TNPL: Patriots on a roll

Dinesh Karthik (36, 21b, 5x4, 1x6), Washington Sundar ((38, 19b, 7x4) and Kaushik Gandhi (52 n.o., 42b, 3x4, 1x6) were on a roll as Albert Tuti Patriots defeated VB Thiruvallur Veerans by six wickets in the second match of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (ITNPL) at the ICL grounds here on
Saturday.

Having sealed the playoff berth, Patriots could have well played in a relaxed manner. But it did not do that as it wished to further extend its five-match winning streak.

Veerans, on the other hand, had ideas to strengthen its points tally. So skipper Baba Aparajith (58, 38b, 4x4, 2x6) opted to bat first with a hope of a decent total. But his decision backfired as two wickets fell in quick succession both to left-arm spinner Ganesh Moorthi.

But opener Sanjay Yadav (61, 50b, 5x4, 1x6), in the company of his skipper, kept the scorecard ticking. In fact, he was the elegant of the two. He was not afraid to free his arms and his bold approach fetched the team easy runs. Aparajith, who was dropped twice, soon called the shots. And, the duo went on to raise a 77-ball 115-run stand for the third wicket before both departed trying to accelerate further. But the damage was done as the Veerans went on to compile a healthy 165 for four.

Washington and Kaushik made the target look simple with a 47-run stand for the opening wicket before the former fell to a fine catch by Sanjay Yadav at deep midwicket off the bowling of Silambarasan.

Washington, when on 27, became the second batsman to score 500 runs in TNPL after Kaushik.

Karthik took charge from there and further added 59 for the second wicket with Kaushik, who later went on to hit the winning runs.

Brief scores

VB Tiruvallur Veerans 165 for four in 20 overs (Sanjay Yadav 61, Baba Aparajith 58, Ganesh Moorthi two for 21) lost to Albert Tuti Patriots 171 for four in 19.1 overs (Washington Sundar 38, Kaushik Gandhi 52 n.o., Dinesh Karthik 36, Rahil Shah two for 31, R. Silambarasan two for 25).