Published: Sep 10, 2016, 07:29 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 10, 2016, 07:51 PM (IST)
In what was an important game for the Chepauk Super Gillies against the Madurai Super Giants at the NPR College Ground at Natham, the Super Gillies came out victorious as they defeated the Giants by 55 runs to seal their place for the play-offs in the first ever Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2016. Thalavian Sargunam’s blistering knock of 73 off 46 balls which was later followed by Rajagopal Sathish’s aggressive knock of 57 not-out off 27 balls helped the Gillies to mount a target of 179 in 20 overs to which the Giants could only muster 123 for 9 in 20 overs. ALSO READ: TNPL 2016: RKW beat MSG by 7 wickets to knock them out of tournament
Gillies were the favourites for this one as they gained confidence thanks to a close win over table-toppers Dindigul Dragons in their previous game. That six-run win at ensured that Gillies were in all probability qualify for the play-offs and they just had to ensure their place by winning this match which they did quite comfortably.
Winning the toss, The Gillies decided to bat first only to lose their opener Gopinath early into the game. Gopinath could only score 6 runs before he departed in the second over leaving his team at 11. Jothimani Subhash who came in at No.3 was quick to follow Gopinath as he too departed for a score of 3. Things were looking quite uncomfortable for the CSG as they lost 2 important batsman in quick successions.
Sathiamoorty Saravanan who walked into bat at No.4 played a good knock of 33 of 28 balls before getting out. But Saravanan’s knock came on at a very crucial time which helped the CSG to reach a comfortable total of 87 for the loss of 3 wickets. Sargunam who was standing at the other end shifted his batting gears since the time Sathish came into bat. Both batsman started hitting every ball almost over the boundary rope which cleared their intentions. ! ALSO READ: Videos: In India for TNPL, ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle, ‘DJ’ Dwayne Bravo accorded grand
Amidst all this, Sargunam scored his half-century. It was a calm and composed innings from Sargunam which did not look shaky at all right from the first ball. He made sure that his team reached a comfortable situation before he cut loose and broke from his shackles. He also got a good hand from the other end from Sathish who too was attacking at the same level as was Sargunam.
Sargunam who was hitting almost every ball out of the ground got out in the same fashion as he tried to heave one over the covers. But before he departed, he made sure that his team had reached well beyond 150. After Sargunam departed it was just Sathish’s show as he took on the responsibility on his shoulders and mustered runs in huge quantity in the last 3 overs.
With the help of such powerful hitting, CSG reached a total of 178 which looked a huge total for the Madurai Super Giants.
The MSG’s stated off well as compared to all their starts in this TNPL 2016. Both their openers got off to a good start especially Arun Karthik who attacked from the very first ball he faced. Karthik and other opener Ganapati Vighnesh scored 44 runs together before Vighnesh departed for a score of 15 off 16 balls.
Later walked in batsmen Shijit Chandran too departed quickly as he tried to increase thei run rate as it was climbing high every over. Suresh Kumar, Mann Bafna all got off to a good start but could not convert it into a big one. Karthik remained the top scorer for his team with 34 off 28 balls while the second best score for the MSG was 19 by Suresh Kumar.
As wickets kept tumbling for the MSG, they never looked like reaching their target of 179. Much wasn’t expected from the tail-enders as the required run rate was Soaring Mountain high and they never were going to make it. Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore was the pick of the bowlers for the CSG as he picked up three wickets in his spell of 4 overs while giving away just 12 runs.
The Giants are already out of the tournament and so all they could do was play a party-spoiler for the Gillies if they had won it. But they stuck to their form which they have displayed in this TNPL and left the ground in utter disappointment. On the other hand, the Gillies would be extremely happy with the way they have qualified for the play-off’s and will look to continue their form in the next round of the TNPL
Brief Score: Chepauk Super Gillies 178 for 5 (Thalaivan Sargunam 73, Rajagopal Sathish 57; Ganapati Vighnesh 2 for 28) won vs Madurai Super Giants 123 for 9 (Arun Karthik 34, Suresh Kumar 19; Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 3 for 12) by 55 runs in 20 Overs
