Before they could even wrap their heads around what was going on in a 184-run chase against VIDA Kovai Kings in a Tamil Nadu Premier League Qualifier 2 match on Wednesday, three of their batters were back in the pavilion. All of them were dismissed for 0. Trichy Grand Cholas didn’t know what hit them. Pacer K Deeban Lingesh was the wrecker-in-chief as he scalped K Rajkumar, S Shyam Sundar and Jagannathan Kaushik. It was one of the rare occasions when three wickets fell off the first three balls of a T20 innings. There were two more golden ducks in the innings, with Manimaran Siddharth removing Jafar Jamal and R Divakar dismissing Athisayaraj Davidson.
Reflecting on the win, Trichy Grand Cholas captain Shahrukh Khan said, “We were scoring at around 10 runs per over until the seventh over, but their death bowling was exceptional and we couldn’t accelerate at the end. Our openers gave us a sensational start and laid a strong platform. We’ve played knockout games for the last four or five matches, so the team is accustomed to the pressure and knows the importance of keeping things simple. Playing at Chepauk is always special, as we’ve grown up playing and training here. I’m very happy to have contributed with the bat.”
