TNPL 2022 Digest:
Salem Diaries: The TNPL 2022 continued it’s journey with the last of the four cities being hosted in Salem at Salem Cricket Foundation Grounds. We have had some terrific cricketing moments and matches happened at the venue and let’s review each of them.
Siddharth and Kaushik Gandhi inch CSG closer to top position for playoffs.
Match 22: Salem Spartans (SS) vs Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG).
Date and Time: 19 July 2022 at 7:15 PM IST
In what was a final nail in the coffin, Salem Spartans had their result known in the current edition of TNPL 2022 that they are the first team to be eliminated from the tournament! Chepauk Super Gillies and Salem Spartans clashed in what was the first game in the newly introduced ground for TNPL 2022 in Salem and CSG won the toss and elected to field. CSG had one change in B Arun Kumar coming in for Sai Kishore and Salem had once change in Akshay Srinivasan coming in for R Kavin. Salem openers KH Gopinath and Jaffar Jamal started the proceedings very slowly for their side and they were reeling at 10/0 in 2 overs when KH Gopinath started the assault with upper cutting Sandeep Warrier and hoisting Sonu Yadav for a six. Jaffar Jamal, on the other end was anchoring and also suffered a hamstring injury. He was soon dismissed by M Siddharth who uprooted his stumps in the first ball of the 5th over. Siddharth topped it up with the wicket of Akshay Srinivasan caught by Jagadeesan behind the stumps and two balls later, removed Daryll Ferrario caught by R Satish at the slips making it 3 wickets in the 5th over and also to his tally. KH Gopinath was the lone warrior fighting from one end while the Salem batters didn’t capitalize much on the score except for S Abhishiek who came in late and hit a safe innings of 23(27). KH Gopinath soon got dismissed by R Alexander on 42(45). Gopinath’s innings had 4 fours and 1 six to tally. Captain M Ashwin then hit a cameo of 14*(7) in the last over and Salem Spartans huffed and puffed to 113/6 in 20 overs.
KH Gopinath on song against CSG
Source: Salem Spartans Instagram Handle
S Abhishiek cameo against CSG
Source: Salem Spartans Instagram Handle
M Siddharth’s day out with the ball
Source: Chepauk Super Gillies Instagram Handle
Out came the CSG openers Kaushik Gandhi and Jagadeesan for the chase and they also started slowly with the chase. Jagadeesan survived a scare when a stunning effort was dropped by Ravi Karthikeyan of Ganesh Moorthi bowling and he capitalized on that life and the duo of Kaushik and Jagadeesan piled up on the runs and stitched a partnership of 89 runs in 77 balls. Jagadeesan scored 46 (45) with his innings laced with 3 fours and 2 sixes. He was dismissed off a mis scoop top edging from his willow and offering himself to a diving KH Gopinath off Ravi Karthikeyan bowling. Kaushik Gandhi followed suit of Jagadeesan when he offered himself to Daryll Ferrario off a soft dismissal from M Ashwin. U Sasidev was the next victim for the Salem Spartans when a stunner of a catch was caught by G Kishoor at deep mid-wicket of a running chance and that was the heavy competitor for catch of the tournament award!!! Sonu Yadav then unleashed an assault in the 15th over when he hoisted Daryll Ferrario for three consecutive sixes and took CSG home.
Kaushik Gandhi at his best for CSG
Source: TNPL Website
N Jagadeesan of CSG
Source: TNPL Website
G Kishoor with a one-handed stunner
Source: TNPL Website
Scoreboard: Salem Spartans 113/6 in 20 overs (KH Gopinath 42(45), S Abhishiek 23(27), M Siddharth 3/13, Sonu Yadav 1/12) lost to Chepauk Super Gillies 117/3 in 14.5 overs (Kaushik Gandhi 46(45), N Jagadeesan 39(33), Sonu Yadav 26*(7), R Karthikeyan 1/13, Daryll Ferrario 1/27).
Player of the Match: Manimaran Siddharth (Spell of 4-0-13-3)
Spirited Tamizhans tighten the race for playoffs.
