TNPL 2016 match preview: Chepauk Super Gillies aim to clip high-flying Dindigul Dragons
An interesting tussle awaits the high-flying Dindigul Dragons as they take on Chepauk Super Gillies in the India Cements TN Premier League match at the NPR College Ground at Natham, Dindigul, on Thursday.
Dragons, who are on top of the table with four wins, are almost in the playoffs with Gillies expected to follow suit. After a disappointing opener against Albert Tuti Patriots, Gillies bounced back with victories in the next two games before losing a close game against Lyca Kovai Kings at Tirunelveli.
Gillies showcased their dominance and were impressive in every department. Also, there are worries over Thalaivan Sargunam’s form as he has not exactly fired in the tournament so far.
Gillies’ major batting contributions have come from Gopinath and R Sathish with S Saravanan doing his bit as well. The middle-order was cruelly exposed in the last game after the dismissals of Satish and Gopinath – an area which has created problems for the team.
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On to the bowling and Gillies have the right combination in Sathish, DT Kumaran, R Alexander and Antony Dhas. The only concern is Yo Mahesh’s lack of form. Mahesh, despite his two wickets, has a poor economy rate; a fact which has harmed the team. Gillies need equal contributions from all departments to win and qualify for the play-offs.
Dragons, on the other hand, have ticked all the boxes and look set for the play-offs. They have piggybacked on the form of N Jagadeesan who has single-handedly shouldered the team’s batting responsibility.
Even M Ashwin’s promotion in the last game showcased his ability as a batsman as he helped the team overcome a sticky situation against Patriots. Dragons will also hope for more runs from the middle-order as the tournament progresses.
Another plus is T Natarajan as his yorkers can put any good batting line-up in a spot of bother. His consistency of bowling yorkers at death has helped the team immensely. He has been ably supported by MS Sanjay, Guru Kedarnath and M Ashwin; the trio more than making up for the loss of R Ashwin.
Key battles: Watch out for a tussle between T Natarajan and Gopinath with the latter being an aggressive batsman who scores all of his runs in the power-play. But then it is not easy to hit boundaries of T Natarajan! Gopinath is in good form for Gillies and it will be interesting to see as to how he tackles the guile of Natarajan.