Chennai: Two youngsters – Narayan Jagadeesan and M Silambarasan – ensured the 100th match of the Tamilnadu Premier League was a memorable outing for Dindigul Dragons as the duo helped last year’s finalists upstage the defending champions Siechem Madurai Panthers by 30 runs for their second successive victory this season.
After SMP captain KB Arun Karthick won the toss and put Dindigul into bat, Coimbatore lads Nishanth and Jagadeesan made it count by raising 104 runs off 80 balls for the opening wicket.
While Nishanth smashed three sixes and six fours in his 47-ball 57, Jagadeesan carried the bat to remain unbeaten on 87 (57 balls, 12 fours and 1 six) as DD posted 182-6 in 20 overs
The 24-year-old Jagadeesan created his own milestone in the 100thTNPL match by becoming the first batsman to score 1,000 runs in the league. His tally after the innings reads 1,008 runs from 25 matches, that includes 11 fifties.
Then, left-arm spinner M Silambarasan, who had claimed 4-13 in the first match against Chepauk Super Gillies, did an encore. The 21-year-old from Vellore broke the back of the SMP chase by dismissing openers Arun Karthick (24 off 17 balls) and A Sarathraj (26 off 21 balls) in his second over. It was a significant moment of the contest as both Karthick and Sarathraj had put SMP on course for the chase by raising 50 runs in the Powerplay. But Silambarasan’s double strike put SMP on the back foot and they never recovered from that. He went on to claim two more wickets to finish with an impressive analysis of 4-0-20-4.
Both teams stay put in Tirunelveli for their next matches. Dindigul Dragons meet Tuti Patriots on Saturday (27 July ) while Siechem Madurai Panthers take on VB Kanchi Veerans on Sunday (28 July).
Brief scores:
Dindigul Dragons 182-6 in 20 overs (Hari Nishanth 57, Narayan Jagadeesan 87 not out; Kiran Akash 2-33, Rahil Shah 3-21) beatSiechem Madurai Panthers 152-9 in 20 overs (A Sarathraj 26,
KB Arun Karthick 24, Abhishek Tanwar 24, Ramachandran Mithun 20; M Silambarasan 4-20, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-16) by 30 runs.