Sachin (77, 45b, 6×4, 4×6) and leg-spinner Jhathavedh Subramanyan (4-0-10-3) joined the party as Vida Kovai Kings thumped Trichy Grand Cholas by 116 runs on Saturday. A special occasion demanded special performances. In the 100th Tamil Nadu Premier League match hosted at the NPR College ground here, top-order batter B.
Chasing 202, Grand Cholas were jolted early as medium-pacer Deeban Lingesh sent back skipper-opener J. Kings went from strength to strength, with Jhathavedh disturbing Bhavan Suriya’s furniture to leave Grand Cholas reeling at 40 for four in the mammoth pursuit. Rajkumar (32) was handed a reprieve in the eighth over when C. Rajkumar, who could not capitalise on his ‘life’, and Antony Dhas to have the Trichy outfit staring down the barrel at 59 for seven. Earlier, after the Kovai side was asked to bat, Sachin held the innings together while finding an able ally in Madhava Prasad (38 n.o.). The pair added 75 off 43 balls for the sixth-wicket stand that took Kings to 201 for six. The scores: Vida Kovai Kings 201/6 in 20 overs (B. Sachin 77, Madhava Prasad 38 n.o., K. Easwaran 2/41) bt Trichy Grand Cholas 85 in 16.1 overs (K. Rajkumar 32, K. Deeban Lingesh 3/24, Jhathavedh Subramanyan 3/10, R.S. Ambrish 2/22).
Suresh Kumar for a duck in the first over. Left-arm spinner M. Siddharth dismissed Shyam Sundar, the centurion from the previous game, before Deeban returned to castle J. Kousik. Opener K. Andre Siddarth put him down at long-on off Prashid Akash. The debutant, however, found joy as he ended Jafar Jamal’s stay soon after. Jhathavedh came back to remove K. R.S. Ambrish soon joined in the celebration, dismissing R. Rajkumar and Ganesh Moorthi as Kings finally broke free of their three-match losing streak.