TNPL 2016: Dindigul Dragons clinch super-over humdinger against Albert Tuti Patriots

In what proved to be a humdinger of a game in the India Cements TN Premier League on Sunday, Dindigul Dragons beat Albert Tuti Patriots in the Super Over at the India Cements Limited Cricket Ground at Sankarnagar in Tirunelveli. Dragons have now won all their four matches.

It may be noted that this was the second low-scoring game in as many days at the same ground which incidentally also played host to a high-scoring game in the first two days. Patriots, who won the toss and elected to bat on a slow wicket, replaced R Vishaal for the veteran Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Kaushik Gandhi (35) showed signs of aggression when he hit two consecutive boundaries of MS Sanjay’s over after which the Patriots started to accelerate. Gandhi’s brief stay at the crease came to an end as he lost his wicket to Sanjay (3 for 18) with N Jagadeesan taking a tricky catch behind the wicket off an attempted cut.

Jagadessan later effected a stumping off Wilkins Victor (1 for 13) which sent back danger-man Washington Sundar (3). After skipper Abhinav Mukund’s (24) dismissal, Patriots lost the plot as the middle-order failed to click.

Sanjay’s clever left-arm spin choked Patriots and stemmed the run flow. Even M Ashwin (2 for 19) and Sunny Kumar Singh (2 for 24) were exceptional as Patriots lost six wickets for 37 runs.

The lower-order contributed with single digit scores as Patriots ended on 120 for 9. Aushik Srinivas (2 for 21) and Ganesh Moorthi (0 for 17) struck early as Patriots lost the in-form Jagadeesan (8) in the very first over.

Patriots’ slower bowlers were successful in restricting the run-flow and chipped in with regular wickets at crucial intervals. But M Ashwin (61*) played a thoughtful innings as he stood between Patriots and victory. After stitching a 29-run partnership with M Ashwin, Victor (7) was trapped in front by Aushik (2 for 21). Aswin Crist (1 for 22) came back strongly in the 19th over as he dismissed R Vivek (7) with Sunny Singh (1) being run-out in the very next delivery. But in an interesting twist to the game, Ashwin hit a six off the last delivery of Crist’s over which brought down the equation to six runs in six deliveries. Moorthi (0 for 17) did well to give away only five runs in the last over which ensured that the game went into the Super Over.

Brief Scores: Albert TUTI Patriots 120 for 9 (Kaushik Gandhi 35, 23b, 5x4, 1x6, Abhinav Mukund 24, 29b, 2x4, MS Sanjay 3/18, M Ashwin 2/19, Sunny Kumar Singh 2/24) lost to Dindigul Dragons 120 for 7 (M Ashwin 61, 48b, 7x4, Aushik Srinivas 2/21, R Vishaal 1/15) in the super-over.

Super over

Dindigul Dragons 12/0Ball 1: Ganesh Moorthi to R Vivek ZEROBall 2: Ganesh Moorthi to R Vivek TWOBall 3: Ganesh Moorthi to R Vivek FOURBall 4: Ganesh Moorthi to R Vivek ONEBall 5: Ganesh Moorthi to Ganga Sridhar Raju FOURBall 6: Ganesh Moorthi to Ganga Sridhar Raju ONER Vivek 7 not out, 4b, 1x4, Ganga Sridhar Raju, 5 not out, 2b, 1x4

Albert TUTI Patriots 5/1Ball 1: T Natarajan to Abhinav Mukund TWOBall 2: T Natarajan to Abhinav Mukund ONEBall 3: T Natarajan to Anand Subramanian OUTBall 4: T Natarajan to Washington Sundar ONEBall 5: T Natarajan to Abhinav Mukund ONEBall 6: T Natarajan to Washington Sundar ZEROAbhinav Mukund 4 not out, 3b