Fifties from Sai Kishore, Anirudh power Tiruppur to a win

In the second match of Sunday's doubleheader at Salem Cricket Foundation Ground, Sai Kishore and Anirudh Sita Ram smashed half-centuries as Ba11sy Trichy suffered their 4th loss of the season.

T. Natarajan, who is playing his first game at home, opened the bowling for Ba11sy Trichy. While his first over went well, he bounced back to dismiss Tushar Raheja in his second over.

Sai Kishore came in at three today and was aggressive from ball one. He smashed 4, 6, 0, 4 off Alexandar to announce himself. Three overs later, the all-rounder scored two sixes and a four against Daryl Ferrario. In the 12th over, he mustered a couple of sixes before getting out to Monish Satish in the same over. The experienced all-rounder scored his first TNPL half-century in his 50th TNPL match. He got out for 50 (24).

Radhakrishnan, on the other hand, took his time to settle in. The opener later made up for those dot deliveries and ended with 45 (42). Along with Sai Kishore, he added 96 (57) for the second wicket.

After Sai Kishore's wicket, Anirudh Sita Ram took on the Ba11sy Trichy bowlers. He even overshadowed Vijay Shankar's cameo of 31 (18) and finished with 51 (25). While Sai Kishore scored 4 fours and 4 sixes, Anirudh Sita Ram had 8 fours and 1 six.

The team ended their 20 overs with a massive score of 201/4. This is the second big score of the day. Earlier in the match, Lyca Kovai Kings crossed the 200-mark while batting first.

Chasing a massive total to win, Ba11sy Trichy needed a big score from their top order. Ganga Sridhar Raju and Rajkumar began the innings well but failed to convert their start into a big score. Bhuvaneswaran was the chief destructor today. He removed Ganga Sridhar Raju (20 off 8 balls) and Monish Satish (0 off 1 ball) in back-to-back deliveries. Later, he came back to dismiss Daryl Ferrario to add more pressure on Ba11sy Trichy.

Dary Ferrario was the top scorer for Ba11sy Trichy. The middle-order batter notched 42 off 40 balls, but that wasn't enough to chase a massive total from iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans.

Earlier, K. Rajkumar began his innings well but managed to score only 22 off 21 balls. The momentum completely shifted towards iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans when they removed R Rajkumar cheaply.

Antony Dhas (25 off 26 balls) and Jafar Jamal (30 off 14 balls) tried to reduce the run difference by taking on the bowlers. They added 27 (17) for the sixth wicket. Jafar Jamal entertained the crowd with four big sixes today. However, it was too late for the Ba11sy Trichy team, as they ended their innings with 155/8.

Bhuvaneswaran was the top performer with the ball, with four wickets to his name. With this, Bhuvaneswaran is the new purple cap holder of the season with ten wickets. Also, S. Ajith Ram ended with 1/9 in his four overs. This is the second-most economical figure of this season.

With this win, the iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans are in the 5th spot in the points table. Ba11sy Trichy remains at the bottom of the table and is still in search of its first win in TNPL 2023.

On Monday, the Siechem Madurai Panthers and Chepauk Super Gillies will face off in Salem. The Siechem Madurai Panthers won their first game of this edition recently and will look to continue their winning form against the defending champions.

This is almost a knockout situation for Chepauk Super Gillies. The defending champions began the tournament with two big wins but lost their last three matches. The Narayan Jagadeesan-led team must win this game to stay in contention for the top four.

After the loss, Ba11sy Trichy captain Ganga Sridhar Raju said, We gave 20–30 runs more. Also, we played more dot balls due to pressure. It was the main reason for our loss. If we play more dots on a big chase like this, it will be difficult to come back.

After the win, iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans captain NS Chaturved said: Credits go to the coach for planning to send Sai Kishore up the order. Sai Kishore has worked hard on his six-hit ability. He showcased it today. Also, Anirudh is stepping up in every game. Vijay Shankar is using his experience to win matches. Our focus is to win more. Bowlers set up the win in the last game; today, it was batters. If we continue to perform, I believe we have a good chance.

The player of the match, P Bhuvaneswaran, said: The plan was to bowl more dot balls; I'm trying to do it. Today, I got wickets because of the same. I love to be aggressive with the ball, and I'm approaching the game positively. Thankfully, it is working well for me.

(Image and Match report courtesy: TNPL)