Madurai throw it away from winning position

DINDIGUL: Madurai Super Giant yet again found a way to lose from a winning position. Madurai needed 21 runs in the last three overs with four wickets in hand and a set batsman in L Vignesh against Ruby Trichy Warriors.
And Madurai ended up losing by two runs after Trichy skipper B Indrajith scored a direct hit from covers to close out Madurai's innings in the last over with three balls to spare.
After nine straight defeats from the start of the league last year, Madurai finally had a great chance to register their first win. In pursuit of a daunting 188-run target, a swashbuckling 34-ball 79 (10x4s, 4x6s) from their skipper KB Arun Karthik set things in motion for Madurai.
If not for Karthik's assault early on, there would have never been a contest. He was ruthless on anything on the stumps whacking it towards the onside in style. In the fifth over, he took on pacer T Ajith Kumar smashing four consecutive boundaries as Karthik brought up his fifty off 21 balls and Madurai finished the powerplay at 69 without loss.
However, left-arm spinner Akkil Srinaath (4/33) brought Trichy back. The Akkil-J Kousik combination accounted for the top three Madurai batsmen including the key wicket of Karthik.
Medium-pace allrounder Kousik took a fantastic running catch lowdown to his right to dismiss Karthik. Shijit Chandran (23), Shahrukh Khan (2) and S Suresh Kumar (18) all perished in an attempt to clear Akkil.
Even though allrounder L Vignesh (38 no, 22 balls, 4x4s, 2x6s) kept Madurai in the hunt, he was left high and dry by the Madurai lower-order as experienced pacer J Kaushik (3/30) cleaned up the tail.
Earlier, Indrajith led from the front for Warriors as he struck a superb 37-ball 70 to power his side to 187 for four in 20 overs. He was equally well supported by opener Bharat Shankar (53, 47 balls) and R Nilesh Subramanian (35, 15 balls).
Brief scores: Ruby Trichy Warriors 187/4 in 20 overs (B Indrajith 70, Bharath Shankar 53). Madurai Super Giant 185 in 19.3 overs (Arun Karthik 79, Akkil Srinaath 4/33, J Kaushik 3/30). Trichy won by 2 runs.