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A sweet result for the Salem Spartans and they will hope that this gets the ball rolling for them as the tournament progresses. Speaking of a team needing a win to get their campaign going, the Siechem Madurai Panthers will be in action in a little while from now as they face the red-hot Dindigul Dragons at this very venue. It's a derby game of sorts with the stadium located right in between the home cities of these two teams and it promises to be a cracker. Do switch tabs and follow our coverage of that clash right here on Sportskeeda while keeping yourselves updated with further cricketing news and action from around the world on this very platform. For the moment though, this is the duo of Bidipto Datta and Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. Thank you so much for tuning in as we hope you enjoyed our coverage. See you around soon - buh-bye and have a great week ahead!
Abhishek Tanwar (Salem Spartans captain): Cricket will give you a lot one day and take things from you on another. It's just about staying stable and it worked for me. The ball swung well in the first two overs so I felt that taking another wicket will be useful for my team and so I bowled a third. The youngsters have been superb in the team. The first match was an off day and everyone experiences that but today was superb. (On Kaushik Gandhi batting in the middle-order) His experience aside, we felt that there was a chance of rain and so we had to go hard up front to stay ahead of the DLS score so we held him back.
Ganga Sridhar Raju (Ba11sy Trichy captain): We read the conditions and the wicket wrong. With teams struggling to chase in the last few games we thought of batting first and putting runs on the board. We are trying new combinations too. We will look to bounce back. Definitely, the intent with the bat was less. We looked to keep wickets in hand and then make up towards the end. We were aiming for 160-170. We had to take 3-4 early wickets with the new ball but we missed out on that.
Abhishek Tanwar is the Player of the Match for his stellar returns of 3/9 off four overs.
It's now time for the post-match presentation!
Kaushik Gandhi: (On this win) It's an important win for us. We lost the first game, so, winning this was important. Glad that we have got off the blocks now. (On his own batting prowess in the TNPL) There are many fine batters in this tournament, I'm glad that my contributions keep coming through. (On their captain Abhishek Tanwar's attitude today) Our captain bowled really well and lead right from the front today, which set things apart I feel between the teams.
Match Summary: Salem Spartans beat Ba11sy Trichy by 5 wickets.
Kaushik Gandhi 52* (32) | Abhishek Tanwar 3/9 (4) K Mani Bharathi 40 (33) | G Godson 3/34 (3)
A thoroughly professional performance across departments by Salem Spartans. They simply outclassed Ba11sy Trichy on all fronts, be it with the bat, ball or on the field and were clearly the better of the two sides today. It all began with a stellar bowling effort led by skipper Abhishek Tanwar which saw them restrict Trichy to a modest total of 139 which was always going to be tough to defend on this pitch.
The way Amith Sathvik and Akash Sumra began, it was clear that the Spartans were keen on asserting their dominance on the chase. Both unleashed a couple of dominating strokes and while they failed to kick on and post something substantial, they certainly set the tone for the experienced Kaushik Gandhi to then take over and get the job done. Francis Rokins pulled off a blinder to send Maan Bafna on his way with G Godson making regular inroads into the Spartans batting lineup and just keep Trichy afloat though.
Having said that, the asking rate was never out of bounds with the Spartans always ahead of the eight-ball. Kaushik used all his experience to steady the ship in the company of Mokit Hariharan while Trichy's fielders never looked switched on. Ganga Sridhar Raju could have turned to T Natarajan as well for a fresh spell but surprisingly, that wasn't to be on display. Despite Mokit perishing against the run of play, Kaushik was always in control of the situation and he picked the apt moment to flick a switch and ensure that his team would cross the finish line with plenty of time to spare, notching up a sublime half-century in the process.
In the end, it was a cruise for Salem Spartans who have bounced back in style to register their first win of the competition. As for Ba11sy Trichy, they have plenty to ponder over having lost two on the spin and with time not necessarily a luxury in this tournament. Stick around for the presentations folks...
And it ends in fitting fashion with a boundary. Might have been streaky, but there surely wasn't anything streaky about that chase alright. What a clinical performance by the Salem Spartans as they get off the mark in TNPL 2023!
15.2 K Easwaran to Muhammed Adnan Khan, THAT WILL DO IT! SALEM WIN! Full outside off-stump. Adnan goes for a big shot over mid-off. It takes the outside edge and flies away past the left of short third man for a boundary to hand Salem Spartans their first victory!
Muhammed Adnan Khan, RHB, comes to the crease
An anticlimax! Too little, too late though but what a stunning catch by skipper Ganga Sridhar Raju!
15.1 K Easwaran to S Abishiek, over the wicket, OUT! Full on middle-stump. Abishiek tries to go over mid-on on one knee but fails to connect well enough. It actually ends up as a catch to cover off the top edge! So, the wait for victory continues for Salem. S Abishiek c Ganga Sridhar Raju b K Easwaran 6 (8b, 1x4, 0x6)
K Easwaran [2.0-0-18-1] is back into the attack
Seems like Kaushik won't be able to hit the winning runs but my word, what a fantastic innings this has been. He has timed his acceleration beautifully and has just made it look too easy for someone who hasn't played a lot of competitive cricket heading into this tournament. Class surely is permanent alright! The Spartans are just one run away from their first win of the season.
15
overs
139/4score
0
0
6
6
6
0
runs
Kaushik Gandhi*
52(32)
S Abishiek
6(7)
Antony Dhas
0/30
14.6 Antony Dhas to Kaushik Gandhi, good length wider delivery outside off-stump. A swish and a miss away from the body this time. No run.
Oh my word just hold the pose Kaushik Gandhi! What a way to bring your half-century and level the scores in the process.
14.5 Antony Dhas to Kaushik Gandhi, THIRD SIX OF THE OVER AND KAUSHIK GANDHI GETS TO HIS FIFTY! Full on off-stump. Just a firm push over long-off with the full face of the bat for a maximum! That is some shot! Scores level now.
Seems like the net run-rate is on Kaushik's mind here. He wants to finish this off quickly!
14.4 Antony Dhas to Kaushik Gandhi, SIX MORE! Short around off-stump. Hammered over cow corner off the back foot after picking up length early for a maximum!