Match 27: 8th August 2021
Teams: Lyca Kovai Kings vs Nellai Royal Kings
Place: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Toss: Lyca Kovai Kings won the toss and elected to bat first
Lineups:
Lyca Kovai Kings: Ganga Sridhar Raju, J Suresh Kumar (wk), Sai Sudharsan, U Mukilesh, Shahrukh Khan (c), N Selva Kumaran, Abhishek Tanwar, S Ajith Ram, Atheeq Ur Rahman, R Divakar, Valliappan Yudheeswaran
Nellai Royal Kings: Baba Aparajith (c), Laxmesha Suryaprakash, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Baba Indrajith (wk), Sanjay Yadav, Arjun Murthy, Jitendra Kumar, Sri Neranjan, NS Harish, Ashwath Mukumthan, V Athisayaraj Davidson
NERVE WRACKING THRILLER BOOKS A PLAYOFF SPOT
Cricket is a gentleman’s game, many say. Cricket is a fixing game, some say. But beyond that, cricket is a game of entertainment, tension, nerve wracking thrillers which raises the intensity bar higher every time. The same was showcased in an edge of the seat thriller between the two teams fighting for the last ticket to onboard the flight called the playoffs.
Lyca Kovai Kings won the toss and elected to bat first. The teams had few changes in Nellai having Jitendra Kumar back for T Veeramani and Aswath Mukumthan coming in for Trilok Nag while the Lyca got in Atheeq Ur Rahman for Ashwin Venkatraman and Suresh Kumar for R Kavin. Openers GS Raju and Suresh Kumar started for Lyca Kovai Kings while A Davidson opened the bowling for Nellai. Davison created a chance for the Nellai setup by trying to dismiss Suresh Kumar but it was dropped by the fielder at short mid wicket and the chance was well used by Suresh Kumar and smashed a boundary at the last ball of the first over. GS Raju took strike and he started his innings with two fours off consecutive balls of the second over bowled by NS Harish. He didn’t stop there and again took on NS Harish in his second over when he hoisted him for a six and a four off consecutive balls in the 4th over. Nellai captain Aparajith came in the 5th over to control the runflow and dismissed the dangerous GS Raju caught effectively by his brother Indrajith behind the stumps.
Sai Sudarshan joined Suresh Kumar in the middle. Suresh Kumar took the strike and bashed a boundary off A Mukumthan’s first over. Aparajith came back and dismissed Sai Sudarshan caught and bowled, making things worse for the Kovaia setup. Atheeq Ur Rahman joined Suresh Kumar and soon perished, this time again the captain taking the step forward and dismissing the right hander by applying pressure to him and making him offer to Jitendra Kumar at the boundary. U Mukilesh joined Suresh Kumar in the middle. Nellai were in a strong position limiting runs and applying brakes when it looked like all hell would break loose. The duo of Mukilesh and Suresh Kumar tapped some runs on to the board before NS Harish came and broke the partnership, rattling the stumps of Mukilesh.
The Lyca captain, the dangerous Shahrukh Khan joined Suresh Kumar in the middle and he ensured the team were safe from further destruction. He found boundaries at intervals dispatching Sanjay Yadav and NS Harish to the fence and to the stands. But Sanjay Yadav had other plans and dismissed Suresh Kumar cleaning up his order of stumps and ensuring that the duo don’t stitch any partnership, While Shahrukh was busy in piling up runs via boundaries, he suffered support from the other end where the batters came and hit a cameo and perished to the Nellai bowlers. While Ashwath Mukumthan was hit mercilessly by Shahrukh, he dismantled his partner A Tanwar making him offer to Sanjay Yadav at deep mid wicket. Shahrukh Khan soon reached his half century in 25 balls, the second quickest in the edition and was almost run out in the last over but the TV umpire turned down the run out decision making the Baba brothers furious with anger at peak. Lyca Kovai Kings finished on 169/6 in 20 overs.
Next came the Nellai openers, B Aparajith and L Suryaprakash. Abhishek Tanwar opened the bowling for Lyca. Aparajith hoisted Tanwar over long off in the last ball of the first over. The duo kept tapping runs and finding boundaries at intervals to keep the scoreboard ticking and improving the run rate. The highlight came in the 4th over when Aparajith tamed Selva Kumaran with two sixes and a four tallying about 17 runs to Nellai. But Aparajith soon perished caught by Mukilesh off Ajith Ram in the 5th over of the Powerplay. Pradosh Ranjan Paul joined Suryaprakash in the middle and soon perished for a duck caught by keeper Suresh Kumar off Yudeeshwaran in the final over of the powerplay. Nellai ended the powerplay on 43/2.
Arjun Murthy joined Suryapraksh in the middle and the duo tapped some runs before Yudeeshwaran struck back removing Arjun Murthy out of the equation caught by Atheeq Ur Rahman in the boundary. Sri Neranjan joined Suryaprakash in the middle and soon was rattled by Mukilesh. Nellai were in a spot of bother in their run chase and had no idea of what needs to be done before Indrajith entered the arena. The duo were cautious and did not want to lose themselves and cause collapse to the team. They rotated the strike and Indrajith finally broke the shackles in the last ball of the 12th over when he hoisted Ajith Ram over long-on for a roaring six.
Yudeeshwaran came back for his second spell and accounted for his spell with the dismissal of Suryaprakash after a long hiatus caught comfortably by Shahrukh Khan. Sanja Yadav joined Indrajith in the middle and soon perished caught stunningly by Sai Sudarshan at long on off a running catch diving to his right between two fielders. This was arguably one of the top entries for the catch of the season award. Jithendra Kumar joined Indrajith in the middle and the latter punished Ajith Ram for a six and a four off consecutive balls in the16th over. Jithendra Kumar gave hope for his team and Indrajith when he treated R Divakar for 17 runs in the 17th over, slapping him for three fours in the over. But Jithendra Kumar soon got run out by A tanwar off his own bowling adding more pressure to the Nellai setup. NS Harish joined Indrajith and soon went back to the pavilion, caught by Sai Sudarshan off R Divakar.
18 runs were needed of the final over and Indrajith made his maximum efforts to reach the target but fell short off 7 runs only to lose their playoff spot to Lyca Kovai Kings albeit a Shahrukh Khan special. Nellai were totally broken into pieces and had a chance, had the run out decision come correctly from the TV umpire. Lyca Kovai Kings joined Chepauk Super Gillies, Dindigul Dragons and first time qualifiers to playoffs Ruby Trichy Warriors to rub shoulders for clinching the championship this year.
Brief Scores: Lyca Kovai Kings 169/6 in 20 overs (Shahrukh Khan 64*,Suresh Kumar 36, GS Raju 30; B Aparajith 3-13, Sanjay Yadav 1-26, NS Harish 1-42) beat Nellai Royal Kings 162/8 in 20 overs (B indrajith 49*,Surya Prakash 36, B Aparajith 28; V Yudeeshwaran 3-33, U Mukilesh 2-6, Ajith Ram 1-34) by 7 runs.
Player of the Match: Shahrukh Khan (LKK)
