Veerans sneak in through a 2-run win in a high scoring game against Kovai kings

After 3 wins in 3 games post the loss in Super over in the first game, Lyca Kovai Kings suffered their 2nd consecutive loss at the Chepauk. VB Thiruvallur Veerans posted 170/6 in their 20 overs due to a power-packed batting performance from their captain Aparajith. Despite a slow start, Kovai Kings got through the chase and fell 3 runs short of the target.

After electing to bat first, Veerans got off to a good start. Openers R Kavin and Hari Nishanth struck boundaries in power play overs and added 48 in just 6.4 overs for the opening wicket before Hari was trapped in front by Syed Mohammad for 18. Due to strong showers, match got delayed due to rain but resumed after 20 minutes without any overs deduction. Soon after the resumption, Kavin got run out in Sivakumar’s follow through. Kavin struck 6 fours in his 31 which came in just 20 balls.

Harish Kumar got Chaturvedi for 11 with a slower one while Lakshmi Narayanan got run out for 9 trying for a second run. Harish Kumar struck again to send back Sanjay Yadav for just 2 while Malolan Rangarajan departed for a golden duck giving a return catch to Sivakumar. Veerans’ captain Baba Aparajith, who was batting on 29 was left without support as his side slumped to 103/6 in 16.2 over. Aparajith struck a six and four as the Veerans’ moved to 122/6 at 18 overs mark.

Then started a slaughter of sixes from the batting side as Aparajith and Ramalingam Rohit struck 5 sixes in the last two overs. Aparajith struck sixes off Sivakumar on 2nd and 3rd ball in the penultimate over to bring up his fifty in 34 balls. With Rohit’s six on 5th ball, 21 runs came from the 19th over. Rohit started the final over with a six and four off Harish Kumar while Aparajith continued with a 4, 6 and 6 on the last three balls. A total of 48 runs came in the last two overs as the VB Thiruvallur Veerans powered to 170/6. Aparajith remained unbeaten on 74 off just 39 balls which included 2 fours and 6 maximums.

Kovai Kings’ chase wasn’t going till the halfway mark as they would have wanted. Runs were coming at way below the required rate and it raised to over 10. Suryaprakash was caught infront by Rahil Shah after 17 off 19 with a couple of sixes. Other opener Anirudh Sitaram struck boundaries in regular intervals. Tarun Srinivas took 18 balls for his 10 before holing out at mid-wicket. With scoring read just 68/2 in 11th over, Kovai promoted Harish Kumar which paid off for them as he struck sixes at will. Anirudh finally converted a start and brought up his maiden fifty in this TNPL in 37 balls.

After a 56-run stand for the 3rd wicket in just 33 balls, Anirudh holed out after a well-made 63 in 47 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes. With 38 needed from 18 balls, Syed Mohammad struck a six but bowler Lakshmi Narayanan came back well to give just 2 runs in next 5 balls and also took the wicket of Syed.

M Mohammed struck consecutive sixes in the penultimate over bowled by Rohit to bring down the equation to 15 off 9. However, trying for his 3rd six, Mohammed was caught in the deep superbly by Narayanan. 13 were needed from last over bowled by Rahil Shah in which 4 runs came in the first 3 balls with 3 singles and a wide. Harish edged the 4th ball behind keeper which ran to the boundary and picked up a couple playing into deep on penultimate ball. On the final ball, he failed to get his bat on the ball as Kovai Kings fell 2 runs short of the Thiruvallur’s score.

19 sixes were hit in the game with only 20 crossed the fence on the bounce.

Brief Scores:

VB Thiruvallur Veerans: 170/6 in 20 overs (Baba Aparajith 74*, R Kavin 31; S Harish Kumar 2/49, J Syed Mohammad 1/18) beat Lyca Kovai Kings: 168/5 in 20 overs (B Anirudh Sita Ram 63, S Harish Kumar 46; R Shah 2/32, Lakshmi Narayanan 2/33)