TNPL 2016: Veerans edge past Giants in Dindigul thriller

VB Thiruvallur Veerans registered their second consecutive victory in the India Cements TN Premier League as beat Madurai Super Giants by six runs at Natham on Monday evening. The victory came in the last over as the Veerans were successful in defending a score of 143.

Madurai started the chase well, despite losing the early wicket of Ganapathi Vignesh. Captain Shijit Chandran and Narender scored the bulk of the runs without breaking a sweat. Both were particularly harsh on Yadav and Malolan Rangarajan. After adding 63 runs off 51 deliveries, Shijit (39) was trapped in front by Jagannath Sinivas and Narender (33) was bowled by Lakshmi Narayanan (1 for 18).

Suresh Kumar and Aswin Kumar kept the scorecard ticking with singles before a mix-up saw the end of the latter. Veerans gave away just 20 runs in four overs as the Giants required 33 off the last three overs. Rohit bowled a brilliant 19th over giving away just one run and picked up two wickets that sealed the match.

Veerans, opting to bat first, had a steady start with openers NS Chaturved and Hari Nishaanth setting up a good platform. DT Chandrasekar drew first blood for the Giants as he dismissed Nishaanth. Shijit soon brought himself into the attack and dismissed GV Vignesh.

Once Vignesh fell, the batting weakness of Veerans sans Baba Aparajith was exposed. They experienced a collapse of sorts, losing five wickets for 39 runs, as Madurai struck at regular intervals.

Chaturved, who got a lifeline on 4, played a lone hand and top scored for Veerans with 42. Sanjay Yadav (28), who had come in place of Aparajith, pushed the target closer to 150. M Raja (3 for 22) and DT Chandrasekar (2 for 32) were the wreckers-in-chief for Madurai who despite having a mixed day on field got two run-outs.

Brief scores: VB Thiruvallur Veerans 143-9 (NS Chaturved 42, 38b, 4x4, 1x6, Sanjay Yadav 28, 19b, 3x4, 1x6, M.Raja 3/22, DT Chandrasekar 2/32) beat Madurai Super Giants 137-7 ( Shijit Chandran 40, 31b, 7x4, Varun Narender 32, 32b, 4x4, R Rohit 3/21 Narayanan 1/18) by six runs.