Sai Sudharsan (64 n.o., 43b, 9x4, 1x6) who’s been in fine form, nonchalantly plays shots at times - he guided a bouncer off medium-pacer Lokesh Raj over the keeper and deftly-touched one off left-arm spinner Silambarasan past the keeper for fours.
It was representative of the nonchalance with which Lyca Kovai Kings chased down 126 to beat Chepauk Super Gillies by eight wickets in the 200th Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) match at the NPR cricket ground in Natham here on Monday.
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Medium-pacer V. Yudheeswaran starred with three for 29 as Lyca Kovai Kings restricted Chepauk Super Gillies to 126 for eight. The highlight of his bowling was the hard length he’d hit - nine times in his first three overs - and the two wickets it yielded. Both left-handers - R. Sanjay Yadav was caught behind, U. Sasidev was caught at long-off. Lokesh Raj was trapped lbw the next ball after Sasidev’s dismissal.
Yudheeswaran had conceded only 14 in his first three overs, only his last over went for 15.
The spinners were commendable. Left-arm spinner M. Siddharth’s 92.4 kph delivery that went with the angle - natural variation - caught Chepauk captain N. Jagadeesan undecided on his footwork at the crease.
Shahrukh Khan, who’d decided to bowl himself in the fourth over in his 50th TNPL match, also seemingly benefitted from natural variation - or lack of turn, if you may - as he bowled Santosh Shiv.
Both dismissals indicated the batters’ poor footwork to the spinners.
Siddharth also ran out the in-form Baba Aparajith at the non-striker’s end with a brilliant direct hit from point.
Leg-spinner Jhatavedh Subramanyan (3-0-10-1) also deserves a special mention.
The scores: Chepauk Super Gillies 126/8 in 20 overs (Harish Kumar 32, V. Yudheeswaran 3/29) lost to Lyca Kovai Kings 128/2 in 16.3 overs (Sai Sudharsan 64 n.o., Suresh Kumar 47)
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