Siechem Madurai Panthers finally managed to break its 15-match losing streak with a stunning 26-run win over defending champion Chepauk Super Gillies in the Sankar Cement TNPL here on Monday. It is a second straight defeat for the Gillies.
The Gillies’ bowlers M. Ashwin (three for 24) and Sunny Kumar Singh (three for 29) had done a great job in restricting the opposition to 153 for nine but fell short in its chase. Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah (three for 27) and C.V. Varun (three for 16), the mystery spinner, did the damage for the Gillies. They kept the batsmen guessing with their clever turners and some strong support from the field turned things around in the team’s favour.
Earlier, the Gillies skipper K.H. Gopinath had chalked out a clear plan for the day. It seemed to work well as off-spinner M. Ashwin got the early break removing opener D. Rohit , who tried to go big and offered an easy catch to M.K. Sivakumar at mid-on.
It could have been real trouble for the Panthers had Alexander grabbed on to the chance to dismiss K.B. Arun Karthik in the previous delivery. It seemed a costly miss initially as Karthik shifted gears, but he failed to drive long from there. He fell to a beauty from Sunny that stood up.
Ashwin and Sunny continued to breathe fire. The duo bowled tight but Shijith Chandran (37) and J. Kousik (37) stood firm to see the team post a respectable total.
The scores
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