KCL | Aries Kollam Sailors crushes Alleppey Ripples

Aries Kollam Sailors dominate Kerala Cricket League with third straight win, while Abdul Basith leads Trivandrum Royals to victory.

Aries Kollam Sailors with slick efficiency notched up its third straight win and moved into the top of the Kerala Cricket League points table. Alleppey Ripples was crushed by eight wickets with medium pacers N.M. Sharafuddeen (four for 25) and Biju Narayanan (three for 20) setting up the win.

The duo blew away Ripples’ batting line-up and only three Ripples batters managed to enter double figures with skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen top scoring with 29.

Ripples, after the heavy defeat against Thrissur Titans, made three changes and tinkered with the batting line-up. The experiment to promote Vinoop Manoharan as opener backfired as he was dismissed in the first over by Biju.

N.P. Basil kept up the pressure and snared two wickets in the PowerPlay as Ripples slid to 32 for three.

Sharafuddeen cleaned up the dangerous Akshay Chandran (16), who was getting into his groove with three well struck boundaries, to begin his wicket hunt. Ripples lost wickets in a hurry and was bundled out for 96.

Though Sailors’ in-form batter Abhishek Nair failed, skipper Sachin Baby found his touch and anchored the chase with an unbeaten 40.

Skipper Abdul Basith’s blistering unbeaten 50 carried Trivandrum Royals to a five-wicket win over Calicut Globstars. Basith walked in when Royals had nearly messed up the chase and was under pressure after three quick wickets.