TNPL 2024: DD wins by 4 wickets against CSG

DINDIGUL: Dindigul Dragons earned a thrilling four-wicket win with one ball to spare over four-time champion Chepauk Super Gillies in the Eliminator of TNPL 2024. The Dindigul team will now take on Tiruppur Tamizhans in Qualifier 2 on Friday at MA Chidambaram Stadium. The winner of that match will take on Kovai Kings in the final on Sunday.

Dindigul captain R Ashwin and opener Shivam Singh batted impressively in pursuit of 159 with the duo adding 112 runs for the second wicket. Ashwin, promoting himself to number three, scored 57 (35b, 4x4, 4x6), while Shivam contributed 64 (49b, 6x4, 2x6). But once the duo was separated, the Super Gillies got into wicket-taking mode to ratchet up pressure on the batting side. Eventually, Dindigul held its nerve to prevail in a tense finish.

Earlier, skipper Baba Aparajith notched up 72 off 54 balls as Chepauk Super Gillies set 159 as the target.

Dindigul Dragons chose to field first against the Super Gillies and quickly made their mark by dismissing Santhosh Kumar in the opening over. Narayan Jagadeesan got off to a solid start but was out after scoring 25 off 16 balls. Pradosh Ranjan Paul then partnered with Aparajith at the crease. While Aparajith kept the scoreboard moving, Pradosh Ranjan anchored the innings during their 46-run stand.

Aparajith held the innings together despite the team losing wickets at the other end. He scored 72 off 54 balls, and in doing so, he surpassed the 2000-run milestone in the TNPL. In the final stages of the innings, Abhishek Tanwar dealt with boundaries right from the outset.

The all-rounder bludgeoned boundaries at will, with an unbeaten 22 off 9 balls, steering the former champion to a competitive score of 158.

The Dindigul bowlers maintained tight control throughout the innings. Despite Aparajith’s strong performance, the team stayed in the game with P Vignesh leading the way, finishing with 1/17 in his four overs.

Suboth Bhati and Varun Chakravarthy added to the effort with a wicket apiece.

Brief scores: Chepauk Super Gillies 158/6 in 20 overs (B Aparajith 72) lost to Dindigul Dragons 161/6 in 19.5 overs (S Singh 64, R Ashwin 57)