group stage match between the Karaikudi Kaalai vs Ruby Kanchi Warriors to see themselves through to the semis. The Kaalai’s had to win this match by a bigger margin to qualify themselves as a bigger win would have earned them a good net run-rate as compared to the Kings. The Kaalai’s managed to win the match but not in a fashion they would have desired as they were still trailing by the required net run-rate.
The Chepauk Super Gillies have been one of the strongest teams in the competition with bat as they have managed to score almost 160+ runs in every match wherein they batted first. Their openers KH Gopinath and Thalaivan Sargunam have given their team the best possible start in every match with Sargunam being one of the best batsman of the tournament. Moreover Vasanth Saravan at No. 3 has been another stabilising force for the team who has batted responsibly throughout the tournament and has made sure that his team would reach a responsible total towards the end of the innings. The trio of Gopinath, Sargunam and Saravan have managed to score astonishing 641 runs between them in the group stages matches. Saravan has received handy knocks from other hand from the Super Gillies skipper R Satish who too has been quite consistent in the group stages.
The bowling department has performed well for the Gillies complementing their batters. The bowling department is spear-headed by Antony Dhas who has picked up 11 wickets in the tournament so far. Dhas has received good support from the other end from R Alexander and Sai Kishore. Amidst all this Ashwath Mukunthan made a remarkable debut against VB Thiruvallur Veerans where he picked up is maiden 5-for which makes it very likely for his inclusion in today’s semi-final clash. READ: TNPL 2016 Points Table
The Kovai Kings have a very strong bowling lineup as compared to all other teams. Their batting hasn’t been that strong as they have been able to put up low-scoring targets against their opponents. But due their strong bowling attack the Kings have the knack of defending low totals too which has been very strong aspect of their team. Their pace attack is lead by M Mohammed, K Vignesh and Harish Kumar and these bowlers have always given their team the necessary breakthroughs throughout the group stage clashes. With such a strong pace attack on one side, the Kovai Kings also has experienced players MK Siva Kumar who has been like a mentor for the young guns in their team. In batting team, Anirudh Sita Ram has been the standout player for his team. Anirudh has been quite consistent in the group stages with his bat and has scored 281 runs in the TNPL 2016 so far. Suryaprakash has also had a few good knocks and will looking to carry his form from the last match into the semis. Captain Syed J Mohammed will hope to click with the bat and ball as they will be without the services of Murali Vijay.
In the first semi-final between the Albert TUTI Patriots and Dindigul Dragons, the TUTI Patriots came out as comprehensive winners as they defeated the Dragons by 38 runs to enter the finals of the TNPL 2016. With the champion’s title at stake, the last two matches are going to be cracker for sure. All eyes will be on today’s clash as the other finalist of the tournament will be decided today.
Teams:
Lyca Kovai Kings: Adhithya Giridhar, S Ajith Ram, Devendra Anchit, B Anirudh Sita Ram, JS Mohammad(c), B Arun, Ravi Kumar Rohith(wk), K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan, S Harish Kumar, Murugesan Kamlesh, M Mohammed, Vijay Shankar, MK Sivakumar, Akshay Srinivasan, L Suryaprakash, S Tarun Srinivas, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh, Murali Vijay
Chepauk Super Gillies: Arun Kumar, Rajagopal Sathish(c), Antony Dhas, Gopinath(wk), Joel Joseph, Yo Mahesh, Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, Sathiamoorty Saravanan, Thalaivan Sargunam, R Alexander, Aditya Barooah, Jothimani Gowjith Subhash, S Karthik, Ashwath Mukumthan, Baskaran Rahul, Rajeel Abdul Rahman, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Uthirasamy Sasidev, V Shibi Jawahar, SI Vasudevan, PS Nirmal Kumar
