Baba Aparajith stars in Thiruvallur victory

TIRUNELVELI: VB Thiruvallur Veerans’ skipper B Aparajith (72, 6x4, 5x6) - in the company of Hari Nishanth (37, 1x4, 2x6) - spoiled the night for Madurai Super Giant as they scored a three-wicket win in their Tamil Nadu Premier League clash at the ICL ground here on Tuesday night. The clash, reduced to 14-overs-a-side due to rain stoppages, first saw Madurai post 145-3 thanks to skipper Arun Karthick (68 n.o.4x8, 2x6) and Mani Bharathi’s (67, 4x6, 6x5) blazing stand for the second-wicket.
The second half of play was all about the Aparajith-Hari partnership. Chasing a revised target of 147 as per V Jayadevan (VJD) method, Thiruvallur started shakily before Aparajith and Hari took centre-stage. The duo added 104 for the third-wicket from 55 balls. While Hari was happy to play the second fiddle, Aparajith looked in supreme touch. The pair brought down the equation to 38 from 23 balls when Aparajith was dismissed, caught at long-off by Arun off Kathikeyan (3-26). Hari soon followed Aparajith after being run out. From thereon, Thiruvallur kept losing wickets and made heavy weather of the chase before crossing the line with 3 balls to spare. R Kavin (11, 1x4, 1x6) hit the winning runs for Thiruvallur to finish on 147/7.
Earlier, the rains came first but the lightning struck later in the form of Madurai duo of Arun and Mani who helped their side finish with a sturdy total. The clash, which witnessed two stoppages due to rain in the first innings, saw Arun (68 n.o. 4x8, 2x6) at his fluent best. The opening batsman, in the company of Mani (67, 4x6, 6x5), added 112 runs in 59 deliveries for the second wicket to take the wind out of Thiruvallur’s sails. Both players matched each other shot for shot, and raised their 100-run stand in just 52 balls. The duo got together when Madurai’s opener Shijit Chandran (2) was caught at mid-off by Aparajith off Silambarasan with the score reading 15-1 in the third over.
While Arun’s 38-ball knock was a chanceless one, Mani was dropped on 19 by R Malolan (0-28) in what was a simple caught-and-bowled chance. Mani's 36-ball blitz concluded when he was caught at mid-off by B Aparajith off Silambarasan’s (3/28) bowling.
Brief scores: Madurai Super Giant 145-3 in 14 overs (Arun Karthick 68 n.o., Mani Bharathi 67; Silambarasan 3-28). VB Thiruvallur Veerans 147-7 in 13.3 overs (Aparajith 72, Hari Nishanth 37; Karthikeyan 3-26). Thiruvallur won by 3 wickets by VJD method.