Tamizhans banish last year's horror in style
On Tuesday, R. Sai Kishore's men ensured history would not repeat as they produced a clinical all-round performance and thrashed Chepauk Super Gillies by 79 runs to storm into the TNPL-9 summit clash. Put in to bat, Tamizhans posted a formidable 202 for five thanks to V.P. Amith Sathvik's 57 (40b, 6x4, 2x6) at the top and U. Sasidev's 57 (26b, 6x4, 3x6) towards the end.
Amith and opening partner, Tushar Raheja, gave yet another blazing start, adding 56 off 29 balls. Tushar took Abhishek Tanwar to the cleaners, walking down and lofting the pacer for three sixes. Amith was more classical, flicking and punching the pacers to the fence.
CSG briefly fought back when Tamizhans slumped to 126 for four, losing three wickets for five runs. However, Sasidev quickly wrested back the momentum. In the 18th over, the left-hander smashed Tanwar for two maximums and a four. In the next, he plundered 20 off Vijay Shankar, which included a breathtaking sliced six over third man as 70 came in the last five.
In reply, the CSG openers couldn't get going against a disciplined Tamizhans attack. Skipper B. Aparajith infused some momentum, hitting four maximums. But the fiery A. Esakkimuthu (three for 26) bowled his side back into the game, dismissing Aparajith first and then yorking N. Jagadeesan.
And when M. Mathivanan (three for 27) had Vijay Shankar caught in the deep, it was curtains for the four-time champion, as it was handed its first defeat of the season.
The scores: IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 202/5 in 20 overs (V.P. Amith Sathvik 57, R. Sai Kishore 33, U. Sasidev 57, Lokesh Raj 2/25) bt Chepauk Super Gillies 123 in 16.1 overs (B. Aparajith 30, Sai Kishore 2/9, Esakkimuthu 3/26, Mathivanan 3/27).
Toss: CSG.
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Kanibalan stumbled into wicketkeeping thanks to an odd twist, and managed to impress at the trials with just 10 days of practice. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Originally a middle-order power-hitter, Kanibalan stumbled into wicketkeeping thanks to an odd twist. A teammate's father submitted an application on his behalf for a district-level tournament, and ticked the 'wicketkeeper' box. 'I felt paralysed. I had just 10 days to prepare,' he recalls. In those 10 days, he threw himself into training. 'I kept 400–500 balls a session, experimenting with techniques. When the trial came, I managed to do well. That's how I became a wicketkeeper,' he says. His first real validation came in fourth-division cricket for Chennai PNT. Facing relegation, he scored three match-saving fifties. 'That's when I realised I was good enough for professional cricket,' says the 27-year-old. Giving back to the game That self-learning ethic slowly evolved into a desire to mentor others. 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