Madurai Super Giants’ agony in the India Cements TN Premier League came to an end as a seven-wicket loss to Ruby Kanchi Warriors on Friday, at the NPR College Ground, Natham, knocked them out of contention for a play-off spot.
With this loss, Giants, who are still winless, have no chance of qualifying for the play-offs. Giants, who won the toss and opted to bat first, were off to a shaky start as Arun Karthik went for a golden duck.
S Thiyagarajan (23), who was lucky to have been dropped twice by the Kanchi fielders, couldn’t capitalize and was finally caught by J Kousik at point. Shijit Chandran (53) continued his good run as he notched up his first half-century of the tournament.
His 51-run partnership with Suresh Kumar (28) gave Giants hope before Chandran was dismissed. That triggered off a batting collapse – a recurring theme for Giants in the tournament so far.
A Pratibhan (3 for 28) picked up two wickets in an over, including that of Shijit. P Sakthi (16) tried to counter-attack and hit a few biggies, only to be dismissed by Pratibhan. The lower middle-order couldn’t really get going as the Giants finished on 135 for 9.
Bharath Shankar (37) gave Warriors a super start as he accelerated and cut loose. He looked fearless and punished the loose balls for boundaries and sixes, with leg-spinner Muruganantham bearing the brunt.
Despite Shankar’s dismissal, the Warriors were well on course to chase down the target.
The Giants later applied the brakes as Nilesh Subramanium (24) tried to consolidate with a run-a-ball knock. With 44 required off 41 deliveries, Nilesh soon fell, but Akkil Srinath (38 not-out) scored 15 runs off Chandran’s over to bring down the required run-rate.
Srinath and Baba Indrajith (21 not-out) cleared the boundaries with ease, as the Warriors inched towards their second victory of the tournament. Muruganantham conceded 16 runs in his next over to effectively hand the game to the Giants.
Brief scores: Madurai Super Giants 135 for 9 ( Shijit Chandran 53, 37b, 5x4, 2x6, Suresh Kumar 28, 31b, 1x4, 1x6, A Prathibhan 3/28, Rajamani Jesuraj 2/29) lost to Ruby Kanchi Warriors (Akkil Srinath 38 not-out, 19b, 2x4, 4x6, Bharath Shankar 37, 24b, 4x4, 3x6, DT Chandrasekar 1/22 ) by seven wickets.
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