TIRUNELVELI: Trichy Grand Cholas recorded a crucial four-wicket win over Nellai Royal Kings in the opening match of the Tirunelveli phase of the TNPL here on Saturday. Trichy’s third victory in five matches took it to second in the table with six points. Nellai occupies fourth with five points from five matches.
Set to chase 178, Trichy got there with three balls to spare with Jafar Jamal top-scoring with 39 (27b, 1x4, 3x6). Towards the climactic stages, R Rajkumar hit a few lusty blows to take his side home in a thrilling finish.
Earlier, Arun Karthik led from the front for Nellai as it set a target of 178 for Trichy. After being asked to bat first, Nellai faced an early setback with opener Mokit Hariharan departing after another disappointing performance. Ajitesh G then followed shortly, leaving Nellai struggling at 16 for 2. However, Nidhish Rajagopal and Rithik Easwaran steadied the innings with crucial partnerships alongside Arun Karthik. After Nidhish’s departure for 15 off 13 balls, Rithik and the skipper combined effectively, adding 48 runs in just 37 deliveries.
Brief scores: Nellai Royal Kings 177/9 in 20 overs (Arun Karthik 84, S Kumar 4/30) lost to Trichy Grand Cholas 182/6 in 19.3 overs