Super Gillies looks to salvage pride against Patriots

Super Gillies bowed out of the competition after going down to Kovai Kings in Tirunelveli on Thursday for its fourth loss in as many outings. Patriots, meanwhile, is in contention for a spot in the Playoffs after winning two out of four matches so far. Patriots was the inaugural champion in 2016 and finished runner-up last season. Five wins will seal a spot in the Playoffs in the eight-team competition while a minimum of four victories will keep a side in contention. 

“It is very disappointing. We have failed to click collectively as a team. We have produced good individual performances in all the three departments so far but most importantly we have failed to perform collectively,” Gillies leg-spinner M Ashwin told the media after Thursday’s defeat. Gillies’ coach Hemang Badani said the side hasn’t played to potential. “We haven’t played good cricket yet,” the former India batsman stated earlier in the competition. 

Sharing his thoughts on the failure of the top-order batsmen, Ashwin said, “They are all good batsmen, and they have got runs in the previous editions as well. S Karthik, Ganga (S Raju), K H Gopinath, they are all prolific run-getters.They are just suffering from a bad phase. They add a lot of value to the team, and we know their potential.” 

Ashwin, however, took heart from how the Super Gillies spinners bowled. “Our spinners bowled well in the first innings and gave only around six runs per over and took four wickets but our batting did not do so well. We needed to get more runs in the first ten overs but we failed to achieve that,” he rued. Patriots will look to bounce back after losing its previous game against Dindigul Dragons in a high-scoring encounter. The experienced R Sathish hit a 41-ball 74 to lift the side to a competitive 177/8 but Dragons successfully chased it down to win by four wickets.