Dindigul, August 1: Chepauk Super Gillies recorded their first win in six outings in the TNPL 2018 when they defeated VB Kanchi Veerans by 13 runs at the NPR College ground in Natham (Dindigul) on Tuesday (July 31).
Defending champions Gillies outplayed Kanchi Veerans in all three departments of the game, and although they will not make the Playoffs for the first time in three seasons, the win will certainly come as a confidence booster. Kanchi Veerans are also out of the Playoffs race with a fifth loss in six matches.
Batting first, Gillies posted their highest Powerplay score of the season, 69/1. Opener S Karthik struck a 44-ball 76 (11x4, 2x6).
Gillies, however, failed to build on the early momentum and were reduced to 147/5 in 18 overs after being 100/1 at the end of 10. Murugan Ashwin 34 not out (17b, 4x6) and A Arif 14 not out (11b, 1x6) collected 33 runs from the last two overs to lift Gillies to a competitive 180/5.
Off Side - 80%
— TNPL (@TNPremierLeague) July 31, 2018
On Side - 20%
How often do you see this in a T20?
Karthik S of @supergillies stuck to his strengths today against @vbveerans #NammaOoruNammaGethu #CSGvVBKV pic.twitter.com/dRu41NolNB
Kanchi Veerans began solidly with openers S Arun 27 (19b, 3x4, 1x6) and K Vishal Vaidhya 24 (18b,4x4) putting on 53 in 35 balls. Gillies then struck thrice in seven balls to leave the Veerans struggling at 55/3.
Veerans' middle order tried to keep the chase alive but Gillies kept picking regular wickets.
Brief scores: Chepauk Super Gillies 180/5 in 20 overs (S Karthik 76, M Ashwin n.o. 34, K H Gopinath 31, B Aparajith 2-18) beat VB Kanchi Veerans 167/9 in 20 overs (S Arun 27, R Divakar 24, MK Sivakumar 2-21, M Ashwin 2-22, S Bhat 2-38) by 13 runs.