Right then, that's all from this game. It is Salem who have secured their maiden victory in the 2023 Tamil Nadu T20 League. On the other hand, Trichy have suffered their second straight loss and are yet to open their account in this tournament. Don't go anywhere as we have one more game coming up that sees Dindigul go up against Madurai. The first ball will be bowled at 7.15 pm IST (1.45 pm GMT). You can switch tabs and join us for the build-up. See you there!
Salem's skipper Abhishek Tanwar is the Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling performance. He had figures of 3 for 9 from his four overs including a maiden.
Earlier in the game, after Trichy won the toss and opted to bat first, they were off to a shaky start. They lost both openers cheaply and could only muster 22 runs in the Powerplay. They were unable to release the pressure and were soon struggling at 56-4. K Mani Bharathi and Daryl Ferrario then got together and forged a decent recovery with a 38-run stand. However, the departure of both set batters meant they were unable to maximize towards the back end of the innings and could only post 139 runs on the board. For Salem, skipper Abhishek Tanwar stood out with the ball with figures of 3 for 9 from his four overs. He was well supported by Sunny Sandhu and Rajendran Karthikeyan who accounted for two wickets each.
As far as Trichy are concerned, wickets in the Powerplay were key for them to have any chance of defending the total. T Natarajan bowled a quiet first over but Easwaran K's 10-run over opened the floodgates for Salem. Trichy did manage to dismiss both openers but ended up leaking a lot of runs in the Powerplay. They did have a ray of hope having reduced Salem to 62-3 but they were unable to keep the pressure on. To be honest, they simply had no answers to the brilliance of that man Kaushik Gandhi and were unable to defend the low total. Despite the loss, G Godson was the pick of the bowlers for Trichy with figures of 3 for 34 from his four overs.
Salem have cruised their way to victory and are off the mark in the 2023 Tamil Nadu T20 League! They have done it in a canter, getting over the line with more than 4 overs to spare and 5 wickets in hand. By doing so, they have handed Trichy their second straight loss of the competition. In their pursuit of 140, Salem were off to a swift start, scoring 28 runs in the first three overs. That said, they did lose their way a bit losing wickets at regular intervals. Kaushik Gandhi and RS Mokit Hariharan joined hands and steadied the ship for Trichy in the middle overs with a fine partnership of 33 runs. Despite losing the latter, Kaushik Gandhi stood firm with an unbeaten knock of 52 runs from 32 balls and ensured there were no more hiccups in the chase.
In over# 16
4
0W
Easwaran K 22/2(2.2)
15.2
4
Four! This is lofted in the air and over the fielder at third man. Bounces into the fence.
15.1
W
OUT! That is a spectacular diving catch.
In over# 15
0
6
6
6
0
0
Antony Dhas 30/0(2)
14.6
.
No run, beaten! Lovely bowling as the batter is defeated all ends up.
14.5
6
Six! That is a lovely shot. The batter has just lofted this with fine timing and cleared the ropes too.
14.4
6
Six! Sent into the crowd! Out comes the pull shot and off goes the ball.
14.3
6
Six! That is pulled powerfully into the stands.
14.2
.
No run, the batter looks to play that but is comprehensively beaten.
14.1
.
No run. Swing and a miss! The batter swings hard at that one but does not connect.
In over# 14
0
4
0
5wd
0
0
1
S Boopalan 23/0(3)
13.6
.
No run, a gentle push by the batter but cannot pierce the gap.
13.5
4
Four! The short ball is dispatched. Square cut played and the ball races towards the boundaryline.
13.4
.
No run, that is driven straight back but it is stopped.