Ruby Kanchi Warriors kick started their Tamil Nadu Premier League campaign with a win in a low-scoring thriller against the Lyca Kovai Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The match also saw the first super over in TNPL.
Chasing a total of 127 to win, Warriors lost early wickets but managed to be in contention for a win, thanks to sensible knocks from Nilesh Subramaniam, Jagadeesan Kousik and skipper Baba Indrajith.
Warriors were in a spot of bother early on as they lost their opener Bharath Shankar and star batsman M Shah Rukh Khan inside the second over. AC Prathiban too followed them to the pavilion soon after. Warriors’ batting mainstay Indrajith had to retire due to cramps when he was on 6 and it was when the things got worse for the batting side.
Nilesh and Kousik stitched together a 66 run partnership off 62 balls and both the batsmen kept the scorecard moving and took their side closer to the victory. Indrajith returned after the fall of Nilesh and almost took the team home with a 25-ball 31.
With 6 needed off 2 balls, Indrajith hit the ball straight over the bowler’s head and the ball went through Murali Vijay’s hands into the boundary. With 2 needed off the last ball, Indrajith hit the ball straight to the square-leg fielder for a single and took the match into the super over.
Nilesh top-scored for the Warriors with a 42-ball 49 and J Kousik scored a timely 18 off 24 balls. Harish Kumar and B Arun took 2 wickets apiece for the Kings.
Earlier in the day, after being put into bat by Baba Indrajith, Lyca Kovai Kings never looked comfortable in the middle as their batsmen struggled to score runs easily. The outfield was slower than usual after the heavy pour down in the afternoon and adding to that, the wicket had something for the bowlers, which made the life difficult for the batsmen.
India’s test opener Murali Vijay made the initial hardwork and made sure that his team didn't lose early wickets and set a platform to go for the kill. But, unfortunately, Vijay was dismissed in an unlucky manner as he stepped on the wickets trying to push the ball to the fine leg region off his back foot.
After his wicket, Anirudh Sitaram made sure that there was no further hiccups in the Kovai innings and kept the scorecard ticking as Harish Kumar took the attack to the opposition with R Rohith finishing the innings with a final flourish.
Kovai ended their innings with a par total of 126/7 in their 20 overs. Sitaram was the highest scorer for them as he scored a 34-ball 39 while Harish and Vijay scored 26 off 16 and 24 off 28 respectively. R Jesuraj and Jagannathan Kaushik picked two wickets apiece for the Warriors.
In the super over, Warriors scored 13 (Indrajith 9* off 3 balls with a six) in their six balls without losing a wicket and in return, Kovai lost the wicket of Harish Kumar off the second ball. Vijay needed to score 5 runs off the last ball for a win, but he failed to connect his bat with the ball and gifting the win to the Warriors. Kings ended the super over bowled by R Jesuraj with 9 runs for the loss of a wicket.
The sides’ fielding made the difference as Kovai let off so many easy chances in the field and dropped few catches while Warriors were brilliant when it came to that department.
Brief scores: Lyca Kovai Kings 126-7 in 20 overs (Sitaram 39, Harish 26, R Jesuraj 2-28) tied with Ruby Kanchi Warriors 126-7 in 20 overs (Nilesh Subramaniam 49, B Indrajith 31*, B Arun 2-20). Ruby Kanchi Warriors beat Lyca Kovai Kings in super over.
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