Badrinath’s first fifty of the India Cements Tamil Nadu Premier League helps set up Karaikudi Kaalai win against Lyca Kovai Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on September 9. Karaikudi Kaalai won the toss and elected to bat against the Kovai Lyca Kings. The Karaikudi side ended the Kovai side’s three-match winning streak, beating them comprehensively by 36 runs.
Experienced campaigners S Badrinath and S Aniruda helped their side set a competitive target of 160.
Birthday boy K Vignesh gave the Kovai side the ideal start as he dismissed opener R Srinivasan in the second over. Vijay Kumar hit some lusty blows all over the park before falling for a quick thirty-five of just twenty-one balls. S Badrinath anchored the Karaikudi innings and scored his first fifty of the league. Crucially involved in two vital partnerships with Vishal Vaidya and S Aniruda, the skipper scored 53 runs off 46 balls.
S Aniruda was dropped on four at long on by M Mohammed and he made the most of the life as he took on the bowlers. He also received a second life on thirty-nine as he was dropped by Syed Mohammed. His cameo of 45 of 29 balls which included two boundaries and three maximums helped his side post a good total.
The Kovai bowlers found it difficult to pick up wickets and their below-par effort in the field cost them dearly. M Mohammed picked up three wickets while K Vignesh pitched in with two. Thirteen boundaries and six maximums were scored.
The Kovai run chase started with Anirudh Sita Ram taking the attack to the Karaikudi bowlers. He especially took a liking to the left-arm orthodox bowling of Mohan Prasath and hit him for two sixes in an over. A flurry of wickets fell cheaply as Suresh Babu trapped L Suryaprakash early and Tarun Srinivas holed out to mid-on while R Rohith was run out of a direct throw from short fine leg.
Ganapathi Chandrasekar bowled a phenomenal spell, conceding only fourteen runs in his four overs he also picked up the important wickets of Anirudh Sita Ram and Tarun Srinivas.
Kovai's inability to build partnerships cost them dearly as wickets fell at regular intervals. Harish Kumar scored 20 runs before he fell while trying to accelerate the scoring. Sonu Yadav’s medium pacers wreaked havoc against their opponents not only was he economical but picked up four wickets as well. The Kovai tail wagged and scored the highest partnership of the innings.
Brief scores: Karaikudi Kaalai 159/5 in 20 overs (Vijay Kumar 35, 21b, 5x4, 1x6, S Badrinath 53, 43b, 6x4, 1x6, S Aniruda 45, 29b, 2x4, 3x6; M Mohammed 3/26, K Vignesh 2/25) beat Lyca Kovai Kings 123/9 in 20 overs (B Anirudh Sita Ram 35, 29b, 2x4, 2x6 ; Ganapathi Chandrasekar 2/14, Sonu Yadav 4/22) by 36 runs
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