TIRUNELVELI : There was a sense of excitement at ICL ground on Monday. It is not often that they get to see India internationals R Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik up against each other. There was no Washington Sundar in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) or Vijay Shankar, who is yet to recover from injury. Though Ranji Trophy matches are held at this venue, but a first-class match hardly attracts the crowd.
Hence their enthusiasm was understandable as they chanted “DK, DK” when the wicketkeeper- batsman was warming up before the game between Karaikudi Kaalai and Dindigul Dragons. While it was the first match for the wicketkeeper in the TNPL this year, Ashwin had already played two matches here. Coming into the game, the two teams have had contrasting fortunes with Dindigul winning three out of three and Karaikudi losing two of the three. The pressure was on Karthik & Co.
With Karaikudi opting to bat first, Karthik could walk in only after the end of Powerplay when the opener L Suryaprakash was dismissed for 20. In came Ashwin straightaway. Anirudha Srikkanth faced the first five deliveries while Karthik took a single off the final ball. Nothing dramatic in his first one. Second over. Ashwin was hit for a huge six by Srikkanth off a carrom ball with the third ball getting Karthik on strike.
An unsuccessful appeal from the spinner for leg before, after Karthik got beaten on the inside edge as he tried to flick. By now, Ashwin has started playing mind games. Karthik though decided to just take singles off Ashwin’s over and target others.
In the next one, he hit leftarm spinner R Silambarasan for two fours. Karthik has now moved to 16 off 13. Next up, Ashwin in his third straight over. The first ball was driven to the point for a single by Karthik. Srikkanth once again put pressure on the bowler by going for another massive hit. In the 16 deliveries bowled so far, Ashwin had tried a couple of deliveries with Kedar Jadhav- esque action but could notmanage a wicket yet. The Dindigul skipper has now conceded 24 runs.
The fifth ball of his third over. Karthik misjudged a slowish off-break only to see the stumps getting disturbed. At the end of first innings, Srikkanth has singlehandedly taken Karaikudi to 158/7 courtesy his 59-ball 98. But his knock went in vain as Dindigul openers (C Hari Nishanth 81 and N Jagadeesan 78) remained unbeaten to chase down the target in 17 overs.
Brief scores: Karaikudi 158/7 in 20 overs(Anirudha 98) lost to Dindigul 161/0 in 17overs. (Nishanth 81 n.o, Jagadeesan 78 n.o).