S.P. Nathan’s whirlwind knock of 77 (33b, 2x4, 9x6) was the highlight of Albert Tuti Patriots’ 137-run win over Madurai Super Giant in the India Cements Tamil Nadu Premier League at the NPR CET grounds in Natham on Sunday. With the victory, Patriots finished as table toppers winning all the seven matches in the league phase.
Chasing 197, Giant began briskly, scoring 36 for one after two overs. Opener K.B. Arun Karthick plundered 21 runs off V.Athisayaraj Davidson in the second over. But, after his dismissal in the third over, the other batsmen failed to put up any fight as Giant was bowled out for 59, the lowest total in the TNPL so far.
Earlier, Patriots, put into bat, lost its openers within four overs. In-form M.S. Washington Sundar was run out byKarthick’s direct hit and M. Kaushik Gandhi was caught by P. Amarnath off M. Poiyamozhi with the score at 26. U. Sushil and S.P. Nathan, who came in at No.4, added 22 runs before Amarnath took a fine catch at third man to dismiss Sushil as Patriots scored 48 for 3 in the PowerPlay.
Then, Nathan cut loose, clearing the boundary at will, and notched up his 50 off 23 balls. He smashed four sixes off left-arm spinner R. Kathikeyan in the 10th over as Patriots raced to 103 for three. During the course of his blistering knock, Nathan created a record for most sixes in an innings at the TNPL.
Nathan and S. Aravind put on 78 off 39 balls for the fourth wicket. S. Suresh Kumar struck twice off successive deliveries to dismiss Nathan and Aravind. But, Anand Subramanian 33 not out (20b, 3x4, 1x6) stitched two partnerships — 25 for the sixth wicket with Akash Sumra and an unbroken 45 for the seventh wicket with A. Aswin Crist — to help his team reach a formidable total.
- Albert Tuti Patriots 196 for six in 20 overs (S.P. Nathan 77, Anand Subramanian 33 n.o., M. Poiyamozhi three for 34) bt Madurai Super Giant 59 in 8.5 overs (M. Ganesh Moorthi three for 20)
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