CHENNAI: A professional display by Lyca Kovai Kings enabled the Shahrukh Khan-led side to defeat Siechem Madurai Panthers by 44 runs in the TNPL game played at Tirunelveli on Sunday. Suresh Kumar (64 off 29 balls) and Shahrukh Khan (53 off 23 balls) put Kovai in command against Madurai as they piled up 208/5 in 20 overs.
Later, M Siddharth’s 3/32 applied brakes on the Madurai batters march as the Kovai team yet again pulled off a creditable win. The win will be all the more satisfying for Kovai as it came in the absence of Sai Sudharsan who had to join the South Zone.
Put in to bat, Kovai lost its opener Sujay cheaply. But Suresh Kumar and B Sachin (67) did the rescue act and stitched an 85-run stand for the second wicket. Both Suresh and Shahrukh backed themselves and it was a thrill a minute for the fans. Suresh hit four sixes and his neatly timed inside-out shot off Washington Sundar was a delight to watch.
Shahrukh pulled, drove and cut with relish and his slog-sweep off M Ashwin showed his class. Suresh brought in his fifty in just 21 balls, while Shahrukh got to the half-century mark in just 20 balls. Set an imposing 209 for a win, Madurai began their chase with Washington batting at the top of the order. Brief scores: Lyca Kovai Kings 208/5 in 20 ovs (S Kumar 64, Sachin 67) bt Siechem Madurai Panthers 164 in 18 ovs (M Siddharth 3/32). Chepauk Super Gillies 129/7 in 20 ovs (Ganga Sridhar Raju 3/15) bt Ba11sy Trichy 71 in 13.4 ovs (Daryl Ferrario 45; M Silambarasan 5/12).