Published: Sep 13, 2016, 05:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 13, 2016, 09:58 PM (IST)
TUTI Patriots (TP) will lock horns with Madurai Super Giants (MSG) in match no. 27 of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2016 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Neither of these teams have qualified for the semi-finals of this south Indian extravaganza. While Patriots are placed at No. 6 (6 points), Giants are at the bottom of the points table. All the same, if Patriots manage to win this fixture, they will move up the table at No. 3, given the healthy net run-rate they have. Thus, they will leave no stone unturned to win the contest and seal a berth in the penultimate stage. ALSO READ: TNPL 2016: CSG thrash VTV by 41 runs
Meanwhile, Giants (not in any sense of the word) have not tasted victory in the six games they have played. Hence, they will aim to end the season on a winning note. To put things into perspective, Giants should at least put up a good fight, ensuring they make things difficult for the opposition.
Patriots, led by Lakshmipathy Balaji, were clinical in their last match against Ruby Kanchi Warriors, winning the match by 9 wickets. Patriots were excellent in the fielding, not letting the ball reach the boundary line. In addition, their bowled in the right corridor, keeping a lid on runs. It was Aswin Crist who picked up bulk of the wickets. His figures read 3 for 19. Meanwhile, V Athisayaraj Davidson scalped 2 wickets, giving away 30 runs.
Aushik Srinivas, who picked up a wicket, told tnca.cricket, “Even in Tamil Nadu first division tournament, there are at least one or two left arm spinners in each team. This tournament is like an extension of the league and that is why you see the similarity here as well. Basically we can give control in the game and there are also lot of right-handers playing in the TN Premier League. So that makes it little bit easier for us.” ALSO READ: DDD vs LKK, Live Streaming: Watch TNPL 2016, Match 26, Live telecast on TV
On the absence of stalwarts Dinesh Karthik and Abhinav Mukund, he said, “From the first game, we have been talking only about what each one of us are supposed to do and we have to do it correctly. We knew that we will be missing them because they have gone to play in the Duleep Trophy. We had couple of close games even with Abhi (Mukund) in the team. So it was imperative on us to make sure we don’t miss them much.”
To add to the fire, they fired on all cylinders and chased down 146 runs in a matter of just 16.3 overs, courtesy Kaushik Gandhi and Umashankar Sushil’s 76-run stand for the first wicket. While Sushil fell for 36 off 29, Gandhi went on plunder an unbeaten 80 off just 49, including 8 fours and 4 sixes. He was awarded Man of the Match for his valiant effort. “Nothing much was in my control in the earlier games as I kept getting out to instinctive shots. I knew one big innings was around the corner as I was hitting the ball well. I wanted to step up and pick up the other team mates as well,” said Kaushik. Also read: TNPL 2016, TUTI Patriots vs Madurai Super Giants, Preview and Predictions: Patriots
Nonetheless, Balaji seemed happy with his team’s performance. He added, “The boys played a very good brand of cricket and that is what we look to do. The boys showed intent and that is how we should be playing. If we pick wickets the match can change very quickly and our bowlers absorbed the pressure well. The bowling is one of the strongest points for us. Each of our batsmen are very keen on going out there and playing. We wanted to be strong in the top six and Sushil gave us a strong start.”
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni, before the tournament, said, “Not to forget this will take cricket into some of the smaller cities, you know we are quite used to playing here and there are some other places where you have grounds but some of the matches will also be played in some of the smaller cities where it will act as a promotional measure where you try to bring youngsters into cricket. I feel also what it does in the food chain is that it becomes a feeding ground for the local association which is the TNCA and also once CSK (Chennai Super Kings) gets back, it will be a feeding ground for CSK as well.”
On the other hand, Sushil and co. have lost all the six matches. Of course, they will be playing for pride. After losing to Chepauk Super Gillies, Shijit Chandran said, “We couldn’t execute our plans of bowling yorkers in the death. We are looking forward to have preparations and camps before the next season. Would try our best to win at least one game this season, do not want to go home without a win.” Also read: TUTIP vs MSG, Live telecast on TV & Online
Be it batting, bowling or fielding, Giants failed to dominate in all the departments of the game. Hence, it is imperative that they play well as a cohesive unit and end up being victorious in at least one match.
Squads:
Madurai Super Giants: Arun Karthik (wk), Andrew Subikshan, Maan Bafna, Shijit Chandran (c), DT Chandrasekar, Varun Narender, P Francis Rokins, C Madhu, Muruganantham, Pitchaiayan Sakthi, Lakshminarayanan Vignesh, Ganapathi Vignesh, Singamuthu Thiyagarajan, M Raja, R Mihir, Edward Kennedy, S Aswin Kumar, Palani Amarnath, Suresh Kumar
TUTI Patriots: Umashankar Sushil (wk), Siddarth Ahuja, Akash Sumra, Subramanian Anand, Aswin Crist, V Athisayaraj Davidson, Aushik Srinivas, Lakshmipathy Balaji (c), M Ganesh Moorthi, Kaushik Gandhi, V Lakshman, Maaruthi Raghav, Abhinav Mukund, SP Nathan, G Nicul Anand, R Sathyanarayan, R Vishaal, Washington Sundar, Dinesh Karthik
