Tirunelveli: Chepauk Super Gillies turned in another clinical performance to record their third successive victory in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), defeating Lyca Kovai Kings by nine wickets at the ICL- Sankar Nagar ground, here
Medium-pacer S Harish Kumar (4-13), claimed his first four-wicket haul and leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin (2-11) stifled the Kovai Kings, restricting them to 115-9 in 20 overs. Then opener KH Gopinath made short work of the target smashing 82 runs in 41 balls (10 fours, 4 sixes) during a rollicking first-wicket stand of 106 runs in 72 balls with left-handed Ganga Sridhar Raju (31 not out off 35 balls, 3 fours).
While Raju played the sheet anchor role to perfection, Gopinath waded into the rival attack with lusty hits. He was very severe on Antony Dhas picking 24 runs off 11 balls that he faced from the medium-pacer carting two sixes and two fours.
It was the second-century partnership by the CSG pair of Raju and Gopinath following their 108-run alliance against iDream Karaikudi Kaalai, two days ago. Gopinath, who notched his second fifty-plus score, now leads the run-getters tally of the season with 178 runs. He is ahead of Dindigul Dragons’ Narayan Jagadeesan (157) by 21 runs.
CSG, easily the best fielding unit of the season, completely dominated the game to rise to the top of the eight-team standings. They top the league with six points from four games
Brief scores: Lyca Kovai Kings 115-9 in 20 overs (Shahrukh Khan 22, Abhinav Mukund 22; G Periyasamy 2-23, Murugan Ashwin 2-11, S Harish Kumar 4-13) lost to Chepauk Super Gillies 116-1
in 13.3 overs(Ganga Sridhar Raju 31 not out, KH Gopinath 82; Antony Dhas 1-29) by nine wickets.