Super Gillies eyes first win against Madurai Panthers

Both teams lost their opening games – Panthers had to face the fury of Dindigul Dragons’ batting while Gillies lost to Ruby Trichy Warriors.

There were a few positives for the Panthers in its first match. The opening partnership between KB Arun Karthik and captain Rohit Damodaren was effective. Karthik’s knock of 61 was special while Shijit Chandran’s assault in the death overs will put future opponents under pressure.

The worrying factor for the Panthers going into this match, however, will be its bowling. It managed to dismiss only one Dindigul batsman and lost the match with 28 balls remaining. Varun Chakravathi’s economic spell of 0/23 from four overs was the lone silver lining.

Gillies lost by 31 runs after its bowlers conceded 71 runs in the last five overs against Ruby Trichy Warriors. Gillies did a good job in the first 15 overs when it gave away 109 runs before Trichy’s Suresh Kumar and Ganapathi Chandrasekar did the damage.

Gillies will also have to ponder upon its batting effort. Its top four were back in the hut in quick time. Only B Rahul and U Sasidev offered some resistance and Gillies lost nine wickets down when its innings ended.

After its defeat to Trichy Warriors on Saturday, Super Gillies' middle-order batsman B Rahul said losing wickets in a heap in Powerplay led to its defeat. Rahul reflected on his 62-run partnership with U Sasidev that went some way towards steadying the ship before Sasidev got out. "That was a rebuilding process and I thought we were back in the game and gave ourselves a chance had we batted on for longer. But Sasi, myself and (M) Ashwin got out at a bad time and that cost us the match," said Rahul.

The final two overs of Trichy innings in which it scored 45 runs turned the tide in its favour, felt Rahul. "I’d say the momentun shifted their way then but that happens. Probably the 45 runs in the final two overs... C Ganapathy was in great nick. It was his day. We need to go back to the drawing board, analyse and come back stronger in the next game."