India Cements TN Premier League: Lyca Kovai Kings aim first win as they face Albert Tuti Patriots

After a painful Super Over loss to the Ruby Kanchi Warriors in their opener, Lyca Kovai Kings will aim to regroup and get their first win in the India Cements TN Premier League against Albert TUTI Patriots in Chennai on Tuesday. Albert Tuti Patriots, on the other hand, will aim to consolidate on their winning momentum even though will miss Dinesh Karthik (captain) and Abhinav Mukund. It may be noted that Lyca Kovai Kings had struggled with the bat but came good during fielding and bowling in the first game. Also, Murali Vijay’s inclusion is doubtful as he struggles with a wrist injury. Lyca Kovai Kings will look up to L Suryap Prakash, Akshay Srinivasan and Anirudh Sitaram to fire with the bat and give them a good start. Syed Mohammed is also expected to lead from the front and use his vast experience to good effect. All-rounder Harish Kumar can make a huge difference with his medium pacers as well as his ability to score quick runs. Bowling is a strong point for the Lyca Kovai Kings as the likes of M Mohammed, K Vignesh and Siva Kumar can be fast and accurate. And not to forget the off-spin of B Arun and Akshay Srinivas which can help stem the flow of runs in the middle overs. They will aim to improve their fielding — an area which cost them valuable runs in the first match. Albert Tuti Patriots, on the other hand, have two good opening batsmen in Kaushik Gandhi and Washington Sundar and will aim to pile on the runs at the top. The onus will be on the youngsters to get the team off to a good start and try and compensate for the loss of Karthik and Mukund. Maaruthi Raghav, Akash Sumra and U Sushil are the other players to watch out for. L Balaji will lead their bowling line-up and will aim to get the initial breakthroughs. It may be noted that Aswin Crist, G Moorthi, Aushik Srinivas and Akash Sumra were impressive in the first match and were a constant menace for Chepauk Super Gillies. All four were on the wicket-takers list; a stat which will give the team some confidence. Key contest: An interesting tussle awaits between Kaushik Gandhi and pacer M Mohammed. It remains to be seen as to who wins this battle between bat and ball.