TNPL 2021: Trichy Warriors vs Tiruppur Tamizhans: All-round Trichy win; All match awards

Chennai, July 29: Trichy Warriors returned to the top of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL 2021) standings with a rousing seven-wicket victory over Tiruppur Tamizhans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here.

Everything went right for Trichy right from the time they won the toss and put Tiruppur into bat.

Their bowlers did a fantastic job of restricting their rivals on a slow pitch to 110-8 in 20 overs and then rode on No 3 Nidhish Rajagopal's patience (47 not out off 45 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) and Adithya Ganesh's enterprise (43 not out off 35 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) to attain the target in 17.5 overs.

Nidhish and Adithya overcame the early loss of three wickets by stringing an unbeaten 73-run alliance in 56 balls to see the side through. Trichy, who were placed second in the eight-team table, returned to the top with six points from five matches.

The start of the chase for Trichy was not on expected lines as they ran into a charged up Tiruppur unit that made them sweat for every run. Left-arm spinner S Mohan Prasath (2-26), who opened the bowling attack, kept his side in the hunt by dismissing both openers Amith Sathvik VP (4) and Mukunth K (4) in the first three overs.

Tiruppur captain M Mohammed then claimed M Adnan Khan (9) to raise their hopes further. But Nidhish and Adithya stemmed the rot with some sensible batting.

The 30-year-old felt he was duty-bound to shepherd the side in the absence of marquee players Murali Vijay and Anirudha Srikkanth, who had pulled out of the tournament earlier citing personal reasons.

Earlier, fast bowler M Poiyamozhi's (3-25) mixed his off-cutters smartly to strangle Tiruppur. The 30-year-old from Thiruvallur had the batsmen in a spot of bother from the moment he marked his run-up. He started with a double strike off his first two balls to dismiss left-handers Tushar Raheja (9) and Maan K Bafna (0).

Tiruppur who were 33-1 after five overs lost the momentum thereafter and the boundaries were hard to come by in the next 11 overs.

After his first over excellence, Poiyamozhi returned in the 15th over to dismiss all-rounder Rajappa Rajkumar and his figures after the end of his second over read an impressive 2-0-8-3. He continued to hold sway in the slog overs conceding 17 runs off 12 balls. All-rounder Anthony Dhas too turned the heat on Tiruppur with a stingy spell of 4-0-10-1.

Opener S Dinesh (26 off 27 balls, 4 fours) was the top scorer for Tiruppur. They were also well served by their captain M Mohammed (19 off 21 balls, 1 four, 1 six) and S Aravind (14 not out off 8 balls, 2 fours), who ensured they crossed the three-figure mark with a 33-run partnership off 22 balls for the eighth wicket.

Brief scores: Tiruppur Tamizhans: 110-8 in 20 overs (S Dinesh 26, M Mohammed 19, S Aravind 14 n.o, P Francis Rokins 12; M Poiyamozhi 3-25, P Saravana Kumar 2-31, Antony Dhas 1-10, Akash Sumra 1-9, M Mathivanan 1-15) lost to Trichy Warriors: 111-3 in 17.5 overs (Nidhish Rajagopal 47 n.o., Adithya Ganesh 43 n.o.; S Mohan Prasath 2-26, M Mohammed 1-18) by 7 wickets.

Match Awards:

Koo App Most Number of 6s: Adithya Ganesh (RTW), Nidhish Rajagopal (RTW), M Mohammed (iDTT)

Shriram Most Number of 4s: Adithya Ganesh (RTW), Nidhish Rajagopal (RTW), S Dinesh (iDTT)

Dream 11 Game Changer of the Match: Adithya Ganesh (RTW)

Upstox Most Valuable Player of the Match: S Mohan Prasath (iDTT)

BKT Tires- Commander of the Match: Nidhish Rajagopal (RTW)

Shriram Capital Player of the Match: M Poiyamozhi (RTW)