Kovai beat Dindigul to stay in playoffs race

CHENNAI: After having registered six wins in-a-row at the ongoing TNPL-4,

Dindigul Dragons

' juggernaut was halted by Lyca Kovai Kings at the ICL ground in Tirunelveli on Wednesday. A clinical Kovai rode young gun Pradosh Ranjan Paul's 35-ball 43 to score 134-8 before bowling out

Dindigul

for 99. Left-arm spinner Ajith Ram (2-12), T Natarajan (2-15) and leggie S Manigandan (3-21) were the star performers with the ball for Kovai as they won by 35 runs.


Despite the loss, Dindigul finished their league phase with 12 points in their kitty. Kovai, who won their fourth game in the competition, moved to 8 points from 7 outings to stay in the race for playoffs.

A target of 135 proved to be a tricky one for Dindigul as they lost half their side with just 29 on board in the 8th over. Ajith triggered Dindigul's slide by cleaning up the openers Hari Nishanth (0) and N Jagadeesan (0) in the opening over. Natarajan too was the on the money as he accounted for R Rohit (0) and R Vivek (5).

By the start of the 11th over of the chase, Dindigul were tottering at 41 for 6. Left-hander S Sujay (34, 1x4) - who walked in with the side's total reading 0-1 in the first over - kept Dindigul in the hunt with some smart batting. In the company of M Mohammed (19, 1x6), Sujay revived Dindigul's innings with a 41-run stand for the 7th wicket in 30 deliveries. However, Mohammed's run out in the 16th over meant Dindigul needed 53 off the last 27 deliveries. Once Sujay was dismissed -cleaned up by Manikandan in the 17th over - it was curtains for Dindigul who failed to even cross the 100-run mark.

Earlier, Kovai finished with 134-8 on board. Kovai began on a strong note as openers Shahrukh Khan (30, 4x4, 1x6) and Abhinav Mukund (21, 1x4, 1x6) adding 50 for the first wicket in 6.3 overs. In the subsequent phase of play, Dindigul pulled things back with leggie M Abhinav (1-22) and medium-pacer Adithya Arun (1-16) keeping it tight.

Medium-pacer B Praanesh - who was hit for 17 runs in his first over - was the star of the show bagging figures of 3 for 29. Pradosh Ranjan Paul's (43, 2x4, 2x6) 35-ball innings helped Kovai cross the 100-run mark but his dismissal in the 18th over triggered a collapse. Kovai failed to finish on a high - losing 5 wickets for the addition of only 15 runs in the final 3 overs.

Brief scores: Lyca Kovai Kings 134-8 in 20 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 43; Praanesh 3-29). Dindigul Dragons 99 in 18.5 overs (Manigandan 3-21). Kovai won by 35 runs.