CHENNAI: Shahrukh Khan's hard-hitting 58 off just 24 balls paved the way for Lyca Kovai Kings to beat Nellai Royal Kings by two wickets in a thrilling play-off match of the TNPL at Coimbatore on Friday. Kovai will face Chepauk Super Gillies in the Sunday's final.
In the final over 17 runs were required for a win. Shahrurkh Khan struck Sri Neranjan for 15 runs (4, 6, 4 1),.Thereafter Neranjan took a wicket. When one run was required off the last ball Ajith Ram scored the same. Shahrukh's power hitting proved to be the winner.
Chasing a mammoth 209 for a win, Kovai responded well with its openers Ganga Sridhar Raju and Suresh Kumar playing positively. But when you know the asking rate is high, one needs to take risks to score runs to match the same. And Kovai's intention was no different. as they placed 79/3 at the end of 10 overs.
Now Kovai's hopes pinned on Shahrukh who was one of the few batsmen left who could play an impact innings. Sai Sudarshan thrived along with his skipper to make 53. Sai and Shahrukh added 63 runs for the fourth wicket.
Thereafter the equation read 27runs off 12 balls, Shahrukh got out off a no-ball off leg-spinner Karthick Manikandan. This gave a life line and hope for Kovai. Earlier, Sanjay Yadav's 55 and B Aparajith's 44 enabled Nellai to post 208 for 6 in 20 overs. In all, the Nellai batsman notched up 19 sixes which had a bearing on the total.
Put in to bat Nellai had a good start. Sri Neranjan was positive in his approach and picked up 12 runs off a Manish Ravi over. Again Neranjan (34) struck Shahrukh Khan for two consecutive sixes and a boundary. One would have expected the left-handed batter to stay contended. But he again tried to go for a big hit, was deceived by the turn to be trapped in front off Shahrukh. By then Nellai had raised 38 runs in 4.4 overs which was a solid start.
From then on Aparajith, the most experienced batter in the side along with L Suryaprakash took the score to 72 for 2. Suryapraksh during his stay excelled in the company of Aparajith. Surya, once stepped out to Ajith Ram and carted the left-arm spinner to extra cover for a huge six. He was done in by change of pace by Sudarshan.
Thus Nellai managed to maintain the run rate of over 7 per over. During this phase Kovai captain Shahrukh operated seven bowlers, a clear sign of desperation. Once Sanjay Yadav joined Aparajith it was run feast. Both competed with each other to entertain the crowd and in the process added 88 runs for the third wicket. Sanjay Yadav raced to his 50 in just 22 balls with a huge six off Ajith Ram. His half-century was studded with seven sixes, which showed the way he dominated the proceedings.
Brief scores: Nellai Royal Kings 208/6 in 20 ovs (Sanjay Yadav 55, B Aparajith 44, G Ajitesh 38) lost to Lyca Kovai Kings 209/8 in 20 ovs (Shahrukh Khan 58 n.o, Sai Sudarshan 53, Karthick Manikandan 3/46).