Sai Sudharsan (64 n.o., 43b, 9x4, 1x6), who has been in fine form, guided a bouncer off medium-pacer Lokesh Raj over the wicketkeeper for a boundary. He also deftly touched one off left-arm spinner Silambarasan past the ’keeper for four.
Those two strokes reflected the nonchalance with which Lyca Kovai Kings chased down 126 to beat Chepauk Super Gillies by eight wickets in the 200th Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) match at the NPR cricket ground in Natham here on Monday.
Medium-pacer V. Yudheeswaran starred with three for 29 as Kovai Kings restricted Super Gillies to 126 for eight. The highlight of his bowling was the hard length he hit nine times in his first three overs and the two wickets they yielded.
Yudheeswaran had left-hander R. Sanjay Yadav caught behind and U. Sasidev, another left-hander, caught at long-off. Lokesh Raj was trapped lbw the next ball after Sasidev’s dismissal. Yudheeswaran conceded only 14 in his first three overs before his final over went for 15.
The spinners’ efforts were commendable, too. Left-armer M. Siddharth’s delivery that went with the angle caught Chepauk captain N. Jagadeesan off-guard at the crease.
Siddharth also ran out the in-form B. Aparajith at the non-striker’s end with a brilliant direct hit from point.
Shahrukh Khan, who decided to bowl himself in the fourth over in his 50th TNPL match, castled Santosh Shiv. The dismissals of Jagadeesan and Shiv was due to the batters’ lack of footwork against the spinners.
Leg-spinner Jhatavedh Subramanyan (3-0-10-1) also kept the Super Gillies batters on a leash.
Chasing a modest target, Sudharsan and Suresh couldn’t be contained by the bowlers.
The scores: Chepauk Super Gillies 126/8 in 20 overs (Harish Kumar 32, V. Yudheeswaran 3/29) lost to Lyca Kovai Kings 128/2 in 16.3 overs (Suresh Kumar 47, Sai Sudharsan 64 n.o.).
