R. Sanjay Yadav’s scintillating knock (95, 60b, 7×4, 6×6) and R. Sathish’s all-round show (31 not out & four for 17) set up VB Kanchi Veerans’ 110-run win over iDream Karaikudi Kaalai in the Sankar Cement-TNPL at the NPR College grounds in Natham on Wednesday.
Put in, Veerans’ opener K. Vishal Vaidhya dispatched Sunil Sam for a boundary off the first ball of the match. But the seamer hit back a couple of balls later when U. Mukilesh, the other opener, edged one to wicketkeeper S. Aniruda, who took a diving catch.
Lusty blows
Southpaw R. Sanjay Yadav joined Vaidhya and the duo, besides being quick between the wickets, also struck some lusty blows, as Veerans scored 49 for one in the PowerPlay overs.
Lakshman broke the growing partnership (71 off 51 balls) dismissing Vaidhya in the 10th over with the score on 76. Soon, Sanjay notched up his half-century off 32 balls. Skipper B. Aparajith, who walked in at No.4, rotated the strike well, while runs kept flowing from Sanjay’s blade as Veerans crossed the 100-run mark in the 13th over.
Their 56-run partnership ended when Aparajith holed out in the deep. Sanjay, however, continued to be aggressive and R. Sathish (31 not out, 14b, 5×4), who was dropped on 17, gave him good company.
Formidable total
The former might have missed out on a well-deserved century, caught at long-on by Rajkumar off left-arm spinner S. Mohan Prasath in the final over, but helped his team post a formidable 177 on the board.
Early wicket
In reply, Kaalai lost skipper Aniruda early. He tried to pull K. Gowtham Thamarai Kannan but got an inside edge onto the stumps.
V. Aaditya and L. Suryapprakash added 20 runs for the second wicket before a batting collapse left the team reeling at 31 for six, with Sathish striking off successive deliveries in the seventh over. It could not recover from there.
The scores: VB Kanchi Veerans 177 for four in 20 overs (K. Vishal Vaidhya 27, R. Sanjay Yadav 95, R. Sathish 31 n.o., Sunil Sam two for 38) bt iDream Karaikudi Kaalai 67 in 14.4 overs (K. Gowtham Thamarai Kannan two for 17, R. Sathish four for 17).
Thursday’s match: Lyca Kovai Kings vs Tuti Patriots (7.15 p.m.).
