Coimbatore : Coimbatore duo, Dindigul Dragons’ openers C Hari Nishaanth and Narayan Jagadesan rewrote the record books of the Sankar Cement Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) with their 161-run partnership to down iDream “Karaikudi Kaalai” by 10 wickets at the India Cements Ltd-Sankar Nagar ground on Monday.
Coimbatore : Coimbatore duo, Dindigul Dragons’ openers C Hari Nishaanth and Narayan Jagadesan rewrote the record books of the Sankar Cement Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) with their 161-run partnership to down iDream “Karaikudi Kaalai” by 10 wickets at the India Cements Ltd-Sankar Nagar ground on Monday.
It was DD’s fourth victory on the trot and they continue to be the only unbeaten team in the league so far. They top the standings with eight points from four games.
Nishaanth struck 81 not out off 56 balls (4 fours, 5 sixes) while Jagadeesan slammed 78 not out off 47 balls, (7 fours, 3 sixes) during their record-breaking partnership which turned out to be the highest for all wickets in the tournament.
The previous best was of 145 runs for the second wicket between VB Thiruvallur Veerans’ Baba Abarajith and NS Chaturvedi against Ruby Trichy Warriors here in 2016.
It also bettered the previous best opening partnership of 144 runs between Thalaivan Sargunam (72 runs) and KH Gopinath (69 runs) of Chepauk Super Gillies against Dindigul Dragons at the NPR College ground, Natham, Dindigul in 2016.
The left-handed Nishaanth did not allow the iDKK bowlers to settle into any rhythm. After the assault on Lakshman in the second over, he went after left-arm spinner S Mohan Prasath slashing two sixes and a four in succession.
It fetched 18 runs for DD and there was no looking back as they raced to 58-0 after the Powerplay.
While Nishanth was all fire and brimstone at the start, Jagadeesan was in cruise control chipping away with boundaries before he finished the match with a couple of sixes in the 17th over off left-arm spinner Maan K Bafna.
Earlier, iDKK captain Aniruda led from the front after winning the toss and deciding to bat first.
No other fellow batsmen dominated the DD attack as the 32-year-old, who was unlucky to miss a deserving hundred, holing out in the deep off the last ball of the innings.
While Aniruda went hammer and tongs from one end, the batsmen at the other failed to give him company for long with the highest partnership being, 46 runs off 30 balls for the fifth wicket with M Shajahan (16). His impact on the innings could be gauged by the fact that the other seven batsmen could collectively muster just 55 runs amongst them.
iDKK were earlier boosted by the inclusion of their international star Dinesh Karthik, who was playing his first match for the franchise in two years. Last year he had missed out as he was on national duty in England.
“Always excited about coming and playing for TNPL. Obviously, it’s my home state and I’m always happy to play with the boys. It’s something that I’ve always enjoyed over a period of time so I’m really looking forward to it,” Karthik said before the match.
scores: iDream Karaikudi Kaalai 158-7 in 20 overs (L Surya Prakash 20, Aniruddha Srikkanth 98, Dinesh Karthik 17; Rohit Ramalingam 2-23, M Silambarasan 1-24, M Mohammed 2-43) lost to Dindigul Dragons 161-0 in 17 overs(C Hari Nishaanth 81 not out, Narayan Jagadeesan 78 not out). C Hari Nishaanth was selected as the man of the match.