CHENNAI: Riding on ace batter and Orange Cap holder B Sai Sudharsan’s 83 off 41 balls, Lyca Kovai Kings beat Dindigul Dragons by 59 runs in the TNPL at Salem on Sunday.
Put in to bat, Lyca Kovai Kings got off to a good start with Sujay and Suresh Kumar striking well. The duo put on 49 for the first wicket. Soon Suresh, Sujay and Ram Aravindh got out.
But Sai Sudarshan did not get perturbed and kept scoring runs at will. He played all the bowlers of Dindigul, including the likes of R Ashwin and Varun Chakravarthy, deftly. The left-hander was watchful against Ashwin and attacked Varun. His six off Varun over long off was a delight to watch.
Sai Sudarshan, along with U Mukilesh, forged a good stand for the fourth wicket and took the team’s total past 150. Later, Sai Sudarshan, in the company of Shahrukh Khan (18 not out), helped the visitors post a formidable 206 for 5 in 20 overs.
"We did well today. Wanted to bat deep. Before the game, I tried to save as much energy as I could. I try to keep it simple and not complicate things. IPL has given me a sense of confidence and much clarity," said Sai Sudarshan after the match.
Chasing a massive total of 207, Dindigul Dragons caved under pressure and lost the plot in the power play where they lost four wickets with just 25 runs on the board. Shivam Singh put up a brave effort to hit 61 but got little support at the other end.
Batting down the order C Sarath Kumar made a quick-fire 36 to reduce the margin of defeat.
K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan was the pick of the Kovai bowlers with figures of 3/18.
Brief scores:
Lyca Kovai Kings 206/5 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 83, Sujay 31, Suresh Kumar 29, U Mukilesh 34) beat Dindigul Dragons 147 in 19.1 overs (Shivam Singh 61, Sarath Kumar 36; K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan 3/18)
IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 201/4 in 20 overs (S Radhakrishnan 45, Sai Kishore 50, Vijay Shankar 31 n.o) beat Ba11sy Trichy 155/8 in 20 overs (Daryl Ferrario 42, Jafar Jamal 30; P Bhuvaneswaran 4/41)