Match 23: iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans (iDTT) vs Siechem Madurai Panthers (SMP).
Date and Time: 20 July 2022 at 7:15 PM IST
In what was a must-win match for the Tiruppur Tamizhans to fancy their chances in the playoffs of TNPL 2022, they put up a spirited performance to bundle out Madurai Panthers cheaply and increase the heat for the race to the playoffs. Siechem Madurai Panthers won the toss and elected to field first. Madurai Panthers had three changes in Kiran Akash, Varun Chakravarthy and Anirudh Sita Ram coming in for K Rajkumar, B Rocky and Aushik Srinivas. Tiruppur Tamizhans also had 3 changes in Suresh Kumar, Manigandan and Francis Rokins coming in for L Sathiyanarayan, Dinesh Karthik and S Anand.
Tiruppur Tamizhans started positively with S Aravind flicking Sunny Sandhu off the first ball to the boundary but soon saw them drowning in water with their captain S Anirudda getting out to an extra bouncy delivery from Kiran Akash in the second over. The extra bounce did play wonders when Kiran Akash took his second bait in R Rajkumar and the pacers were enjoying a good spell with the extra bounce. The Tamizhans were struggling with regular wickets being picked up on time and the run flow being constricted. Maan Bafna was the only positive for the Tamizhans with his valiant 40*(34) laced with 3 fours and 1 six. For the Panthers, Kiran Akash had a wonderful day with figures of 3-0-18-3. Tamizhans ended the first innings on 129/7.
Maan Bafna’s valiant knock
Source: iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans Instagram Handle
Kiran Akash’s day out with the ball
Source: Siechem Madurai Panthers Instagram Handle
The Madurai Panthers came in the second innings in pursuit of the chase of 130 runs and had a horrendous start to their innings with losing their opener Vignesh Iyer to a classy off cutter from M Mohammed rattling his stumps. The Tamizhans bowling were so spirited that they did not give chances for the Panthers to pile up partnerships and made the chase very tough for them. Even though there was a lot of dew during the chase, the Tamizhans ensured that they are here to fight and prove their mettle. Only Arun Karthik, Rithik Easwaran and Sunny Sandhu scored in double digits and the rest of the pack returned back to the pavilion in single digits and Madurai registered their lowest score in 76 all-out in 17.2 overs giving the Tiruppur Tamizhans a 53-run win and a place to race for in the playoffs. For the Tamizhans, Aswin Crist returned with figures of 3-0-13-3.
Sunny Sandhu’s knock vs iDTT
Source: TNPL Website
Aswin Crist’s day out with the ball
Source: iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans Instagram Handle
Scoreboard: iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 129/7 in 20 overs (Maan Bafna 40*(34), S Aravind 19(18), Kiran Akash 3/18, Varun Chakravarthy 1/19) defeated Siechem Madurai Panthers 76/10 in 17.2 overs (Sunny Sandhu 17(15), Rithik Easwaran 14(16), Aswin Crist 3/13, Mohan Prasath 2/15).
Player of the Match: Maan Bafna (Scoring 40*(34))
Rain and DLS play in favour of Ruby Trichy Warriors.
Match 24: Salem Spartans (SS) vs Ruby Trichy Warriors (SMP).
Date and Time: 21 July 2022 at 7:15 PM IST
Ruby Trichy Warriors and Salem Spartans faced off in a bottom table clash to decide who would get the wooden spoon in this tourney. Ruby Trichy Warriors won the toss and elected to field first. Warriors had 3 changes in P Sugendhiran coming in for Murali Vijay, Atheeq Ur Rahman coming in for Anthony Dhas, MS Sanjay coming in for R Ganesh. Salem Spartans also had 3 changes in Rajendran Karthikeyan coming in for Jafar Jamal, S Boopalan coming in for G Kishoor and TD Lokesh Raj coming in for M Ganesh Moorthi. Salem had the worst start in their season with their opener Akshay Srinivasan getting out on golden duck bowled by Saravana Kumar caught by Adithya Ganesh behind the stumps. KH Gopinath and S Ganesh bulit a small partnership of 28 runs in 27 balls when KH Gopinath was dismissed by a direct hit to the non-striker’s end by Saravana Kumar. S Ganesh then built a small and steady partnership of 20 runs in 19 balls when Ganesh was dismissed by Rahil Shah cleaning up his stumps. This was the last memorable partnership for the Spartans as wickets kept tumbling with the run flow constricted. Rahil Shah was the man in the moment picking up 3 wickets and giving away just 13 runs in 3.5 overs of his quota. Atheeq Ur Rahman, an ambidextrous bowler supported Rahil Shah by picking 2 wickets giving away only 9 runs in 3 overs of his quota. Salem got all out for 87 runs in 19.5 overs.
