Batting first, Vijay was in a spot of bother at 29 for three, losing its top order – comprising Abhinav Mukund (5), L Suryap Prakash (18) and N Jagadeesan (1) – in a short span of time. Youngster Pradosh and the experienced Karthik came to the side’s rescue, putting on 109 runs for the fourth wicket.

Pradosh’s match-winning knock included ten shots to the fence, with wicketkeeper-batsman Karthik disturbing the advertising cushions six times. Apart from the duo, none of the other batters managed to even cross the 30-run mark and hence Vijay had to settle for 252 for eight in its stipulated overs. Four bowlers got two wickets each for Alwarpet.

With a not-so-daunting task ahead of it, Alwarpet got off to a good start as B Sai Sudharsan (52) and K Vishal Vaidhya (71) shared a 93-run partnership for the second wicket. The former hit six boundaries during his 73-ball stay in the middle, while the latter smashed six fours and a maximum.

Once the combination departed, the wheels started to come off, with Alwarpet losing its last five wickets for just 27 runs. The runner-up required six runs off the final over with a solitary wicket in hand but could not cross the line. Mystery spinner CV Varun (3/45) and Pradosh (2/44) came good with the ball for Vijay.