Kings rule the roost; beat Dragons to keep play-offs hopes alive

Lyca Kovai Kings kept alive their play-off chances as they beat Dindigul Dragons by 16 runs at the India Cements Limited Ground at Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli, on Tuesday. Chasing 148 for victory, Dragons, who had three debutants, were restricted to 131 for 8, despite N. Jagadeesan’s fine half-century.

Earlier, Kings, who opted to bat first, got off to a great start as they scored at eight runs per over during the power-play. The pair of Anirudh Sitaram (38) and L Suryaprakash accelerating from the fifth over, as they scored 15 runs off Wilkins Victor, and added 67 runs off 59 deliveries.

The young M Silambarasan (2 for 17), who was one of the three debutants for Dindigul, drew first blood when he sent back Anirudh with a superb catch off his own bowling. R Rohith was Silambarasan’s next victim when the wicketkeeper-batsman fell while trying to slog.

Suryaprakash (51) bought up his first half-century of the tournament with a six to the long-on boundary, but soon fell when Adithya Arun (2 for 28) disturbed his stumps.

The middle-order couldn’t get going as the spinners stemmed the run-flow. Also, Subramaniya Siva’s brilliant one-handed catch at extra cover saw the end Syed Mohammad which left Kovai reeling.

M Mohammed (27 not-out) hit a few biggies out of the ground and helped Kings score 34 runs in the last three overs. His cameo brought Kings closer to the 150-run mark in their last league game.

Chasing a tricky total, Dragons got off to a slow start - their slowest in the power-play – and lost the early wicket of Ganga Sridhar Raju, clean-bowled by K Vignesh.

At the half-way mark, Dragons had reached only 45 runs and required more than 100 to win their sixth game in the league stage. After a good tight spell, Kings’ skipper Syed Mohammed struck in his very first over as he got the wicket of S Abhishek.

Jagadeesan (58) later blasted Mohammed for back-to-back sixes and gave the much needed momentum for Dragons. In the process, Jagadeesan also bought up his fourth half-century of the tournament as he continued to stamp his authority.

Subramaniya Siva hit K Vignesh (3 for 29) for two sixes in the 15th over as the equation boiled to 56 runs needed from 30 deliveries. But Harish Kumar (3 for 20) sent back Siva, and in the very next delivery, Raghunath holed out, thus bringing Kings back in the game.

Wickets of Jagadeesan and M Ashwin in the very next over by K Vignesh tilted the match in Kings’ favour. Dragons lost five wickets in a space of 16 runs and it caused a mini-collapse that sealed the match for Kings.

Brief scores: LYCA Kovai Kings 147 for 6 (L Suryaprakash 51, 50b, 4x4, 1x6, Anirudh Sitaram 38, 29b, 3x4, 1x6, M Mohammed 27 not-out, 12b, 1x4, 2x6, M Silambarasan 2/17, Adithya Arun 2/28) beat Dindigul Dragons 131 for 8 (N Jagadeesan 58, 54b, 4x4, 2x6, Harish Kumar 3/20, K Vignesh 3/29) by 16 runs.