KH Gopinath’s lone warrior game
Courtesy: TNPL Website
Rahil Shah’s supremacy against Salem
Courtesy: TNPL Website
Atheeq Ur Rahman of RTW
Courtesy: TNPL Website
In response to the target, RTW openers Santosh Shiv and Amit Sathvik started the chase and built on a 20 ball 24 run partnership when Santosh Shiv was dismissed by Lokesh Raj with a sliding, balanced catch by Rajendran Karthikeyan at deep point. Atheeq Ur Rahman was dismissed in the same manner two balls later by Lokesh Raj and that was a defining over in his T20 career. Ruby Trichy Warriors were 26/2 in 5 overs when rain interrupted the match and when it got heavy and had no play further, RTW were declared winners by the DLS method as they were 4 runs ahead of Salem Spartans during the 5 over cutoff.
Amit Sathvik punishing the opposition
Courtesy: TNPL Website
Lokesh Raj’s double strike
Courtesy: TNPL Website
Scoreboard: Salem Spartans 87/10 in 19.5 overs (KH Gopinath 24(19), M Ashwin 13(11), Rahil Shah 3/13, Atheeq Ur Rahman 2/9) lost to Ruby Trichy Warriors 26/2 in 5 overs (Amit Sathvik 15*(17), Santosh Shiv 8(8), TD Lokesh Raj 2/10). RTW won by 4 runs (DLS method).
Player of the Match: Rahil Shah (Spell of 3.5-0-13-3)
Sai Kishore webs around the Tamizhans and secure playoff spot for CSG.
Match 25: Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG) vs iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans (iDTT).
Date and Time: 22 July 2022 at 7:15 PM IST
In what was a decider for the playoff spot, Chepauk Super Gillies and iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans came out spirited to chase their dream of securing the top 4 spot. Tamizhans won the toss and elected to field first. Chepauk Super Gillies had one change in Sai Kishore coming back and B Arun Kumar going out. Chepauk had the worst start with Jagadeesan removed by Mohan Prasath in the first over rattling his stumps. Tamizhans kept up with their spirited performance from the last game and kept taking wickets and constricting the run flow and not allowing partnerships to be built big. Mohan Prasath and Aswin Crist kept their partnership going with picking top 4 wickets of the CSG batting lineup. S Manigandan, the lanky leg break bowler also joined the party with the duo and he also contributed with picking the crucial wickets of R Satish and Sonu Yadav when U Sasidev joined Harish Kumar in the middle. The only good, recognizable and stable partnership of the duo yielded 35 runs in 31 balls and saved the sinking ship of the Chepauk Super Gillies. Sasidev worked with the tail enders and hit an unbeaten 45 in 29 balls and CSG posted 133/9 in 20 overs. Aswin Crist was the pick of the bowlers with 3/30 in his quota of 4 overs.
Sasidev on song against iDTT
Source: TNPL Website
Aswin Crist’s day out against CSG
Source: TNPL Website
Out came the Tamizhans openers S Aravind and S Anirudda for the chase of 134 runs. They built a partnership of 25 runs in 25 balls when S Aravind was removed by Sai Kishore caught by R Satish in the slips. Two balls later, R Rajkumar was removed by Sai Kishore rattling his stumps. Anirudda and Maan Bafna built a 20 run partnership in 23 balls before the big damage for the team started. Sandeep Warrier paired up with Sai Kishore and the pace-spin duo wrangled tight around the opposition and made them surrender to 73/10 in 19.3 overs and winning by a big margin of 60 runs and sealing the top 2 spot for the playoffs!!! . Sandeep Warrier, in the process, picked the second hat-trick of the season when he dismissed M Mohammed caught by R Satish!!!. This big win also made Siechem Madurai Panthers qualify for the playoffs and Nellai, Chepauk and Madurai were the three teams who qualified for the playoffs.
