In a must-win rubber to stay afloat in the tournament, Dindigul Dragons didn’t sweat much on its way to a 23-run win over Ruby Trichy Warriors in the India Cements TNPL match at the ICL grounds here on Saturday.
The Dragons won the toss and opted to bat. They began on a positive note with opener Subramania Siva (19) taking on paceman J. Kaushik for two boundaries and a six. However, his partner G. S. Raju (1) couldn’t shine with the willow and was dismissed by R Jesuraj. The southpaw found M. Prabhu at mid-on. A few overs later, J. Koushik bowled a similar delivery but this time, the ball stood up a bit and Siva edged it to wicketkeeper Adithya Ganesh.
With the openers gone in quick time much was depended on N. Jagadeesan, the TNPL top scorer last season. The Coimbatore youngster, who has been out of form this season, displayed confidence. He found his gaps and the ball kissed the boundary rope on a couple of occasions but soon, off-spinnner M. Prabhu upset the young man’s calculation by having him caught off his own bowling for 22. He made further inroads by picking a patient-looking Wilkins Victor for nine. But the skipper stood firm to stitch a vital 40-run stand with R. Vivek to help the team post 154 for seven.
It was not a daunting target but Warriors faltered in its chase. Both Bharath Shankar and skipper Baba Indrajith, the openers, couldn’t provide the momentum upfront. The Dragons’bowlers breathed fire from there. They kept adding to the pressure and wickets fell at regular intervals.
Brief scores:
Dindigul Dragons 154 for seven in 20 overs (N. Jagadeesan 22, A.Venkataraman 41, R. Vivek 32, M. Prabhu two for 20, R. Jesuraj two for17, J. Kousik two for 34) bt Ruby Trichy Warriors 131 for seven in 20 overs (J. Kousik 25, Adithya Ganesh 24, M. Prabhu 25 n.o,, Wilkins Victor two for 16, Sunny Kumar Singh two for 27).
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