Gujarat Titans’ (GT) uncapped batter Sai Sudharsan dazzled in the opening match of Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2023. Sudharsan who scored a record-breaking 96 in IPL 2023 final against champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), smashed a 45-ball 86 for Shahrukh Khan-led side Lyca Kovai Kings. IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans' batting lineup that boasted of GT's middle-order batter Vijay Shankar and all-rounder Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore failed to put up a fight and lost the match by a huge margin of 70 runs.
Tamizhans' skipper Kishore won the toss and opted to field first. The decision turned out to be a good one at first as Kings lost three quick wickets with Shankar opening the account in the second over. From 14/3, U Mukilesh shared a crucial 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Sudharsan did the bulk of scoring in the partnership. Kishore got the breakthrough in the 13th over. Mukilesh contributed with a 32-ball 33 which had three fours and one six. Shankar came back into the attack and got the wicket of Atheeq Ur Rahman.
Sudharsan broke the shackles in the 16th over and got to his half-century from 30 deliveries. Shahrukh contributed with a 15-ball 25 cameo. In the final over, Sudharsan went ballistic and smashed three sixes On the last ball of the innings, he got run out trying to take a second run. His 45-ball 86 included eight fours and four sixes. Sudharsan’s knock helped Kings post 179/7.
In reply, Tamizhans started off well despite two wickets falling in the powerplay overs. Then, M Mohammed got the wickets of Shankar and Kishore in the seventh over to derail the run chase. Tamizhans suffered a batting collapse as Tushar Raheja ran out of partners. In the 13th over, Raheja got run out for a run-a-ball 33. After the opener's wicket, there was no fight left in Tamizhans as tailenders batted out the overs. On the last ball, the 10th wicket fell as the score was 109. Kings won the match by 70 runs.
21-year-old Sudharsan has been in good form of late. In his second IPL season, he scored 362 runs from eight innings at an average of 51.71 including three half-centuries. He has been touted as many as the future three-format player for India.
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