Chepauk to face Tuti in TNPL 2016 final

The inaugural edition of TNPL will end with the same two teams playing off each other that kicked things off. The Albert Tuti Patriots will take on Chepauk Super Gillies in the final as the Chepauk side defeated the Lyca Kovai Kings by 17 runs in the 2nd semi-final.

The game started with Gopinath’s bat breaking off as he faced a delivery from Vignesh in the first over after Chepauk elected to bat. However, with a new bat, Gopinath struck consecutive fours on the first two balls of the 2nd over bowled by M Mohammed and finished with a six. In form Thalaivan Sargunam on the other end misread a straight delivery from Vignesh and tried to scoop it over fine leg but ended getting is stumps disturbed. In the next over, Gowjith Subhash holed out in the deep after scoring just 2 as the Chepauk side lost 2 wickets for 24 by the 4th over.

Veteran batsman Vasanth Saravanan announced his arrival with a couple of fours and a six down the ground in the final over of the powerplay from Arun. With 50/2 at the end of the field restrictions, the home side moved towards a huge total. Both the left-handers had a fair success in the league stage and continued it in the semis by keeping the scoreboard ticking by rotating the strike and getting the regular boundaries.

Soon after Saravanan brought up his fifty in 35 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes, the 76-run stand for the 3rd wicket came to an end as Gopinath hit one straight to the point fielder off Mohammed. Gopinath struck 5 fours and a six in his 33-ball 44. Saravanan picking out deep midwicket fielder in the following over from Sivakumar for 52.

Rajagopal Sathish and Sasidev added quick runs towards the end with some boundaries. Sathish struck 2 mighty sixes in his 18 off 13, adding 36 in just 3 overs for the 5th wicket. However, both got out in 18th over to Harish Kumar. Chepauk added 21 runs in last two overs to finish at 161/7 in their 20 overs.

After a cautious start, Lyca openers took on the Chepauk’s Mukumthan who was the star bowler in the last game. Anirudh started the over with a couple of boundaries while Suryaprakash finished it with a six as it cost them 19 runs. Anirudh struck his 4th boundary in the next over from Sathish but edge the next one to the keeper as he departed for 23, his first under-25 score in the TNPL.

Sai Kishore’s first over turned out to be a wicket maiden as he got the wicket of Rohith. He sent back Kovai’s captain Syed Mohammad cheaply in his next over. Suryaprakash and Tarun Srinivas kept their side in the chase with a handy 32-run stand in 28 balls before Alexander dismissed both the batsmen. Surya hit it straight to covers after a 28-ball 38 while Tarun got stumped for 21 as Kovai were half down at 99 in 15th over.

With 51 needed from last 4 overs, Akshay Srinivasan struck a four and a six in the 17th over bowled by Yo Mahesh which produced 14 runs. The next over saw Antony Dhas get the crucial wicket of Harish Kumar. When 28 were needed from the last 2 overs, Yo Mahesh bowled a perfect penultimate over giving away just 6 runs along with the wicket of Akshay, who scored 27 off 19. Antony Dhas ensured there were no miracles in the last over as he kept things quiet and let them only score 4 runs while taking 2 wickets.

Brief Scores:

Chepauk Super Gillies: 161/7 in 20 overs (Vasanth Saravanan 52, H Gopinath 44; K Vignesh 2/21, Harish Kumar 2/25) beat Lyca Kovai Kings: 144/9 in 20 overs (L Suryaprakash 38, Akshay Srinivasan 27; Antony Dhas, Sai Kishore 2/17, R Alexander 2/28)