TNPL 2022: Vishal, Silambarasan star in Dindigul’s triumph

CHENNAI: M Silambarasan and Vishal Vaidhya shone with ball and bat respectively as Dindigul Dragons decimated iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans by nine wickets in the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2022 at the NPR College Ground in Dindigul on Monday.

Playing on its own patch, Dindigul, which opted to bowl, limited Tiruppur to a below-par score of 145 for eight. The spin duo of Silambarasan and skipper C Hari Nishaanth combined for five wickets that were worth their weight in gold.

Chasing a not so challenging 146, Dragons sailed to the target with 11 balls left in its kitty. Opening batter Vishal Vaidhya led the charge with an unbeaten 84 off 57 balls, an innings which was decorated with six fours and five maximums.

Vishal first shared 66 runs with Hari Nishaanth (25) for the opening wicket – it was the pair’s third successive 50+ alliance – and then gathered 82 with Mani Bharathy (38 not out off 29 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) for the unconquered second wicket.

Earlier, Silambarasan (3/21 off 4 overs) and Hari Nishaanth (2/13 off 3 overs) spun a web around the batters as Dindigul restricted Tiruppur to 145 for eight.

Left-arm spinner Silambarasan, who was introduced into the attack in the first non-powerplay over, earned a wicket in just his second ball. Suresh Kumar (7) was undone by the extra bounce and gave an easy return catch to the bowler.

In his second over – the ninth of the match – Silambarasan trapped S Aravind (32 off 23 balls, 5 fours) LBW after the latter provided some stability to the Tamizhans innings. In the 15th over, Tushar Raheja (20) was caught out of his crease off Silambarasan’s bowling, with the left-armer outfoxing the batter with a wide delivery.

In the over prior to that, Hari Nishaanth had provided a double blow by sending Maan Bafna (21) and R Rajkumar (0) back to the hut off successive deliveries. M Mohammed (27 off 18 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) and Aswin Crist (20) added 46 runs for the seventh wicket to take the Tiruppur total past 140. At the start of the match, Tamizhans was dealt a body blow as skipper Aniruda Srikkanth retired hurt when on eight with a hamstring injury.