S Anirudda in his element against CSG
Source: TNPL Website
Sai Kishore wreaking havoc of iDTT lineup
Source: TNPL Website
Scoreboard: Chepauk Super Gillies 133/9 in 20 overs (U Sasidev 45*(29), S Radhakrishnan 24(18), A crist 3/30, S Manigandan 2/21, Mohan Prasath 2/19) defeated iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 73/10 in 19.3 overs (S Anirudda 25(26), Tushar Raheja 11(14), Sai Kishore 4/2, Sandeep Warrier 3/20).
Player of the Match: R Sai Kishore (Spell of 4-3-2-4)
Lyca scrape through hardly to book playoffs spot.
Match 26: Lyca Kovai Kings (LKK) vs Nellai Royal Kings (NRK).
Date and Time: 23 July 2022 at 7:15 PM IST
In what was a confirmation decider for the 4th playoff spot, Lyca Kovai Kings scraped through at the last moment to reign over Nellai Royal Kings and break their 6-match unbeaten streak in the tournament. Interestingly, Lyca Kovai Kings pushed out Nellai from the playoff race in the last edition and now they had to play against the same team to decide their fate for the playoff spot!!! Lyca Kovai Kings won the toss and elected to bat first and had one change in GR Manish coming in for K Vignesh. Nellai had one change in Rooban Raj coming in for Jitendra Kumar. Lyca openers GS Raju and Suresh Kumar started the proceedings and registered a century partnership of 117 in 84 balls in which GS Raju contributed 48 in 43 balls with 4 fours and 1 six to his name. Suresh Kumar, who is in the form of his life in the TNPL, used his opportunity and continued from where he left last match by registering a well made half century with GS Raju. GS Raju was dismissed by Sri Neranjan ratting his stumps which gave a respite for the Royal Kings. Suresh Kumar was then joined by Sai Sudarshan and they were building a small partnership of 22 in 14 balls when Suresh Kumar was run out at the non-strikers unfortunately from a deflection from Sanjay Yadav’s hands. Sai Sudarshan then took charge and hit a quickfire 35(18) laced with 2 fours and 2 sixes and was soon dismissed by Athisayaraj rattling his stumps. The much expected Shahrukh Khan misfired and was dismissed by Shahjahan. Lyca ended the first innings at 177/4.
Suresh Kumar leading from the front
Source: LKK Instagram Handle
Ganga Sridhar Raju’s heroics against NRK
Source: LKK Instagram Handle
Out came the Nellai Royal Kings for the chase with Sri Neranjan and Suryapprakash opening. They had the bad start when Sri Neranjan was dismissed by debutant GR Manish for 1 run caught by Abhishek Tanwar at backward point. Baba Aparajith joined Suryapprakash in the middle and the duo put up on a 51 ball 69 run partnership with Suryapprakash contributing 45(33) with 3 fours and 2 sixes and getting dismissed to Ajith Ram at the end of the partnership. Aparajith then joined hands with Sanjay Yadav and was soon dismissed after their 25 run partnership in 17 balls when he holed out to substitute Yudeeshwaran off Divakar bowling. Sanjay Yadav then fought a lone warrior game with his partners not contributing much and getting dismissed in low scores. He made a valiant 54 (31) laced with 3 fours and 4 sixes before holing out to Sharukh Khan off his own bowling and losing the plot for the Royal Kings. Nellai Royal Kings finished on 172/9, four runs short of the target and lost their streak of continuous wins. With this win, Lyca Kovai Kings qualified as the fourth team for the playoffs.
