India star Ravichandran Ashwin played a captain’s knock as the Dindigul Dragons claimed their maiden title in the Tamil Nadu Premier League with a six-wicket victory over the Lyca Kovai Kings in Chennai on Sunday. Having taken on the defending champions in the final, chasing down a target of 130, it was Ashwin who led the way with a composed 52 off 46 balls.
He decorated his innings with a four and three sixes and had added 65 runs for the third wicket with Baba Indrajith, who made 32 from 35 balls. The Dragons got off to a good start, scoring 46 runs for the loss of two wickets during the powerplay. Ashwin, with a steady hand, ensured the middle order did not fall apart and led his troops to a comfortable ten-ball victory.
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For the Lyca Kovai Kings, Gowtham Thamarai Kannan, Manimaran Siddharth, Valliappan Yudheeswaran, and Shahrukh Khan each picked a wicket. Earlier in the match, Dindigul Dragons’ bowlers kept the pressure on with constant wickets falling at regular intervals. Sandeep Warrier drew first blood, dismissing Suresh Kumar in the third over.
57(35) & 0/33(4) in Eliminator.
69*(30) & 1/27(4) in Qualifier 2.
52(46) & 0/13(4) in Final.RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN, CAPTAIN LEADING BY EXAMPLE IN THE BIG STAGE IN TNPL 💪 pic.twitter.com/Mo7Z28YxeY
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 4, 2024
The momentum swung decisively in Dindigul’s favour when Varun Chakravarthy struck twice in the sixth over, followed by P. Vignesh sending back Sai Sudharsan, who could manage only 14 runs off 14 balls. Atheeq Ur Rahman’s 25 off 17 balls and Ram Arvindh’s 27 off 26 balls gave them some hope through their partnership of 36 runs for the fifth wicket. Subodh Bhati sent back Ur Rahman, thus dissipating the defending champion’s hopes of a big fightback.
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Vignesh sent the Lyca Kovai Kings’ skipper Shahrukh Khan back for a meager 3 off 7 balls, really troubling them. At 105/6, Ram Arvindh’s departure, caught by Sandeep Warrier, left the tail-enders to push the score to only a modest 129/7. Ashwin with the ball was frugal, returning with figures of 0/13 while Vignesh, 2/15, and Chakravarthy, 2/26, were most impressive.
It was a clinical performance by Dindigul Dragons, led by Ashwin’s captaincy and pivotal innings, that took home their first-ever TNPL title on a memorable night for the team and their fans.
