MATCH REPORT
Follow UsDindigul Dragons defeated Ba11sy Trichy by six wickets in the second match of the first doubleheader in the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2023 at Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science Cricket Ground, Coimbatore.
Ba11sy Trichy won the toss and opted to bat first. During the toss, Dindigul Dragons captain Ravichandran Ashwin mentioned that if the World Test Championship Final had gone into reserve day, he would have found it tough to feature in the first game.
Ba11sy Trichy captain Ganga Sridhar Raju V and Jafar Jamal opened the batting for the team. Saravana Kumar P took the new ball for the Dindigul Dragons.
The aggressive batter Jafar Jamal began the inning with a boundary through the covers, but Saravana Kumar bounced back well to dismiss the dangerous batter for four runs.
S. Arun bowled the next over for Dindigul Dragons. The new batter, Akshay V. Srinivasan, did not trouble the scoreboard as he edged one off S. Arun to the first slip while trying to drive the fuller delivery.
Ganga Sridhar Raju V, who was reduced to a mere spectator in the first two overs of the match, smashed a couple of boundaries off Saravana Kumar P in the next over, making full use of the powerplay fielding restrictions.
Ravichandran Ashwin immediately brought himself in and dismissed Daryl Ferrario with a carrom ball in the second ball of his over.
The wicketkeeper, Mani Bharathi, was the next to go as he mistimed a pull shot off Saravana Kumar P to Varun Chakaravarthy at mid-on.
The mystery spinner, Varun Chakaravarthy, had an impressive start to the season. He dismissed Shajahan M and Antony Dhas W in his first two deliveries of the first over.
Ganga Sridhar Raju V joined hands with number 7 batter Rajkumar R to add the highest partnership for Ba11sy Trichy of 65 (40). Rajkumar R was the main contributor to the stand, with 38 (19). The duo played the spin well and scored the most runs against them.
Rajkumar R smashed two sixes and a four off Ravichandran Ashwin in the 17th over. However, Ashwin broke the partnership in the same over, dismissing Ganga Sridhar Raju V for 48 (41). Rajkumar soon got out in the next over to Subodh Bhati for 39 (22). His knock had four sixes and one four.
The Ba11sy Trichy ended their innings with 120/10 in 19.1 overs. For the Dindigul Dragons, Chakaravarthy picked up three wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin and Saravana Kumar P bagged two wickets apiece, while Arun S grabbed one.
Chasing 121 to win, Vimal Khumar R and Shivam Singh opened the batting for Dindigul Dragons. T Natarajan gave the perfect start to the Ba11sy Trichy as he dismissed Vimal Khumar R for a duck in the first over.
Shivam Singh and Baba Indrajith built an important partnership of 58 (35) for the second wicket and steadied the chase. Shivam was the main contributor, with 42 (26). The opener fell to Alexandar R after making an impressive 46 (30). The knock had 6 fours and 3 sixes.
After his dismissal, the Impact Player of Dindigul Dragons, Adithya Ganesh, joined Baba Indrajith. Since there was no scoreboard pressure, the duo took their time to build the inning. Baba Indrajith was the next to go. He made 22 out of 23 deliveries. Silambarasan R broke the partnership thanks to a low catch from Ferrario.
Antony Dhas W then dismissed Sarath Kumar C for 5 (5). Subodh Bhati, who walked in next, scored 19*(8). Along with Adithya Ganesh (20*), he finished the inning for Dindigul Dragons in the 15th over of the 2nd inning.
Subodh Bhati smashed two sixes off Antony Dhas W and helped the team win by six wickets in the 14.5 overs. T. Natarajan was the pick of the bowlers for Dindigul Dragons, with 1/15 in his 3 overs.
In the 5th match of the Shriram Capital Tamil Nadu Premier League, Chepauk Super Gillies will face off against iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans on Thursday. Chepauk Super Gillies won their first game against the Salem Spartans by 52 runs. iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans lost their first match to Lyca Kovai Kings by 70 runs.
(Image and Match report courtesy: TNPL)
