MATCH REPORT
Follow UsOn July 24 (Wednesday), Natarajan's four-wicket haul led IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans to a thrilling five-run victory over Nellai Royal Kings in the final league match of the Tirunelveli leg.
Opting to bowl first, Emmanuel Cherian struck early, delivering a searing yorker to dismiss Amith Sathvik off the very first ball of the match. Despite this setback, the Tamizhans recovered swiftly, thanks to a quickfire 64-run partnership between Tushar Raheja and S Radhakrishnan.
The southpaw, Raheja, made full use of the powerplay field restriction, scoring a rapid 41 off 13 deliveries before R Silambarasan halted his innings. Radhakrishnan continued the onslaught post-Tushar's departure, notching up his half-century in 35 balls.
However, the momentum shifted as IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans lost three wickets in quick succession, including the crucial wicket of the skipper Sai Kishore, stumbling from a strong 102/2 to 126/5. Nellai's fielders provided excellent support to their bowlers throughout the match. G Ajitesh stood out especially, with a horizontal catch to dismiss the experienced Anirudh Sitaram.
After a flurry of wickets, S Ganesh and Mohamed Ali staged a crucial recovery for Tiruppur. The pair forged a vital partnership of 56 runs for the sixth wicket, boosting Tiruppur's total to 189 runs. Mohamed Ali finished with 35(29), while Ganesh contributed 36(25) runs to the innings.
Silambarasan spearheaded Tiruppur's bowling attack with three wickets, while Emmanuel Cherian, Sonu Yadav, NR Harish, and Gohulmoorthi each contributed with one wicket apiece.
In response, Nellai Royal Kings faced an immediate challenge as Ajitesh and Nidhish Rajagopal departed within the first two overs of the match. Despite these early dismissals, skipper KB Arun Karthick maintained his dominance at one end, leading from the front with a quickfire 51 runs off just 36 balls.
Following Arun Karthick's departure, youngsters Rithik Easwaran and Sonu Yadav formed a crucial partnership to keep Nellai in the chase. Rithik adopted an aggressive approach, with Sonu Yadav anchoring the innings from the other side.
The match hung in the balance as Nellai required 62 runs from the last five overs with six wickets still in hand.
However, the timely dismissals of Rithik and Sonu shifted the momentum again in Tiruppur's favour. Rithik contributed 59 runs off 35 balls, while Sonu added a rapid 40 off 23 deliveries before their departures.
Natarajan's crucial 18th over, in which he dismissed Sonu, altered the course of the match. Rohit Ramalingam further cemented Tiruppur's victory by claiming three wickets in an over, effectively closing the game for his team in the 19th over.
“Tushar Raheja's aggressive innings made all the difference in the 1st innings. Despite our strong chase, we lost because of errors we made in between. Since we play the final league match, we will know the qualifying scenario, which will be helpful for us,” Arun Karthick said.
“It is a must-win game for us, glad with this performance. I bowled according to my strength and did not try anything different,” Natarajan reflected on the other hand.
Following this victory, Tiruppur rises to the fourth spot in the points table with six points from six matches. Meanwhile, Nellai moves down to sixth position in the standings. The franchise led by Karthick must win all their remaining matches to keep their hopes alive for the playoffs.
With Nellai's loss, Baba Aparajith-led Chepauk Super Gillies became the second team to book their berth in the TNPL 2024 playoffs.
Brief Scores:
IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 189/8 in 20 overs (S Radhakrishnan 50, Tushar Raheja 41; R Silambarasan 3/37) beat Nellai Royal Kings 184/9 (Rithik Easwaran 59, Arun Karthick 51; T Natarajan 4/36) by 5 runs.
Player of the Match: T Natarajan (4/36)
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