T.S. Vinil’s spell set up Ripples’ win with a fiery spell. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Left-arm pacer T.S. Vinil’s fiery spell upfront and Mohammed Azharuddeen’s blitzkrieg during the chase powered Alleppey Ripples to an eight-wicket win over Trivandrum Royals in the Kerala Cricket League at the Sports Hub Greenfield Stadium on Friday.
Vinil’s spell in the PowerPlay, which included a double wicket maiden over, broke the back of Royals batting and it limped to 126 for eight in 20 overs. Azharuddeen (68, 29b, 8x4, 5x6), who was dropped on eight by Sijomon Joseph, sewed up the contest in the PowerPlay. After Azharuddeen’s dismissal, skipper Sachin Baby (26 not out) and K.A. Arun (24 not out) guided Ripples home with 43 balls to spare.
There was no hint of a Royals collapse when Vishnu Vinod smoked the first ball of the match from Vinil through covers for a boundary. However, Vinil’s twin strikes in the second over changed the contest on its head. Vinil got the ball to jag back and pinned Vishnu (7) in front and dismissed Abhishek P. Nair for a duck.
When Royals’ skipper Krishna Prasad was run out, trying to go for a non-existent third, the team slumped to 26 for four in the PowerPlay. Sijomon (46) and K. Ajeesh (23) counterattacked to add 39 runs for the seventh wicket which enabled Royals to cross 100.
Azharuddeen started imperiously, spanking Vinod Kumar for consecutive boundaries, but Sijomon, at covers, failed to latch on a mistimed drive from the batter in the same over. Azhar made Royals pay for the grave error and took the game away with his scintillating knock.
Narrow victory
In the second match of the day, Calicut Globstars scored a thrilling three-run win to snap holder Kochi Blue Tigers’ eight-match unbeaten run across two seasons. Chasing 149 for a win, Tigers was dismissed for 145 in the 19th over.
Earlier, Globstars recovered from 43 for four in the eighth over to post 148 for five, thanks to Salman Nizar (47 not out, 37b, 2x4, 2x6) and Krishna Devan (40 not out, 17b, 2x4, 4x6) clubbing 54 runs off 27 balls for the sixth wicket.
The scores: Trivandrum Royals 126/8 in 20 overs (Sijomon Joseph 46, T.S. Vinil 3/19, Jalaj Saxena 2/22) lost to Alleppey Ripples 127/2 in 12.5 over (Mohammed Azharuddeen 68, Sachin Baby 26 n.o.).
Calicut Globstars 148/5 in 20 overs (Salman Nizar 47 n.o., Kishna Devan 40 n.o., Akhil Scaria 26, Basil Thampi 3/29) bt Kochi Blue Tigers 145 in 19 overs (Sachin Suresh 32, Athif Bin Ashraf 2/22, M.U. Harikrishnan 2/22, Ibnul Afthab 2/38).
