Baba Aparajith and R Sathish star in Kanchi win

CHENNAI: VB Kanchi Veerans notched up the highest total (193-3) in the ongoing edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League which was enough to register a 58-run win over Tuti Patriots at the ICL ground in Tirunelveli on Tuesday. Kanchi’s third win in the competition took their tally to 6 points from 4 games. They are second on the points table behind Dindigul Dragons who are on 8 points from 4 outings.
Skipper Baba Aparajith (76 n.o., 8x4, 2x6) and R Sathish’s unbeaten 19-ball 47 powered Kanchi to an imposing total. In the second half of the contest, they went on to restrict their opposition to 135-8. Medium-pacer Gowtham Thamarai Kannan shone with 3 for 40. Gowtham, who was hit for 21 runs in his first over, came back to only concede 19 in his next three and accounted for opener Akshay Srinivasan (22), Tuti skipper Subramania Siva (3) and A Venkatesh (0). Apart from Gowtham, fellow medium-pacer R Suthesh (2-31) was the other notable performer with the ball for Kanchi.
In pursuit of a stiff target, Tuti began the chase on a positive note — scoring 34 runs in the first 2.5 overs — before Kanchi got rid of M Kamlesh who was caught and bowled by Suthesh for a 7-ball 16. From thereon, Tuti failed to come up with any noteworthy partnerships, and found themselves 5 down for 59 at the half-way stage of their innings. A 43-run stand for the seventh wicket between Senthilnathan (25, 3x4, 1x6) and SP Nathan (19 n.o.) helped Tuti cross the 100-run mark, but that never threatened to change the outcome of the clash.
The first half of play saw Aparajith lead the charge with his 48-ball essay and was well-supported by S Siddharth (50, 7x4, 1x6) in the initial stages of the innings before R Sathish (47 n.o., 3x4, 4x6) provided the finishing touches. After losing Vishal Vaidhya in the second over, the Siddharth-Aparajith pair added 71 for the second wicket in 54 deliveries. Siddharth was the aggressor of the two — scoring the bulk of runs — and Aparajith was happy to play the second fiddle. Tuti hit back by getting rid of Siddharth and R Sanjay Yadav (14, 2x4) as Kanchi was placed at 116 for 3 in 15^th over.
From thereon, the Aparajith-Sathish partnership took centre-stage. The pair scored 77 runs from 31 deliveries to help Kanchi finish with a flourish.
Brief scores: VB Kanchi Veerans 193-3 in 20 overs (B Aparajith 76 n.o., S Siddharth 50, R Sathish 47 n.o.). Tuti Patriots 135-8 in 20 overs (Gowtham 3-40). Kanchi won by 58 runs.