TNPL 2018: All-round Tuti Patriots humble Lyca Kovai Kings

Jones Tuti Patriots registered their second win in TNPL 2018 as they beat Lyca Kovai Kings by 11 runs in their second match of the tournament at the NPR college ground in Natham, Dindigul.

Chasing 183 to win, Kovai were off a slow start as their skipper Abhinav Mukund was struggling to get going. They lost the wicket of M Shahrukh Khan for 23 before Abhinav's stay at the crease came to an end for a 23-ball 21. Pradosh Ranjan Paul departed immediately for 3 and Kovai were in deep trouble at the half-way mark.

Akkil Srinaath and Antony Dhas tried to pull things back before Dhas was caught at deep off the bowling of Akash Sumra against the run of play. Akkil was looking good for Kovai as he hit some lusty blows. He got out for 35 off 20 balls in an unfortunate manner as his backfoot clipped the stumps when he tried to hit the ball to the off-side and was dismissed hit-wicket.

That was the moment that sealed the match for Tuti as Kovai lost the plot in spite of cameos from Rohith Ravikumar (25 off 11 balls) and MP Rajesh (21 off 13). They were restricted to 171/8, handing Tuti an 11-run win. Athisayaraj Davidson and Akash Sumra were the picks of the Tuti bowlers as they took

Earlier in the day, Tuti Patriots were off to a brilliant start after being put into bat as their openers Kaushik Gandhi and S Dinesh put on 89 runs in 83 overs before MP Rajesh had Kaushik caught and bowled for a well-made 25-ball 43.

Anand Subramaniam followed Kaushik back to the pavilion without disturbing the scorers. That was when Dinesh and Akshay Srinivasan put together 55 off 30 balls for the third wicket. Dinesh was dismissed by K Vignesh soon after reaching his fifty and Akshay followed him in the next over.

Tuti were looking good to register a total in excess of 200 when Kaushik Gandhi, S Dinesh and Akshay Srinivasan were batting. They were cruising at 141/2 after 14 overs. But, Kovai bowlers pulled things back and restricted them for just 182/7 in 20 overs.

T Natarajan, S Ajith Ram and MP Rajesh were the picks of the bowlers for Kovai as they picked up two wickets apiece while S Dinesh was the stand-out performer with the bat for Tuti with 59 off 42 balls and was well supported by Akshay, who scored a 21-ball 45.

Turning point: Kovai's slow start to their innings inside the field-restriction overs proved costly for them and them losing wickets at regular intervals didn't help their cause as well.

Brief scores: Lyca Kovai Kings 171/8 in 20 overs (Akkil Srinaath 35, R Rohith 25, Akash Sumra 3/32, Athisayaraj Davidson 3/35) lost to Jones Tuti Patriots 182/7 in 20 overs (S Dinesh 59, Akshay Srinivasan 45, S Ajith Ram 2/27, MP Rajesh 2/31) by 11 runs.