Published: Aug 29, 2016, 06:19 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 29, 2016, 10:17 PM (IST)
Madurai Super Giants (MSG) will lock horns with VB Thiruvallur Veerans (VTV) in Match No. 6 of Tamil Nadu Premier League (2016) at NPR College Ground, Dindigul. We will provide all the live updates of this cracker of a contest. “Feel really happy, not for getting a hundred but for winning. 165 is a tough target, but I kept believing in myself. The wicket was such that if I played normal shots, I’ll get a lot of runs. It was a true wicket. We bowled really well, but even they batted well in the end. 165 was above par, the way we started. I’m leaving the team tomorrow, good luck to the boys for the rest of the games,” said Baba Aparajith after scoring 118 off 63 against Karaikudi Kaalai (KK) in their first contest. Also read: Chepauk Super Gillies register their 1st win in TNPL
His blistering innings helped his team beat Subramaniam Badrinath’s KK by 5 wickets. “To be honest, 165 was a good score on this wicket, I was happy going into field. Our gameplan was to start steady, setup a nice base and then take it from there. There was dew towards the end, I wasn’t expecting that. It was getting heavy as the match progressed. Our seamers didn’t execute and that cost us. Change of pace and yorkers if we can execute them in tandem, that’ll be very useful. Aparajith played a tremendous knock, taking no credit away from him,” Badrinath said after the match.
However, it was Abhishek Tanwar in the first innings who took 3 for 29 to put KK on the back foot. To add to the fire, with the help of Malolan Rangarajan’s 2 for 18, VTV managed to restrict the opposition to 165 for 6, on a track that assisted the batsmen. Also read – MSG 131/6 in 18 overs | TNPL 2016 Live Updates: DDD vs MSG, DDD win by 14 runs
On the other hand, MSG lost their first contest against Dindigul Dragons (DDD) by 14 runs. DDD posted 142 runs in 20 overs at NPR College Ground, Dindigul. Nonetheless, MSG could manage only 131 runs, losing 7 wickets. None of the batsmen could anchor the innings and provide the much needed impetus. Had Singamuthu Thiyagarajan not scored 37 off 20, MSG wouldn’t have even cross the 100-run mark.
For MSG to get the better of VTV, they will have to bat out of their skins to win the contest.
“Talking about the TN Premier League you have a fresh platform, yes you have other tournaments and everything that goes around and is part of the BCCI schedule, then it goes down to the state association and how they plan everything. But this is something that is relatively new and it gives the opportunity to a fresh set of youngsters, with eight teams there is a big number of players that are needed for the league to function properly. So it gives them that opportunity too, it allows them to play in quite a different scenario. Quite a few of them would not have played night matches so far so this is an opportunity for them to get a glimpse of that.
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,” Dhoni told tnca.cricket before the tournament. Also read – TNPL 2016 Schedule & Fixture: Complete Time Table, Dates, Venue & Match Timings of Tamil Nadu Premier League
He further added: “The players who play well here since it’s being telecast by Star as well everyone will have a look at the players and I feel this is something that has changed since the start of the IPL (Indian Premier League). All the franchisees are on the constant look-out for players who can give that something special to their team and I feel this is where you can get it.
It will actually motivate a lot of youngsters to do well when it comes to cricket and perform under pressure because when it comes to franchisee cricket; you’re slightly under a different kind of pressure. So it actually helps them to get into a frame of mind where they can perform consistently under pressure and also the fact that they will be sharing the dressing room with a lot of India players if the schedule permits or players who have consistently played for the TNCA and who have been very successful for the state. So I feel it will be a very good exposure for the youngsters.”
Squads:
Madurai Super Giants: Arun Karthik (c & wk), Ganapathi Vignesh, Shijit Chandran, Suresh Kumar, S Aswin Kumar, P Francis Rokins, Singamuthu Thiyagarajan, Lakshminarayanan Vignesh, M Raja, Muruganantham, DT Chandrasekar, Andrew Subikshan, Maan Bafna, C Madhu, Pitchaiayan Sakthi, Varun Narender, R Mihir, Edward Kennedy
VB Thiruvallur Veerans: Hari Nishanth, NS Chaturved, Baba Aparajith (c), Vignesh, R Kavin (wk), Malolan Rangarajan, Abhishek Tanwar, Lakshmi Narayanan, Rahil Shah, Jaganath Sinivas, Ramalingam Rohit, U Mukilesh, Samuel, Santosh Shiv, Silambarasan, Sanjay Yadav, Samruddh Bhat, Govindaraj, S Arun
