CHENNAI: Joint defending champion and four-time winner Chepauk Super Gillies made a positive start to its Tamil Nadu Premier League campaign with a 52-run victory over Salem Spartans in Coimbatore on Tuesday.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Chepauk posted a mammoth 217 for five on the board, riding on opener Pradosh Ranjan Paul’s scintillating 88 (55 balls, 12 fours, 1 six) and Sanjay Yadav’s (31 not out off 12 balls, 2 fours, 3 sixes) onslaught. In the second essay, the Super Gillies bowling department came up with a disciplined performance to restrict Spartans to 165 for nine.
If Md. Adnan Khan (47 not out off 15 balls, 1 four, 6 sixes) had not provided late fireworks, Salem would have suffered an embarrassing defeat. All CSG bowlers barring R Rohit managed to pick up at least one wicket as the SS batting unit failed to get going.
Earlier, Pradosh and skipper Narayan Jagadeesan (35 off 27 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) provided the perfect start for Super Gillies with a 91-run alliance for the first wicket. Baba Aparajith (29 off 19 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes) then combined forces with Pradosh as the right-left combination piled more misery on Salem with a 73-run stand for the second wicket. Pradosh shifted gears beautifully, but missed out on a well-deserved ton by just 12 runs.
BRIEF SCORES: Chepauk Super Gillies 217/5 in 20 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 88, Narayan Jagadeesan 35, Sanjay Yadav 31*, Sunny Sandhu 2/32) bt Salem Spartans 165/9 in 20 overs (Md. Adnan Khan 47*, Rocky Bhasker 2/13, Viju Arul 2/18, Baba Aparajith 2/28)