TNPL 2021: Match 14, Review: Nidhish, Adithya guide Ruby Trichy Warriors in a tricky chase

Chennai, July 29: Ruby Trichy Warriors returned to the top of the Shriram Capital TNPL standings with a rousing seven-wicket victory over iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.

Everything went right for Trichy right from the time they won the toss and put Tiruppur into bat. Their bowlers did a fantastic job of restricting their rivals on a slow pitch to 110-8 in 20 overs and then rode on No.3 Nidhish Rajagopal’s patience (47 not out off 45 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) and Adithya Ganesh’s enterprise (43 not out off 35 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) to attain the target in 17.5 overs.

Nidhish and Adithya steady the ship

Nidhish and Adithya overcame the early loss of three wickets by stringing an unbeaten 73-run alliance in 56 balls to see the side through. Trichy, who were placed second in the eight-team table, returned to the top with six points from five matches.

The start of the chase for Trichy was not on expected lines as they ran into a charged up Tiruppur unit that made them sweat for every run. Left-arm spinner S Mohan Prasath (2-26), who opened the bowling attack, kept his side in the hunt by dismissing both openers Amith Sathvik VP (4) and Mukunth K (4) in the first three overs.

Tiruppur captain M Mohammed then claimed M Adnan Khan (9) to raise their hopes further. But Nidhish and Adithya stemmed the rot with some sensible batting.

Adithya was delighted to have played a key role in the team’s success. “It feels great. We are on top of the table so it feels great to have contributed towards a victory,” he said. The 30-year-old felt he was duty-bound to shepherd the side in the absence of marquee players Murali Vijay and Anirudha Srikkanth, who had pulled out of the tournament earlier citing personal reasons.

“We are missing some experienced players here like Anirudha and M Vijay. I think having played 10 years of 1st division cricket (in Chennai) it was important for me to take the anchor role. There are some exciting prospects in the team and I really hope they come good in the upcoming games,” he added.

M Poiyamozhi wreaks havoc

Earlier, fast bowler M Poiyamozhi’s (3-25) mixed his off-cutters smartly to strangle Tiruppur. The 30-year-old from Thiruvallur had the batsmen in a spot of bother from the moment he marked his run-up. He started with a double strike off his first two balls to dismiss left-handers Tushar Raheja (9) and Maan K Bafna (0).

Tiruppur who were 33-1 after five overs lost the momentum thereafter and the boundaries were hard to come by in the next 11 overs.

After his first over excellence, Poiyamozhi returned in the 15th over to dismiss all-rounder Rajappa Rajkumar and his figures after the end of his second over read an impressive 2-0-8-3. He continued to hold sway in the slog overs conceding 17 runs off 12 balls.

All-rounder Anthony Dhas too turned the heat on Tiruppur with a stingy spell of 4-0-10-1.

Opener S Dinesh (26 off 27 balls, 4 fours) was the top scorer for Tiruppur. They were also well served by their captain M Mohammed (19 off 21 balls, 1 four, 1 six) and S Aravind (14 not out off 8 balls, 2 fours), who ensured they crossed the three-figure mark with a 33-run partnership off 22 balls for the eighth wicket.

Tiruppur captain M Mohammed felt his batsmen could have done better. “We played a lot of dot balls and (opener) Siddharth didn’t get going as well. The wickets of our in-form batsmen (Raheja and Bafna) proved to be costly,” he said. Despite the defeat, Mohammed remained upbeat about his team’s chances.

“If we win two games from here on, we’ll be back on track so that’s what we will look to do,” he remarked.

Brief scores

iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 110-8 in 20 overs (S Dinesh 26, M Mohammed 19, S Aravind 14*, P Francis Rokins 12; M Poiyamozhi 3-25, P Saravana Kumar 2-31, Antony Dhas 1-10, Akash Sumra 1-9, M Mathivanan 1-15) lost to Ruby Trichy Warriors 111-3 in 17.5 overs (Nidhish Rajagopal 47*, Adithya Ganesh 43*; S Mohan Prasath 2-26, M Mohammed 1-18) by 7 wickets.