A spirited bowling effort led by left-arm spinner M. Silambarasan (four for 13) helped Dindigul Dragons script a 10-run win over former champion Chepauk Super Gillies in the opening match of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2019 at the NPR College grounds in Natham on Friday.
Slinger G. Periyaswamy, making his debut, provided the early breakthrough for Super Gillies castling opener Hari Nishaanth in the first over. Dindigul skipper R. Ashwin (37, 19b, 5x4, 1x6), who walked in at No.3, played the big shots to ease the pressure. He added 36 runs with N. Jagadeesan before the keeper-batsman was bowled by left-arm spinner R. Alexandar in the final over of the Power Play.
Ashwin continued to play positively, but Gillies pulled things back when the Indian international was caught and bowled by leg-spinner M. Ashwin with the score at 69.
Gillies bowlers, especially the spinners, put brakes on the scoring and picked up wickets at regular intervals. Dragons went past the 100-run mark in the 16th over and finished at 115 for nine. Alexandar was the pick of the Gillies' bowlers with three for 11.
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In reply, Gillies were off to a shaky start losing skipper M. Kaushik Gandhi and K.H. Gopinath in the first over. J. Kaushik accounted for both the batsmen. V. Ganga Sridhar Raju was bowled by local boy M. Mohammed in the next over as the visitor was reduced to 11 for three.
A. Aarif and U. Sasidev tried to build a partnership but Silambarasan dismissed both the batsmen to leave Gillies tottering at 38 for five. M. Ashwin attempted to improve the run rate, but the target proved insurmountable once he fell to M. Abhinav in the 13th over with the score at 58.
Silambarasan sent back M. Siddharth and D. Rahul while Mohammed dismissed S. Harish Kumar as Gillies could only manage 105 runs in the 20 overs.
Earlier, India cricketer Kedar Jadhav was present during the toss.
Scores:
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