TNPL: Subramania Siva blows away Madurai Super Giant

Siva scored an unbeaten 84 to help Dindigul Dragons thrash Madurai Super Giant by 10 wickets in the TNPL.

V. Subramaniya Siva of Dindigul Dragon plays a shot during the TNPL cricket match against Madurai Super Giant at NPR College in Natham, Dindigul on Tuesday.

Subramania Siva used the long handle to slam a breathtaking, unbeaten 84 (41b, 10x4, 6x6) and his unbroken match-winning partnership of 120 with fellow-opener V. Ganga Sridhar Raju (32 n.o., 22b, 4x4, 1x6) helped Dindigul Dragons thrash Madurai Super Giant by 10 wickets in the India Cements-TNPL match at the NPRCET ground here on Tuesday.

It was the first 10-wicket win in the short history of the League. Siva, a first division player from Agni CC in Madurai, started off by hitting S.V. Muruganantham for three consecutive fours in the second over.

He then belted former CSK bowler Palani Amarnath for two sixes and a four in the fourth over. It was sheer carnage in the middle as Siva smashed Senthilnathan in identical fashion in the fifth over as Dragons raced to 63 in just five overs with Siva’s contribution being 48.

Siva scored 18 runs in the last over of the PowerPlay (three fours and a six) as Dragons’ score sky-rocketed to 82 for no loss, leaving the Madurai unit shell-shocked.

Ganga Sridhar, who smartly rotated the strike, opened up his shoulders to bring up the hundred with a six in the ninth over and then hit the winning runs.

Earlier, the Super Giant batsmen played some reckless shots to fold up for a paltry 117.

Opener P.S. Sivaramakrishnan smashed left-arm spinner M.S. Sanjay for three consecutive boundaries in the second over before holing out to mid-off.

Sunny Singh then struck twice in his second over to remove P. Shijit Chandran and captain K.B. Arun Karthik in a similar manner. Both were caught trying to clear mid-off and Super Giant was tottering at 32 for three at the end of the PowerPlay.

Shahrukh Khan and Suresh Kumar tried to stitch a partnership before tragedy struck.

Shahrukh was castled going for an ugly hoick and P. Francis Rokins got himself run out. When Senthilnathan offered a return catch to Sanjay, Super Giant had sunk to 74 for six.

M. Ashwin then struck twice off successive balls, trapping a well-set Suresh Kumar in front for 39 and castling S.V. Muruganantham. Though L. Vignesh struck a few lusty blows in the end, Madurai Super Giant could only muster 117.

• Madurai Super Giant 117 in 19.1 overs (S. Suresh Kumar 39, L. Vignesh 28; T. Natarajan two for 16, M.S. Sanjay two for 25, Sunny Kumar Singh three for 29) lost to Dindigul Dragons 120 for no loss in 10.3 overs (Subramania Siva 84 n.o., Ganga Sridhar Raju 32 n.o.).