TNPL 2016: Chepauk Super Gillies defeat Lyca Kovai Kings to storm into final

In what proved to be a thrilling second semi-final of the India Cements TN Premier League, Chepauk Super Gillies beat Lyca Kovai Kings by 17 runs in a jam-packed MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Saturday. Gillies will now face Albert Tuti Patriots in Sunday’s final at the same venue.

KH Gopinath and Vasanth Saravanan helped Gillies set up a 161 for 7 whereas Antony Dhas took three crucial wickets in the death overs Earlier, Gillies, who won the toss and elected to bat, had Gopinath taking the Kings’ bowlers to the cleaners - scoring 20 runs off M Mohammed second over.

Kings hit back when the dangerous Thalaivan Sargunam was clean-bowled by K Vignesh. Gowjith Subash fell next as he holed out in the deep of the bowling of B Arun.

Despite the early strikes, Gillies side scored 50 runs in the power-play, the third-wicket partnership of the experienced pair of KH Gopinath and Vasanth Saravan yielding 76 runs. Though M Mohammed broke the partnership, Gillies kept the scoreboard ticking.

Even Harish Kumar and K Vignesh picked up two wickets each for Kings, as the Gillies innings consisted of six sixes and eleven boundaries.

Kings started their run-chase well as they scored 40 runs in the power-play. They did, however, lose the crucial wicket of in-form opener Anirudh Sitaram, as R Satish induced a faint nick to the keeper off the former.

Later, Sai Kishore bowled a wicket-maiden – his third of the tournament- and also dismissed R Rohit. Even skipper Syed Mohammed failed to trouble the scorers and fell early. Surya Prakash scored 38 runs but soon departed.

Despite keeping pace with the run-rate, Kings never managed to build partnerships, losing wickets at regular intervals. Akshay Srinivas and Harish Kumar kept them in the hunt with a quick-fire 22-ball 33 run-partnership.

A sensational spell by Dhas in the death overs helped Gillies seal their spot in the final. Dhas’ 14 wickets made him the joint highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

Brief scores:

Chepauk Super Gillies 161/7 in 20 overs (KH Gopinath 44, 33b, 5x4, 1x6, Vasanth Saravanan 52, 39b, 4x4, 2x6; K Vignesh 2/21, Harish Kumar S 2/25) beat Lyca Kovai Kings 144/9 in 20 overs (Surya Prakash 38, 28b, 2x4, 1x6, Akshay Srinivas 27, 20b, 2x4, 1x6; Sai Kishore 2/17, Antony Dhas 3/21, Alexander 2/28) by 17 runs