TNPL 2016: Kings beat Giants in high-scoring thriller

Lyca Kovai Kings beat Madurai Super Giants by 10 runs in what proved to be a high-scoring India Cements TN Premier League contest at the India Cements Limited Ground at Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli, on Friday.

Arun Karthik’s valiant 73 went in vain as Giants fell short chasing an imposing 200-run target. Giants have now lost three games in a row in the tournament. Despite the introduction of leg-spinner Muruganantham and a change of four bowlers in the power-play, Giants were unable to stop Kings from scoring.

Earlier, Kings, who won the toss and elected to bat, were helped by L Suryapprakash (36) who combined with Anirudh Balachander (26) and scored 21 runs in the seventh over.

Also, S Thiyagarajan (2 for 14) dismissed Suryapprakash when Arun Karthik pulled off a stunner at backward point. In the same over, Balachander, who was earlier dropped on 1 by Suresh Kumar at slips off Muruganantham, was dismissed after holing out to Suresh at third-man.

Tarun Srinivas (45) continued to bat aggressively even as Chandrasekar (0 for 35) gave away 35 runs in his three overs. R Rohith (40) joined Srinivas and the duo completed the 50-run partnership in just 35 balls. Rohith hit three sixes off P Sakthi’s over.

He eventually got out trying to accelerate and added 76 runs with Tarun. Tarun got out soon thanks to a diving catch by Chandrasekar. Also, Kovai reached 150 in the 15th over.

Giants made a late comeback as Kings lost four wickets in five runs – including two run-outs. After conceding 10 runs in the next three overs, Giants gave away 34 in the last two, thanks to a cameo from M Mohammed which bought them closer to the 200 run-mark.

The Giants’ run-chase started steadily but then they lost both the openers with only 36 runs on board. Shijit Chandran (25) and Arun Karthik (73) stitched together a partnership of 54 runs before the former holed out to S Mohammad (0 for 25) near long-off.

Karthik held the innings together and brought up his 50 with a six in the 13th over. He got a life-line earlier when M Mohammed couldn’t hold on to a diving catch in the deep cow-corner region.

Despite K Vignesh (2 for 32) dropping Sakthi (15), Kings looked set for a win when Giants needed 71 off the last five overs. Karthik kept Giants in the hunt as he scored 16 runs off MK Sivakumar’s 16th over. But a diving catch by S Mohammad at mid-off sent Karthik back and almost sealed the game for Kings.

Despite a few lusty blows by the lower order it was all too late for Giants who crashed to their third straight defeat of the tournament.

Brief scores: LYCA Kovai Kings 199 for 7 (Tarun Srinivas 45, 32b, 2x4, 3x6, R Rohith 40, 19b, 2x4, 4x6, L Suryaprakash 36, 21b, 6x4, 1x6, S Thiyagarajan 2/14, Suresh Kumar 1/20) beat Madurai Super Giants 189 for 7 (Arun Karthik 73, 44b, 8x4, 3x6, K Vignesh 2/32, M Mohammed 2/28) by 10 runs.