TNPL 2017: Kovai Kings off to a winning start

Tirunelveli, July 24: In front of a packed stadium, Lyca Kovai Kings got their campaign off to a winning start beating Karaikudi Kaalai by 6 wickets in the second edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) Twenty20 tournament.

In the first match at the ICL Ground, Tirunelveli, Karaikudi Kaalai won the toss and elected to bat against Kovai Kings.

Karaikudi Kaalai got off to a sedate start losing a wicket in the powerplay as Vijay Kumar was watching the ball and was run out by the bowler K Vignesh while following through his run-up.

Captain S Badrinath and Anirudha Srikkanth steadied the ship as they had a 70-run partnership off 51 balls. Badrinath hit an elegant 41 runs with four fours and two sixes before he fell to a faint edge to the wicketkeeper.

Anirudha was gifted two lives during his innings and he made sure that he didn't let the chances go begging and finished as the top-scorer for his side with 52 runs off 42 balls.

Spinner Ajith Ram gave the Kovai side the much-needed breakthrough and two wickets fell in the 15th over. A sharp caught and bowled effort saw him get rid of Srinivasan while a direct hit from mid-on saw Shah Jahan falling short.

Anirudha brought up his 50 in style with a six. Captain Syed Mohammed led from the front by picking up two crucial wickets including the crucial breakthrough of getting Anirudh dismissed.

While trying to accelerate and increase the run rate he holed out. Some fine bowling at the death helped Kovai restrict Karaikudi to 158/8 in 20 overs.

Kovai started their run chase with a boundary and ended the powerplay with a six. Openers L Suryaprakash and Anirudh Sita Ram got the side off to a brisk start and brought up the team fifty in the powerplay. Suryaprakash topscored with 60 to help his side win the final over of the match.

Brief scores: Karaikudi Kaalai 158/8 in 20 overs (Anirudha Srikkanth 52, Syed Mohammed 2/26, K Vignesh 2/29) lost to Lyca Kovai Kings 160/4 in 19.3 overs (L Suryaprakash 60, R Rajkumar 2/25) by 6 wickets.

Monday's (July 24) match

Chepauk Super Gillies Vs VB Thiruvallur Veerans (ICL Ground, Tirunelveli) - 7.15 PM IST

OneIndia News