Jagadeesan guides Chepauk to title 

Express News Service

CHENNAI:  Narayan Jagadeesan reserved his best for last as his splendid 90 off 58 balls (7×4, 2×6) helped Chepauk Super Gillies beat Ruby Trichy Warriors by eight runs in the final of the fifth edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday. Chepauk’s victory gave them their third TNPL title. 

When Trichy needed 13 runs for a win in the final over, left-arm spinner Sai Kishore delivered the goods with a superb over under pressure. He gave away only four runs and ended with figures of 1 for 30 in his four overs.

The win was set up by Jagadeesan, who moved his feet well and looked at ease against both medium-pacers and spinners. What stood out in his batting was his ability to pick the gaps and score boundaries at will. He put together a 58-run opening partnership with M Kaushik Gandhi.

Once Gandhi was dismissed, Jagadeesan got little support from the other end. Set a stiff target of 184 for a win, Trichy openers went about their task with a bang. Amit Sathvik was aggressive from the word go and picked a six each off M Siddharth and R Sathish to set the tone for the chase. Santosh Shiv, too, matched his partner for a while during his stay. The duo raised 40 runs in 3.2 overs for the first wicket to give their side an excellent start. 

Sathvik (36; 16b, 1×4, 5×6) eventually fell to Sonu Yadav while trying to continue attacking and taking advantage of the field restrictions. Thereafter, the Trichy batsmen succumbed to pressure and kept losing wickets at regular intervals as the asking rate went up.

Towards the end, P Saravana Kumar put the long handle to effective use to make 45 not out, but that was not enough, Earlier, put in to bat, Chepauk had a good start with openers Gandhi and Jagadeesan. The duo chose the right balls to attack. Gandhi carted Rahil Shah over the long-off boundary for a huge six to show his intent. Jagadeesan, meanwhile, kept the scoreboard ticking with his range of strokes. 

Brief scores: Chepauk Super Gillies 183 for 6 in 20 ovs (N Jagadeesan 90, Kaushik Gandhi 26) bt Ruby Trichy Warriors 175/7 in 20 ovs (Amit Sathvik 36, Saravana Kumar 45 n.o).