Sanjay Yadav’s heroics in vain
Source: Star Sports Tamil Insta Handle
Divakar’s fiery spell against NRK
Source: LKK Instagram Handle
Ajith Ram’s web spun around NRK
Source: LKK Instagram Handle
Scoreboard: Lyca Kovai Kings 177/4 in 20 overs (J Suresh Kumar 75(48), GS Raju 48(43), Sai Sudarshan 35(18), M Shahjahan 1/21, Sri Neranjan 1/21) defeated nellai Royal Kings 172/9 in 20 overs (Sanjay Yadav 54(31), L Suryappprakash 45(33), B Aparajith 37(31), R Divakar 3/40, S Ajith Ram 2/23, Shahrukh Khan 2/8).
Player of the Match: J Suresh Kumar (Scoring 75(48))
Debut: GR Manish (Debut in TNPL - Lyca Kovai Kings)
Madurai finish things in style in league stage of TNPL 2022.
Match 27: Siechem Madurai Panthers (SMP) vs Ruby Trichy Warriors (RTW).
Date and Time: 24 July 2022 at 3:15 PM IST
In what was a consolation match between the two sides wherein one had crashed out of the tourney and the other had taken the spot for Eliminator, the match was pretty much a warm up for the Panthers. Ruby Trichy Warriors won the toss and elected to bowl and had one change in Poiyamozhi coming in for Saravana Kumar. Madurai had 2 changes in V Aaditya coming in for Vignesh Iyer and R Mithun coming in for Silambarasan. Madurai openers Aaditya and Arun Karthik started the proceedings but soon Aru Karthik was dismissed on 5(7) when Rahil Shah rattled his stumps. Anirudh Sita Ram joined hands with Aaditya and put up on a partnership of 58 runs in 50 balls before he was dismissed by Athheq Ur Rahman off a direct hit towards the non-striker’s end. He scored 34(26) with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his count. Wickets kept falling for the Panthers with Aaditya, Rithik Easwaran departing soon. J Kousik and captain NS Chaturved then stabilized the ship with a 33 ball 35 run partnership before Chaturved was dismissed by Poiyamozhi. Sunny Sandhu and J Kousik then surged a late strike and took Madurai to 136/6 in 20 overs.
Anirudh Sita Ram against RTW
Source: TNPL Website
V Aaditya’s prime knock
Source: TNPL Website
Poiyamozhi’s day out against SMP
Source:TNPL Website / Star Sports 1 HD
Out came the Trichy Warriors for one last time for the chase in TNPL 2022 with Amit Sathvik and Santosh Shiv in pursuit of the target of 137 runs. The duo started out positively with a 44 run partnership in 46 balls when Santosh Shiv was dismissed by J Kousik caught by Kiran Akash on 31(26) laced with 3 fours and 2 sixes. That was the last best partnership for the Warriors as they started to crumble under pressure and soon were dismissed all out on 100 runs and Madurai Panthers clinching the match by 36 runs. Amit Sathvik was the only other standout performer for the Warriors with 23(28) with 2 fours to his name. For the Panthers, J Kousik was the standout performer with 4/15 in his quota of 4 overs.
Santosh Shiv’s knock in vain for RTW
Source: TNPL Website
Amit Sathvik against SMP
Source: TNPL Website
Kousik’s day out for SMP
Source: TNPL Website
Scoreboard: Siechem Madurai Panthers 136/6 in 20 overs (Anirudh Sita Ram 34(26), V Aaditya 26(34), Sunny Sandhu 24*(8), J Kousik 22(25), M Poiyamozhi 2/24, MS Sanjay 1/13) defeated Ruby Trichy Warriors 100/10 in 18.4 overs (Santosh Shsiv 31(26), Amit Sathvik 23(28), J Kousik 4/15, Kiran Akash 2/23).
Player of the Match: Sunny Sandhu (Scoring 24*(8) and spell of 3-0-5-1)
Salem finally taste victory in TNPL 2022.
Match 28: Salem Spartans (SS) vs Dinidgul Dragons (DD).
