Published: Sep 06, 2016, 09:43 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 06, 2016, 09:49 PM (IST)
In the Tamil Nadu Premier League match No. 16 which was played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai between Madurai Super Giants and Karaikudi Kaalai, the Kaalai’s won the match quite comprehensively by 52 runs. Batting first the Kaalai’s set a target of 150 runs in 20 overs after some monstrous hitting from batsman No.6 R. Rajkumar. Rajkumar scored a blistering knock of 46 of 19 balls which helped his side to reach a total of 149 for the loss of 7 wickets and bagged 3 wickets Following this target the MSG never looked in competition as they kept on losing their wickets at regular intervals.
Karaikudi finally opened their account winning a low-scoring thriller against the Albert TUTI Patriots in their last outing. Madurai Super Giants came close to notching their first win against Lyca Kovai Kings but fell short by 10 runs in a high-scoring game
In a must-win match for both sides, the Madurai Super Giants faced board Karaikudi Kaalai at. MSG had not won a single game before this and to keep their challenge alive in this series, it was necessary that they won this match as they lied at the bottom of the table. KK on the other hand had won their last match, but had lost the first two matches of the TNPL 2016.
As it was a must win game for both the sides, it was very likely that both teams would go out all guns blazing to win this game. KK won the toss of this match No.16 and opted to bat against MSG. KK started off well as they kept the scoreboard ticking as Vijay Kumar went on to hit some glorious boundaries early in the innings. But his presence was short lived on the pitch as he was the first to get dismissed. Srinivasan and KK Skipper Badrinath tried to stabalise their innings. But some disciplined bowling from MSG made the flow of runs hard. KK were scoring at less than 6 RPO.
With the intentions to increase the flow of runs as the overs were getting done quickly, Kaalai’s batsman tried hitting some big shots and that is where they succumbed. Most of the batsman could not get to the pitch of the ball or else they went for some irresponsible shots and eventually ended up losing their wickets.
It seemed like the Kaalai’s were on a wicket loosing spree as all main batsman had returned back into the dugout. But R Rajkumar who walked in at No.6 turned the fortunes for Kaalai’s. He scored an awesome knock of 46 runs of 19 balls which included four boundaries and four glorious sixes.
It was his innings that made sure that the Kaalai’s went past the score of 120 quite comfortable, which looked very unlikely after the first 10 overs of the first innings. Except for Rajkumar, all other Kaalai’s batsmen found it tough to score as they lost their wickets. After the end of 20 over Kaalai’s had put up a decent target of 150 in front of the Madurai Super Giants which is a respectable total for any team given the way they started off. Following the target of 150, the Madurai Super Giants had a bad start. Top three batsmen Singamuthu Thiyagarajan, Arun Karthik, Suresh Kumar departed very quickly one after the other.
Next batsman Shijit Chandran was fighting a lone battle from one as MSG had lost 6 wickets under 10 overs. Kaalai’s bowling should be appreciated as they kept in banging the ball short of length which the Super Giants batsmen found tough to hit. With the required run rate soaring high after every ball and almost after 10 overs, the MSG batsman had no other option but to try hitting the ball over the boundary rope. They did try but could not get the required result as their batsmen were giving out catches to the KK’s fielders.
Shijit Chandran played a lone hand for MSG as he scored 43 but he could not find any partner at the other end and eventually MSG could only muster 97 runs. R Rajkumar who played delightful innings with the bat was actually the hero of the match as he claimed 4 wickets in his four overs and gave away just 19 runs. His all-rounder performance has helped the Kaalai’s to win the their second match in the row.
Situation was turning worse for MSG as they had more 90 runs to chase in 60 balls and only with 4 wickets in hand and that too the 4 wickets comprised of their bowling department, MSG looked like never getting out of the pit they had dug for themselves. It just looked like they were digging it deep for themselves as runs had stopped coming and also they were losing wickets on the other side.
To be precise the MSG never looked in competition and lot of credit goes to Kaalai’s bowling unit as they stuck to their basics and bowled a decent line and length. With wickets falling continuously and also runs not coming easily, MSG batsmen ever looked like in the game. They were poor in their shot selections and that is what made them suffer.
Brief scores:
Karaikudi Kaalai 149 for 6 (R Rajkumar 46, S Badrinath 24; Mann Bafna 2 for 14) won against Madurai Super Giants (Shijit Chandran 43, Arun Karthik 13; R Rajkumar 4 for 19 ) by 52 runs
