TNPL: Trichy Warriors hands Super Gillies opening defeat

Ruby Trichy Warriors defeated defending champion Chepauk Super Gillies by 31 runs to register its second win of the current season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League.

Ruby Trichy Warriors' Suresh Kumar sends one to the fence during his knock of 74 against Chepauk Super Gillies on Saturday.

Chepauk Super Gillies endured a rough start to its title defence, going down by 31 runs to Ruby Trichy Warriors at the M. A. Chidambaram stadium here on Saturday.

Super Gillies, chasing 181, was left reeling at 23/3 as Ganapathi Chandrasekar claimed three of the opposition top order batsmen early,  to hedge Warriors' bets.

Then, Baskaran Rahul (53, 43b, 5x4, 1x6) and Uthirasamy Sasidev (31, 20b, 3 x6) tried to give hope to the Super Gillies. The duo upped the ante in remarkable fashion, racking up a fifth-wicket 62-run stand in 44 balls. But the riposte was soon nipped in the bud.

While Sasidev was cleaned up by K. Vignesh, Rahul fell to Sonu Yadav. Super Gillies never recovered from that point and succumbed, as Ganapathi sealed a deserving fifer.

Earlier, Bharat Shankar (23, 14b, 4x4, 1x6) impressed after Super Gillies won the toss and inserted Warriors in to bat. Bharat, relying on timing and power, was particularly harsh on R. Alexander, hammering the left-arm spinner for three boundaries and a six in the third over.

Bharath's cameo, however, came to an end when R. Vishaal had him caught at mid-on - the adrenaline rush getting the better of the hard-hitting opener. S. Arvind followed suit after Murugan Ashwin bowled him with a regulation legspinner.

But Baba Indrajith (53, 50b, 4x4, 1x6) and Suresh (74, 48b, 2x4, 6x6) stitched together a crucial 113-run third-wicket partnership in 83 balls to keep Warriors on course for a competitive total.

Indrajith peppered the fence with four boundaries and a six while Suresh carried on where he left off against Dindigul Dragons, collecting six sixes and two fours injecting the much-needed momentum.

In the last over, Ganapathi delivered the big blows with a quickfire 26 (5b, 2x4, 3x6). Ganapathi was named the player of the match for his excellent all-round show.

The scores: Ruby Trichy Warriors 180/4 in 20 overs (Baba Indrajith 53, S. Suresh Kumar 74, Ganapathi Chandrasekar 26, R. Vishaal 2 for 36) beat Chepauk Super Gillies 149/9 in 20 overs (Baskaran Rahul 53, Uthirasamy Sasidev 31, Ganapathi Chandrasekar 5 for 19, K. Vignesh 2 for 30)