Date and Time: 24 July 2022 at 7:15 PM IST
A dead rubber in the final stages of the league in TNPL 2022, Salem Spartans were eagerly waiting to finish off things in style before their home ground fans and they were successful on doing so. Salem Spartans won the toss and elected to bat first in a slow-paced and sticky pitch and had 2 changes in R Kavin coming in for S Ganesh and Pranav Kumar coming in for Akshay Srinivasan. Dindigul had as many as changes in Vimal Kumar coming in for Vishal Vaidhya, K Mukunth (Debut) coming in for K Monish, Advaith Sharma (Debut) coming in for R Sutesh and S Kishan Kumar coming in for R Ashwin. Salem openers KH Gopinath and R Kavin started the proceedings for their team but had a bad start to the innings with KH Gopinath first losing him to M Silambarasan who cleaned up his stumps. Daryll Ferrario joined R Kavin and played the attacing part before R Kavin departed for a paltry score dismissed by VP Diran. Salem Captain M Ashwin joined Daryll Ferrario and departed soon dismissed by Kishan Kumar. Wckets kept tumbling for the Sparatns and run flow constricted by the Dragons and they ensured that the Spartans don’t build up big partnerships. Pranav Kumar was the other standout performer apart from Daryll Ferrario from the Spartans steup. Advaith Sharma bowled an impressive spell of 4-0-13-1 on his debut. Interestingly, Advaith Sharma comes from the Gen Next academy run by Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin.
Daryll Ferrario of Salem Spartans
Source: Salem Spartans Insta handle
Pranav Kumar of Salem Spartans
Source: Salem Spartans Insta Handle
Advaith Sharma of Dinidgul Dragons
Source: Dindigul Dragons Insta Handle
M Silambarasan on fire against Salem
Source: Dindigul Dragons Insta Handle
Dindigul Dragons came out one last time in their chase in the current edition of the TNPL with Hari Nishaanth and Vimal Khumar opening for the team. The Dragons had the worst start in the season with G Periyasamy of Salem breathing fire removing both Hari Nishanth and K Mukunth in consecutive balls leg before the wicket. Mani Bharathi joined Vimal Khumar and scored few runs before he returned back to the pavilion due to a hamstring injury and RS Mokit Hariharan joined Vimal Khumar in the middle. While the Dragons setup was losing out on runs and giving themselves to the Dragons bowlers, Vimal Khumar waged a lone battle scoring 43(37) laced with 2 fours and 1 six. Periyasamy was the star for the Salem Spartans with a spell of 4-1-11-3. He was ably supported by M Ashwin who bowled a spell of 4-0-16-2 and Rajendran Karthikeyan with a spell of 4-0-19-2.
Vimal Khumar of Dindigul Dragons
Source: Dindigul Dragons Insta Handle
G Periyasamy of Salem Spartans
Source: Salem Spartans Insta Handle
Rajendran Karthikeyan of Salem Spartans
Source: Salem Spartans Insta Handle
Scoreboard: Salem Spartans 124/8 in 20 overs (Daryll Ferrario 38(36), Pranav Kumar 23*(15), M Silambarasan 2/28, Advaith Sharma 1/13) defeated Dindigul Dragons 106/9 in 20 overs (Vima Khumar 43(37), VP Diran 12(12), G Periyasamy 3/11, M Ashwin 2/16, R Karthiekyan 2/19).
Player of the Match: G Periyasamy (Spell of 4-1-11-3)
Debutants: K Mukunth and Advaith Sharma (Debut in TNPL and Dindigul Dragons)
Review of Salem leg: The Salem Cricket Foundation, for the first time, hosted the matches in TNPL and nevertheless to say, was an attractive stadium to play at and also a tough nut to crack for the batters. Pacers and spinners enjoyed a great time here with the extra bounce offering them humpty chances to collect their bounties of wickets and also improve themselves. The leg saw the three teams in Chepauk, Madurai and Kovai qualifying for the playoffs and kudos to the management of every team making it a tough competition for their respective opposition. With the playoffs (Eliminator and Qualifier 1) scheduled at this lush stadium, one would expect more and more entertainment in the playoffs.
Points Table at the end of league stage of TNPL 2022:
