Chennai, July 23: Dashing opener V Ganga Sridhar Raju powered Kovai Kings to an impressive eight-wicket victory over Ruby Trichy Warriors in their Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL 2021) match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here.

The left-handed opener smacked 74 off 52 balls (6 fours, 4 sixes) as Kovai Kings surpassed the target of 172 in 18.1 overs with 11 balls to spare. The win also puts them atop the eight-team table with three points from two matches.

Another left-hander Bhardwaj Sai Sudharsan, who caught the eye in the tournament opener with a strokeful 87 off 43 balls, too played a part by continuing from where he had left off by compiling an unbeaten 57 off 43 balls (6 fours, 1 six).

The second wicket partnership between Raju and Sudharsan that raised 106 runs off 69 balls completely shut Trichy Warriors out of the game. The 28-year-old Raju took off from the word go with two straight driven fours in the first over off pacer Sunil Sam. He never lifted his foot off the pedal and continued accelerating with panache until he holed out in the deep attempting a big hoick off pacer Sunil Sam.

The 20-year-old Sudharsan, who was content playing the second fiddle flourished in his senior's company. He stayed till the end to see the side through and complete another impressive outing. Kovai Kings captain M Shahrukh Khan (18 not out off 5 balls) ended the game in a flourish by smacking a six and a four off pacer Anthony Dhas.

Nothing went right for the Trichy Warriors, who did not help themselves by dropping three catches to give a reprieve to both Raju and Sudharsan. However, left arm spinner M Mathivanan stood out in this run-fest conceding just 21 runs off his four overs.

Earlier, Trichy Warriors appeared to have justified their decision to bat first by posting 171-7 in 20 overs. The Trichy innings gained its strength from a 74-run partnership of 49 balls for the third wicket between No.3 Nidhish Rajagopal (45 off 28 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) and Sumant Jain (29 off 25 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes).

Although Rajagopal and Jain made their exits trying to force the pace, Anthony Dhas (20 off 11 balls, 1 four, 1 six) and Saravana Kumar (12 off 3 balls, 2 sixes) continued the charge with some lusty blows.

The foundation, however, was laid by young Amith Sathvik (42 off 32 balls, 6 fours), who continued to impress with his batting. The teenaged opener did the bulk of the scoring during his first wicket partnership of 57 from 48 balls with K Mukunth (14 off 20 balls). However, both the openers fell to spin before Rajagopal and Jain took charge.

Left-arm spinner S Ajith Ram was the most economical among Kovai bowlers conceding 20 runs from his four overs.

Brief scores: Trichy Warriors: 171-7 in 20 overs (Nidhish Rajagopal 45, Amith Sathvik 42, Sumant Jain 29, Antony Dhas 20; Abhishek Tanwar 2-32, K Vignesh 2-30, N SelvaKumaran 2-26, S Ajith Ram 1-20) lost to Kovai Kings 175-2 in 18.1 overs (V Ganga Sridhar Raju 74, B Sai Sudharsan 57 n.o, Shahrukh Khan 18 n.o; Rahil Shah 1-32, Sunil Sam 1-42) by 8 wickets.

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Match Awards:

Koo App Most Number of 6s: V Ganga Sridhar Raju (LKK)

Shriram Most Number of 4s: Amith Sathvik (RTW), Nidhish Rajagopal (RTW), Ganga Sridhar Raju (LKK), B Sai Sudharsan
(LKK)

Dream 11 Game Changer of the Match: S Ajith Ram (LKK)

Upstox Most Valuable Player of the Match: B Sai Sudharsan (LKK)

BKT Tires- Commander of the Match: B Sai Sudharsan (LKK)

Shriram Capital Player of the Match: V Ganga Sridhar Raju (LKK)