TNPL | Veerans edge past Kings in high-octane thriller!

Brief scores: VB Thiruvallur Veerans 170/6 in 20 overs (Kavin R 31, 20b, 6x4, Baba Aparajith 74, 39b, 2x4, 6x6; Harish Kumar S 2/49) beat Lyca Kovai Kings 168/6 in 20 overs (Anirudh Sita Ram 63, 47b, 3x4, 3x6, Harish Kumar 46, 25b, 2x4, 3x6; R Rohit 2/40, Lakshmi Narayanan 2/33) by 2 runs

Earlier, Veerans, who won the toss and elected to bat, were off to a strong start as 46 runs were scored in the power-play. R Kavin, who scored a 20-ball 39, contributed a bulk to that total, post which the game was delayed for 15 minutes thanks to the rain.

Aparajith, who initially took the time to settle, build valuable partnerships and launched a late attack towards the death overs. He cleared the fence six times and also hit two boundaries. His seventh-wicket partnership with R Rohit was an absolute run-fest, as Kings conceded 59 runs in their last three overs. Aparajith’s is now the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 283.

Though M Mohammed, MK Siva Kumar, and Harish Kumar were smashed for runs, still Arun B, who conceded only 11 runs in his three overs, fared a little better amidst that carnage.

On to Kings, and they began their run-chase in exciting fashion - clearing the ropes a few times - before losing the wicket of Suryaprakash L to Rahil Shah. Anirudh Sita Ram later held the innings together as he built vital partnerships with both Tarun Srinivas and Harish Kumar S.

R Rohith got the crucial wicket of Sita Ram as the latter holed out at mid-wicket to Samuel. Sita Ram scored a fine 47-ball 63 and his wicket made all the difference in the latter part of the game. Also, a tight final over from Rahil Shah made all the difference, as he did not allow Kings to score the required 13 runs.

*Report courtesy TNPL Media