TNPL 2023: Sai Sudharsan’s knock helps Kovai Kings beat Dindigul Dragons; Batters set up easy win for Tiruppur Tamizhans against Ba11sy Trichy

TNPL 2023: Sai Sudharsan’s knock helps Kovai Kings beat Dindigul Dragons; Batters set up easy win for Tiruppur Tamizhans against Ba11sy Trichy

B. Sai Sudharsan’s purple patch continued as the youngster came up with a scintillating 83 (41b, 8x4, 4x6) to set-up a thumping 59-run win for Lyca Kovai Kings against Dindigul Dragons at the Salem Cricket Foundation ground on Sunday.

The 22-year-old’s well-composed knock and valuable cameos from the top-order powered Kovai Kings to 206 for five after being asked to bat first.

The Dragons’ chase fizzled out within the PowerPlay when left-arm spinner M. Siddharth and pacer K. Gowtham Thamarai Kannan (three for 18) picked up two wickets each to leave the team struggling at 25 for four by the fifth over.

Shivam Singh (61) and C. Sarath Kumar (36) entertained the crowd for a while, scoring a few sixes during their 77-run partnership for the sixth wicket, but it was not enough for Dragons to avoid a big defeat.

Earlier, Kings were off to a flyer with openers J. Suresh Kumar (29) and S. Sujay (31) adding 49 runs in quick time. Despite losing two wickets in the sixth over, Sai Sudharsan kept up the tempo with consecutive boundaries off left-arm spinner Mathivannan before cutting Varun Chakravarthy (0/48) in the next over.

After seeing off R. Ashwin, Sai Sudharsan went after Varun, hitting the mystery spinner for three sixes with a few neatly timed slog-sweeps to blunt one of Dragons’ main threats.

Against the pacers, he used the paddle and lap shots effectively to target the fine-leg boundary. One such stroke off Saravana Kumar took him to his fourth half-century of the season from five matches and guided his side to the top of the table.