Published: Sep 17, 2016, 11:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 17, 2016, 11:48 PM (IST)
Chepauk Super Gillies displayed an all-rounder performance in the second semi-finals of the Tamil Nadu Premier League as they defeated the Lyca Kovia Kings by 17 runs to enter the final. The Super Gillies won the toss and opted to bat first. Much was speculated from their opening pair G Gopinath and Thalaivan Sargunam as they had blasted off the opposition bowling in their group stage clashes. But the Super Gillies got off to a disappointing start as Sargunam got out very cheaply. But other opener Gopinath stuck to his guns and tried to keep the score moving for the Gillies.
Next came in batsman Gowjith Shubash also disappointed as he too was dismissed in quick succession. The Gillies were seen struggling in this fashion for the very first time in this whole tournament and things looked very bleak for them as they were struggling against some decent bowling from the Kovia Kings. But Sathiamoorty Saravanan who walked in at No. 4 for the Gillies made sure that they did not lose any further wickets and that they reached a respectable total by 10 overs at least. Both Gopinath and Saravanan went on to put a 74 runs partnership for the 3 rd wicket to take their team out of a tight spot. It seemed like both these batsmen will go all guns blazing from the 11 th over but Gopinath got out as he tried to accelerate the run-rate for their team. He was removed by M Mohammed on a score of 44.
Saravanan scored his half-century but could not convert it into a bug score as he too departed quickly after his fifty. Other batsmen who came in did not score much even though they got off to a great start. R Sathish, Sasidev had the work of making sure that their team went on to put up a challenging total but they got out after a good start. The Gillies eventually mounted a total of 162 which they would not have thought about given the way they had started their innings.
The Kings when came into bat had a difficult target of 162 to chase against a challenging bowling line-up. They got off to a good start as the opening pair of Suryaprakash and Anirudh Sita Ram put up an opening stand of 41 runs before Anirudh got out for a score of 23.Next batsmen Ravi Kumar Rohith and captain Mohammed got out very quickly. The Kings lost these two wickets in quick successions and the Kings had put up 56 runs on board with the loss of 3 wickets.
Tarun Srinivas scored 21 off 20 deliveries, Akshay Srinivasan scored 27 off 20 balls while Harish Kumar scored 13 runs of 12 deliveries. These were the only batsmen who went on to score runs in double digits except for the two openers. Opener Suryaprakash tried to play a lone wolf battle for his team while wickets were tumbling from one side, but his persistence soon perished as he was out for a score of 38 off 28 deliveries. He remained the high-scorer for his team.
Anthony Dhas carried on with his good form with his bowling as he took 3 important wickets. He finished with the figures of 4-0-21-3. Other bowler Sai Kishore was amongst the economical bowlers for the Gillies. Kishore finished with the figures of 4-1-17-2.
The Kings never looked like were in the chase as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. This is what hampered their bid to victory. The Super Gillies will now face Dinesh Karthik captained side Albert TUTI Patriots in the final of the Tamil Nadu Premier League on Sunday at the MA Chidambaram ground in Chennai.
The TUTI Patriots defeated the Dindigul Dragons in the first semi-final which was held on 16 th of September by 38 runs.
Tuti Patriots all-round performance sail them through final in the inaugural edition of TNPL defeating Dindigul Dragons by 38 runs on Friday at Indian Cement Company Ground in Tirunelveli. It was Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik’s outstanding partnership that ensured Patriots ended with an above par total of 187. Their highest total has been 171 in this tournament so far and with the batting unit putting all the efforts, Patriots were at the top. In response, Dragons top run-getter N Jagadeesan did score a fifty that ultimately went in vain. Thanks to Washington Sundar’s last magical spells that sealed the spot for Patriots in the final.
Brief Scores
Chepauk Super Gillies 161 for 7 (Sathiamoorty Saravanan 52, Gopinath 44; K Vighnesh2 for 21) defeated lyca Kovai Kings 144 for 9 (Suryaprakash 38, Srinivasan 27; Anthony Dhas 3 for 21) by 17 runs
