Kovai cruise to eight-wicket win

CHENNAI: Riding on half-centuries by Ganga Sridhar Raju (74, 54b) and Sai Sudharsan (57 n.o.), Lyca Kovai Kings thrashed Ruby Trichy Warriors by eight wickets in TNPL-5 here at Chepauk on Friday.

Ganga Sridhar Raju and Sai Sudharsan added 106 runs for the second wicket, helping Kovai earn a creditable win. Both Raju and Sudharsan played positively from the start. The duo made sure that they punished medium-pacers Sunil Sam and Anthony Dhas whenever they erred in line and length.

Skipper Rahil Shah too was not that effective as both Raju and Sudharsan played the experienced spinner with a lot of confidence, adapting to a pitch that was on the slower side. Earlier, Ruby Trichy Warriors managed to post a modest total of 171 for 7 in the allotted overs.

Opting to bat, Trichy got off to an excellent start with Amit Sathvik (42) and K Mukunth adding 57 runs for the first wicket. Amit, who made his debut a few days back against Nellai Royal Kings and scored 71, was at his fluent best on Friday. He handled medium-pacers Abhishek Tanwar and K Vignesh deftly and was confident against the spin duo of N Selva Kumaran and Ajith Ram

The Trichy innings gained momentum after a 74-run partnership off 49 balls between Nidhish Rajagopal (45;  28b, 6x4, 1x6) and Sumant Jain (29 off 25b). The Trichy lower middle-order put to effective use the long handle as they scored 84 runs in the last six overs.

Brief scores: Ruby Trichy Warriors 171/7 in 20 ovs (Amit Sathvik 42, Nidhish Rajagopal 45, Sumant Jain 29) lost to Lyca Kovai Kings 175/2 in 18.1 ovs (Ganga Sridhar Raju 74, Sai Sudarshan 57 n.o).