COIMBATORE: Ever since the TNPL bandwagon moved to Coimbatore, big scores have been hard to come by. With the city witnessing monsoon rain, the pitch has mostly remained under covers. But with the Coimbatore leg nearing its end, the capacity crowd at the SNR College were treated to some excellent T20 batting. Sanjay Yadav and Baba Aparajith put on a record unbeaten 207-run partnership for the third wicket as Nellai Royal Kings put up a mammoth 236/2 against Ruby Trichy Warriors.
Chasing the target, Trichy opener Murali Vijay (121) slammed a ton but it went in vain as his side lost by a huge margin of 66 runs. Earlier, Trichy won the toss and asked Nellai to bat first in an attempt to make most of the wicket. And when Sri Neranjan and Suryapprakash perished quickly with Nellai placed at 29/2, it looked every bit a good decision.
However, Sanjay, who has been in good form and Aparajith, not only rescued the team but took the Trichy attack to the cleaners. The left-hander was at his free-flowing best and hit nine sixes as he scored his maiden T20 century and remained unbeaten on 103 off 55 deliveries. Aparajith was even more punishing to remain unbeaten on 92 off 48 deliveries.
Brief scores: NRK 236/2 in 20 overs (Sanjay Yadav 103 n.o, Baba Aparajith 92 n.o) bt RTW 170/7 in 20 overs (Murali Vijay 121).