CHENNAI: Varun Chakravarthy, who was one of the most successful bowlers in the IPL 2023, continued from where he left off by taking three wickets in his team Dindigul Dragons’ opening game of TNPL, restricting Ba11sy Trichy to 120 in 19.1 overs. In reply, Shivam Singh made 46 to help Dindigul thrash Trichy by six wickets.
Varun (3/21) was in his element posing some tough questions for the Trichy batters. In his inimitable style, he accounted for Shah Jahan, Anthony Das and R Alexander. R Ashwin’s four overs cost 26 runs as he scalped two wickets. However, chasing 121 for a win, Dindigul got off to a great start with Shivam Singh going hammer and tongs on the Trichy attack. He struck two sixes and a boundary off an Anthony Das over, where one of the six flew over the extra cover fence like a ‘tracer bullet’.
Earlier, opting to bat, Trichy had a disastrous start, losing opener Jafar Jamal and No 3 Akshhay Srinivasan in close succession. Now, a lot depended upon the experienced Ganga Sridhar Raju and Daryl Ferrario, a former India U-19 player, to do the rescue act. But that was not to be as Daryl was trapped right in front by Ashwin and Trichy were in dire straits at 21 for 3. Ganga Sridhar Raju (48) waged a lone battle at one end while other batters kept coming in and going back to the dressing room. From there, they scrapped their way to 120 in the final over.
Nellai make Royal start
Mohan Prasath’s 3/26 and Nidhish S Rajagopal’s unbeaten 42 enabled Nellai Royal Kings to beat Seichem Madurai Panthers by six wickets in the first double header of the TNPL on Wednesday. Opting to bat, Madurai posted 126/8 thanks to skipper Hari Nishaanth’s 64. He lacked support at the other end as wickets fell at regular intervals. Washinton Sundar, playing his match after he suffered from an injury in the IPL, disappointed to make just 19.
“I am not sure if we bowled well or they batted badly. Definitely some help for the bowlers but it was still a good pitch. Wind was a factor too. This win is special because Madurai is a very good side and to beat them convincingly feels good and I am sure they will bounce back. We are a young side, hopefully we will do well in the tournament,’’ said KB Arun Karthik, captain of Nellai after his team’s creditable win.
Brief scores: Madurai 126/8 in 20 ovs (Nishaanth 64; Mohan Prasath 3/16) lost to Nellai 129/4 in 13.4 ovs (Rajagopal 42, Arun Karthik 32); Trichy 120 all out in 19.2 ovs (Varun 3/21, Ashwin 2/26) lost to Dindigul 122/4 in 14.5 ovs (Shivam 46).
