Dindigul Dragons won their first ever Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) title in the leadership of veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin. Dragons beat Shahrukh Khan's Lyca Kovai Kings by six wickets at MA Chidambaran Stadium, Chennai to create history. An in-form Ashwin stood out with bat and ball. He scored his third consecutive half-century to lead Dragons to a comfortable win with 10 balls to spare.
Ashwin won the toss and opted to bowl first. Kings lost opener Suresh Kumar to Sandeep Warrier in the third over. In the fifth over, VP Diran took a beating from S Sujay and Sai Sudharsan. Ashwin introduced Varun Chakravarthy into the attack and he dismissed Sujay and U Mukilesh. Sudharsan departed for a run-a-ball 14 as well. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Kings managed to post 129/7 on the board. Ashwin did not take a wicket but conceded just 13 runs from his quota of four overs.
In the run chase, Dragons lost both their openers cheaply. But Ashwin was not afraid to take the bowlers on and hit the ball for a six. Ashwin and Baba Indrajith shared a crucial 65-run partnership for the third wicket. Shahrukh got the breakthrough in 14th over with Indrajith's wicket. Ashwin reached his fifty from 42 balls in the 16th over. He took Dragons to doorstep of victory before walking back to the pavillion. The skipper scored 52 runs from 46 balls. In the penultimate over, C Sarath Kumar finishesd the run chase in style with a six.
Ashwin ecstatic after ‘perfect match’
Ashwin was named 'Player of the match' for his all-round performance. He compared Sarath Kumar to Jonty Rhodes.
“This win happened in the flow of things. We were the only team that lost to Salem in this tournament. We didn’t start the tournament very well but picked up momentum at the right time. The perfect match pretty much. Credit to Sarath Kumar, he was exactly like Jonty Rhodes diving around everywhere in this final. I came into this tournament with the intent of opening. We didn’t have a Head Coach in this tournament, and both the coaches we had are my friends,” he said in the post-match presentation.
Shahrukh played with injury
After the loss, Shahrukh revealed that he played despite injury. Despite the defeat, he was happy with the fight put up by the team.
“We are happy with the boys. We showed our fight. The match was lost in the middle overs. Specially, the wickets get slower when you play down south. Only fair to swallow the bitter pill. I had a sore shoulder with a freak injury. I tried to push my limits to play for the team. The team comes first. We have two departments and I have the responsibility of leading the side,” he said.
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