CHENNAI: An unbeaten 90 off 58 balls by N Jagadeesan helped Chepauk Super Gillies to defeat Dindigul Dragons by seven wickets in a Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) match played at Natham on Sunday.
During the course of his innings, Jagadeesan, the tournament's leading run-scorer, crossed the 2,500-run mark in the league.
The match was delayed by 30 minutes due to rain and it turned out to be a low-scoring affair.
Because of the conditions, the wicket was a bit tricky but Jagadeesan kept his cool and rose to the occasion to single-handedly help his team register their first victory of the season.
In the last two games against Nellai and Tiruppur, Jagadeesan had managed to get good starts but had failed to convert them. However, on Sunday, Jagadeesan stood firm to help his side get over the finish line. Chasing a target of 127, Chepauk, thanks to the captain's knock, reached the mark with seven wickets and 22 balls to spare.
The 30-year-old was spot on with his shot selection and played as straight as far as possible, barring one or two upper cuts. With a slightly more open stance, soft grip, and a better swing, Jagadeesan connected the ball better, finding gaps at will.
He picked up timely boundaries against pacer P Bhuvaneswaran at the start and went on to seal the tie with two back-to-back sixes off the bowling of Mohit Mittan. Jagadeesan later said it was a well-executed plan.
"The way the wicket played (part in win), there was a bit of rain. We saw that the wicket was damp, so we wanted to use spinners. Truth be told, I am not bothered about the runs I score. It is about the impact I provide. I was clear with the plan that I was going to take deep. It is in the way we see it. It is important to see the brand of cricket we are playing and the way we are losing. There are going to be nerves but it is about the relationship you have with the pressure," Jagadeesan said.
After being asked to bat first, Dindigul had made a horror start with Abhishek Tanwar exploiting the conditions and accounting for the dismissals of Anuraag Nair (0) and RK Jayant (11). The run out of M Karthik Saran within minutes made matters worse as Dindigul were placed at 29/3 after 5 overs. Opener Shivam Singh (25 off 16), with a couple of sixes, offered some hope but Dindigul kept losing wickets at regular intervals, eventually going on to post an underwhelming total of 126/8 in 20 overs. If not for the 36-run seventh-wicket partnership between captain Baba Indrajith and Mohit Mittan, things could have been worse. Indrajith later admitted that the batting, especially during the powerplay, was a letdown.
"In the powerplay we lost it with the bat. The wicket was a bit sticky but it is not an excuse. If we pushed it to 150-160, it could have been a good game. It was tricky but one team had to bat up front anyway. There are a lot of areas to work on, we have a lot of young players. I am very confident we can turn it around," he said.
Brief scores: Dindigul Dragons 126/8 in 20 ovs (Shivam Singh 25, Baba Indrajith 21; Abhishek Tanwar 2/19, Ashwanth Valthapa 2/20) lost to Chepauk Super Gillies 131/3 in 16.2 ovs (N Jagadeesan 90 n.o). MoM: Jagadeesan (CSG).
