That brings an end to our coverage for this game. This is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of scorer Raju Khariya. Until next time, cheers and goodbye.
Player of the Match: S Sujay
10:35 PM IST:That’s it. A comprehensive victory for the Lyca Kovai Kings as they beat Ba11sy Trichy by six wickets. They register their third win of the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2023. Trichy, meanwhile, remain winless as they suffer their third loss of the competition.
Chasing 118, the Kovai Kings got off to a shaky start. They lost J Suresh Kumar (9) and Sai Sudharsan (7) on single-digit scores. Ram Arvindh batting at four holed out in the deep on two as they were 49/3 in the ninth over. S Sujay stood tall against the Trichy bowlers and held the innings nicely.
Sujay played a well-composed knock and kept Trichy at bay. He played spin well on a tricky surface and brought up his fifty. He teed off and hit some beautiful strokes at the fag end of the chase. He remained unbeaten on 72 off 59 balls to take the Kovai Kings across the line with 10 balls to spare. Daryl Ferrario finished with figures of 2/17 in his four overs but it wasn't enough as they failed to defend the total.
Earlier, Shahrukh Khan, Kovai Kings skipper won the toss and elected to bowl first. They had a brilliant start with the ball as Siddharth Manimaran ran through Trichy’s top-order. He picked up three quick wickets as the Kovai Kings reduced Trichy to 37/3 at the end of the powerplay. Trichy were reeling at 47/5 at the end of nine overs before skipper Ganga Sridhar Raju and R Rajkumar steadied the ship.
Raju played some wonderful strokes and kept ticking the scoreboard. He brought up his fifty and was well supported by Rajkumar from the other end. Raju fell on 58 in the 16th over but Rajkumar hit a couple of lusty blows to stay unbeaten on 31 to take his side to 117 at the end of 20 overs. The Kovai Kings bowled beautifully and picked up six wickets in total., with Siddharth registering figures of 3/13 in his four overs.
18.2 R Silambarasan to M Atheeq
4 FOUR!!!! Another bouncer from Silambarasan and Atheeq is quick to get into the position and pull it over mid wicket for a boundary. No one in the deep and the ball trickles away to the fence. With this, the Lyca Kovai Kings beat Ba11sy Trichy by six wickets.
18.1 R Silambarasan to M Atheeq
0 Banged in short by Silambarasan and Atheeq leaves it alone to the keeper.
OVER 18
Lyca Kovai Kings
115/4
S Sujay
72(59)
MA Atheeq Ur Rahman
9(13)
R Rajkumar
0-21(2.0)
17.6 R Rajkumar to S Sujay
4 FOUR!!! That should be the game for the Kovai Kings. Rajkumar bowls it full outside off, Sujay makes room and slices it over the point fielder for a cracking boundary. 15 runs coming off this over and the Kovai Kings are just three away from sealing this game.
17.5 R Rajkumar to S Sujay
6 SIXXX!!!! Rajkumar again bowls a slower delivery on the shorter side and Sujay picks it up early as he smacks it straight back over the bowler's head for a maximum. Excellent timing from Sujay on this occasion.
17.4 R Rajkumar to S Sujay
4 FOUR!!!! A leg cutter on the shorter side from Rajkumar, Sujay stays deep in his crease and pulls it nicely through square leg. Jamal in the deep runs to his right and dives but fails to stop it.
17.3 R Rajkumar to M Atheeq
1 On the pads this time and Atheeq pulls it towards deep square leg for a run.
17.2 R Rajkumar to M Atheeq
0 Another slower delivery on the stumps, Atheeq charges down the track and mistimes the drive straight back to the bowler.
17.1 R Rajkumar to M Atheeq
0 A slower delivery outside off and Atheeq defends at it and gets beaten on the outside edge.
1 Dropped!!! Flighted delivery outside off, Atheeq steps out and swings hard at it and miscues it completely. Jamal from the deep runs in and drops a sitter. Has he dropped the match?
16.5 A Srinivasan to S Sujay
1 Flighted delivery outside off and Sujay chips it towards the sweeper in the off side for one.
16.4 A Srinivasan to S Sujay
0 Tossed up delivery outside off, Sujay goes for a slog sweep but misses.
16.3 A Srinivasan to M Atheeq
1 Short outside off and Atheeq cuts it to the left of point for a single.