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And with that, we come to the end of our cricketing coverage for the day. Join us for more tomorrow, starting with the fourth day's play of the second Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan from Galle. Until then, this is I, Rajarshi, signing off on behalf of myself and my friend and co-commentator, Pradeep. Good night!
Shahrukh Khan (Captain, Lyca Kovai Kings): Lot of people say that our bowling isn't that good, even in the last game we did well, the conditions was against us in the last game. We're peaking at the right time, it's good for us. (About Ajith Ram) That was the strategy for KB Arun Karthik, we started thinking last night about how we plan against KB, I think bowlers stuck to their plans, not to forget about Manish who bowled brilliantly, even though it was one over, everyone chipped in well. Gamble paid off, the last ball Ajith Ram removed Chaturved. Won't think about too much about Qualifier 2 who we face!
Ganga Sridhar Raju has been adjudged the Player of the match for his blistering inning that took the game away from Panthers!
Ganga Sridhar Raju: I was playing my natural game. First few games, I wasn't in my zone, I got my form later on. I think all of our guys have been in brilliant form, whether it's bat, ball or in field.
Match summary: Madurai Panthers won the toss and opted to bat
Lyca Kovai Kings 72/0 (9.5 Overs) Ganga Sridhar Raju 49*(40), Jayaraman Suresh Kumar 20*(21)
Lyca Kovai Kings win by 20 runs (DLS method).
On paper, a target of 127 in 20 overs never looked threatening, but the slowness of the wicket could have made the chase a bit dicey. But the Lyca Kovai Kings' opening duo of Ganga Sridhar Raju and Jayaraman Suresh Kumar ensured that there were absolutely no hiccups, as they got their team off to a steady start and pretty much killed the game off within the powerplay overs!
Ganga Sridhar Raju was the one who took the mantle of taking the bowlers on from the start. Four dot balls in the first over kept the Siechem Madurai Panthers a bit intrigued, but Raju's pull shot for six in the fifth ball released all the pressure. Chaturved tried rotating his bowlers vigorously, but to no avail. Raju and Suresh Kumar assessed the nature of the wicket brilliantly, played shots according to merit, and were rewarded with quick runs!
It was the over after the powerplay that yielded the most runs. V Gowtham bowled a couple of front-foot no balls to start with, and was then taken on by Raju, who top-edged a boundary and followed it up by creaming a flat six over point. The duo quietly kept milking the runs after that as the rain started to fall upon the surface at the SCF Cricket Ground, and soon enough, the players rushed off the field and only came back for the post-match pleasantries. Ganga Sridhar Raju finished one short of a half-century, but he won't mind one bit; his team are a step closer to the title!
The rain continues to fall, but the Lyca Kovai Kings do not care anymore, they are through to the second qualifier! They have won the contest by 20 runs, and will now face either one of Nellai Royal Kings or the Chepauk Super Gillies on the 29 of July at Coimbatore!
Update: The main strip is still under cover. People are flocking off the ground, doesn't seem likely that there'll be a resumption in play as it continues to rain steadily out there. In fact, it's pouring out there in the middle!
The rain seems to get heavier now. We might be in for a longer delay than we thought.
The covers finally come out to the middle! The rain defeats the prospect of further play as it starts to get heavier. Ganga Sridhar Raju runs off the field, Suresh Kumar behind him, the duo are greeted with fist bumps and high-fives as soon as they reach the dugout. The Lyca Kovai Kings are well ahead of the DLS par score at the moment, by 20 runs to be exact. There hasn't been too much threat from the Madurai Panthers bowlers, their body language suggests that the game is long gone and they are merely going through the motions.
9.5 Varun Chakaravarthy to Ganga Sridhar Raju, tossed up delivery, low full toss on the outside off, Ganga slaps it down to wide long-off for one more. Covers come on now!
9.4 Varun Chakaravarthy to Ganga Sridhar Raju, short on the outside off, Ganga reaches to cut but bottom edge's it past the slip fielder and they come back for a brace.
9.3 Varun Chakaravarthy to Ganga Sridhar Raju, short and turned back into Ganga a bit, on the backfoot he looks to tuck it away but misses, raps on the pad, that struck him a bit high and Chakravarthy is not happy.
Video
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SCF Cricket Ground, Salem
