Chepauk Super Gillies won their second Tamil Nadu Premier League title in three years on Thursday as they beat Dindigul Dragons by 12 runs in a thriller at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Fast bowler Ganeshan Periyasamy starred with a superb spell of 5/15 as Chepauk Super Gillies defended a modest total of 126 in the final. This was the second TNPL title for CSG, who had also won it in 2017, while it was a second defeat in a final for DD in two years.
Chepauk Super Gillies won the toss and opted to bat but lost their first wicket on the third ball and were soon reduced to 55/5 in the 11th over. Uthirasamy Sasidev, coming in at No 6, top scored for them with a 33-ball 44. Lower order bat Murugan Ashwin was the next highest scorer with 28 off 27. The 2017 champions finished with 126/8.
Chasing the score, DD lost three wickets in the first three overs with just four runs on the board. India international Vijay Shankar bowled a maiden first over followed by a double-wicket maiden from Periyasamy to bring CSG right back into the game. Ramadoss Alexandar (2-24) was the other standout bower.
For DD, Sumant Jain was the top scorer with 46 off 47.
“It was a phenomenal game. At the halfway stage I had doubts about what I had done at the toss. Periyasamy was outstanding, Sasidev’s contribution was superb too. We had to strike, we didn’t have any other go and everything fell in place,” CSG captain Kaushik Gandhi said after the match.
“It was a great experience. The victory was because of my teammates. My mentality is only to win, even when I was playing tennis-ball cricket,” Periyasamy, who won both player of the match and player of the tournament, said.
