TNPL, Match 3 Review: Kanchi edge past Kovai in super over

The 3rd match of the inaugural edition of the TNPL between Ruby Kanchi Warriors and Lyca Kovai Kings went down till the last ball with the game ending in a tie at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. In the super over Kanchi Warriors won the game by 4 runs.

Having won the toss the Ruby Kanchi Warriors elected to field first. The outfield was a tad slower due to the rain in the afternoon, however, the ground was fit enough to start on time. The Lyca Kovai Kings’ openers Murali Vijay and Suryaprakash struggled to score runs. Suryaprakash holed out off Jesuraj’s bowling for 5 runs. Some tight bowling from J Kaushik and J Kousik kept the Kovai going under 5 runs an over. Akshay Srinivasan played on to his stumps on a delivery from Kaushik.

Murali Vijay, batting for the first time since been injured during the first Test against West Indies, struggled to bat with ease. Vijay edged behind twice it didn’t carry to the fielders. He played 28 balls for his 24 runs with a couple of fours, before his only second appearance in past 1 year at Chepauk came to an end as he was dismissed hit wicket. Vijay tried to flick on the leg side but went deep into his crease only to end up disturbing his own stumps.

Anirudh Sita Ram and Harish Kumar put on 43 runs in 5 overs for the 5th wicket before a direct hit from Keeper Nilesh ended Harish’s quick 26 in 16 balls. Captain Syed Mohammad had to depart for just 1, result of another direct hit by Nilesh. Anirudh played till the 20th over before top edging to the keeper off Jesuraj. He top scored with 39 off 33 balls with a four and a six. Rohith Kumar struck a six and four in the final over as Kovai finished at 126/7 in their 20 overs.

M Mohammed and Vignesh struck in their respective first overs with Bharath Shankar and Shahrukh Khan getting out for ducks as the both holed out to deep mid-wicket trying to pull outside off stump deliveries. B Arun continued the trend of taking wicket in first over as Prathiban hit straight to the point fielder.

Baba Indrajith had to retire hurt due to cramps early in his innings and it was a huge setback for the Kanchi Warriors but Nilesh Subramanian kept his side in the game with a couple of boundaries. He put up a 50-run stand in 7.3 overs with J. Kousik for the 4th wicket before he fell one run short of his fifty as he tried for the second run but Harish Kumar’s sharp throw from deep caught Nilesh short of his crease. Nilesh’s 49 came in 42 balls with 4 fours and a six over Syed Mohammad’s head. Kousik got out couple of balls later leaving his side at 83/5 in 15.2 overs.

Also read – Graeme Smith lashes out at the decision to rest Steve Smith on Twitter

Indrajith’s return to the crease was a huge boost for Kanchi as they needed 9 an over in the last 5. Aditya Ganesh and Indrajith scored 29 runs in 17 balls. Kanchi scored 3 runs in the first 4 balls when 9 were needed in the last over. Indrajith struck big towards the long-on region on the penultimate ball. Murali Vijay, at the boundary line, dropped a certain catch and instead crossed the ropes. Indrajith could manage only a single on the final delivery as the game ended in a tie.

Kanchi scored 13 runs including a six from Indrajith in the Super over bowled by Arun. Kovai lost the wicket on the 2nd ball and scored just 3 runs in the first 4 balls bowled by Jesuraj. However, Vijay hit a huge six over midwicket on the fifth ball to bring down the equation to 5 on the final delivery. But he was run out on the final ball as Kanchi won the super over by 4 runs.

Murali Vijay’s hit wicket:
The Chepauk crowd got a chance to scream when they saw Sachin Tendulkar on screen. Embarrassingly, it was Sachin’s hit wicket dismissal against Australia at Brisbane in 2008. It was shown comparing it with the Murali Vijay’s dismissal in the game. Incidentally, the only bowler ever to get Sachin hit wicket, Brett Lee is the mentor of the Ruby Kanchi Warriors, against whom Vijay got out hit wicket for the first time in his career.

Brief Scores:

Ruby Kanchi Warriors: 126/7 in 20 overs (R Nilesh Subramanian 49, Baba Indrajith 26*; B Arun 2/20)

Lyca Kovai Kings: 126/7 in 20 overs (B Anirudh Sita Ram 39, S Harish Kumar 26; Rajamani Jesuraj 2/28, Jagannathan Kaushik 2/30)

Super Over:

Ruby Kanchi Warriors: 13/0 in 1 over (Baba Indrajith 9*, K Bharath Shankar 4*; B Arun 0/13)

Lyca Kovai Kings: 9/2 in 1 over (Murali Vijay 8, J Syed Mohammad 1*; Rajamani Jesuraj 1/9)

Watch: The super over between RKW and LKK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrVVvFYRnUk