Dindigul Dragons did not have to sweat much on way to a 23-run win over Ruby Trichy Warriors in the India Cements TNPL at the ICL grounds here on Saturday.
Both teams had to win to stay afloat in the contest. Dragons skipper Ashwin Venkataraman was aware of it and wanted his openers Subramania Siva and G.S. Raju to stand up and deliver.
The former did just that by belting paceman J. Kaushik for two well-timed boundaries and a six. But R. Jesuraj came up with that extra bit on a pitch that seemed to assist the faster bowlers.
In his second over, he forced Raju to play a dicey delivery to M. Prabhu at mid-on. A few overs later, J. Kousik bowled a similar one but, this time around, the ball stood up a bit and Siva flashed his bat only to edge to wicketkeeper Adithya Ganesh.
With the openers gone in quick time much depended on N. Jagadeesan, the TNPL top-scorer last season. The Coimbatore youngster, who has been out of sorts this season, for once played with some confidence. He picked the gaps well and even guided the ball nicely to the ropes on a couple of occasions.
But, as he was nicely blossoming, off-spinner M. Prabhu upset the young man's calculations by having him caught and bowled for 22.
Prabhu made further inroads by picking up a patient-looking Wilkins Victor for nine. But the skipper stood firm to stitch a vital 40-run stand (22b) with R. Vivek to help the team post 154 for seven.
It was not a daunting target but Warriors still faltered in their chase. Openers Bharath Shankar and skipper B. Indrajith failed to give the team momentum, falling early.
And the Dragons’ bowlers breathed fire from there. They applied pressure and kept taking wickets at regular intervals to force a facile win.
Unstoppable
In the second match of the day, Dinesh Karthik (36, 21b, 5x4, 1x6), Washington Sundar (38, 19b, 7x4) and Kaushik Gandhi (52 n.o., 42b, 3x4, 1x6) were on a roll as Albert Tuti Patriots defeated VB Thiruvallur Veerans by six wickets.
Having sealed a play-off berth with five wins on the trot, Patriots could have well played in a relaxed manner but did not do so. Veerans, on the other hand, had to boost its tally.
Captain B. Aparajith opted to bat, hoping to post a decent total. Though he came good, scoring 58 (38b, 4x4, 2x6), his decision backfired as two wickets fell in quick succession, both to left-arm spinner Ganesh Moorthi.
However, opener Sanjay Yadav (61, 50b, 5x4, 1x6), in the company of his skipper, kept the scorecard ticking. The duo raised 77 for the third wicket before both departed while trying to accelerate. Their efforts propelled Veerans to a healthy 165 for four.
Openers Washington and Kaushik made the target look simple with a 47-run stand before the former fell to a fine catch by Sanjay Yadav at deep midwicket off Silambarasan.
Karthik then took charge, adding 59 for the second wicket with Kaushik.
The scores: Dindigul Dragons 154 for seven in 20 overs (A. Venkataraman 41, R. Vivek 32, M. Prabhu two for 20, R. Jesuraj two for 17, J. Kousik two for 34) bt Ruby Trichy Warriors 131 for seven in 20 overs (J. Kousik 25, M. Prabhu 25 n.o,, Wilkins Victor two for 16, Sunny Kumar Singh two for 27).
VB Tiruvallur Veerans 165 for four in 20 overs (Sanjay Yadav 61, B. Aparajith 58, Ganesh Moorthi two for 21) lost to Albert Tuti Patriots 171 for four in 19.1 overs (Washington Sundar 38, Kaushik Gandhi 52 n.o., Dinesh Karthik 36, Rahil Shah two for 31, R. Silambarasan two for 25).