Sachin held the innings together with a match-influencing knock.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A special occasion demanded special performances.
In the 100th Tamil Nadu Premier League match hosted at the NPR College ground here, top-order batter B. Sachin (77, 45b, 6×4, 4×6) and leg-spinner Jhathavedh Subramanyan (4-0-10-3) joined the party as Vida Kovai Kings thumped Trichy Grand Cholas by 116 runs on Saturday.
Chasing 202, Grand Cholas were jolted early as medium-pacer Deeban Lingesh sent back skipper-opener J. Suresh Kumar for a duck in the first over. Left-arm spinner M. Siddharth dismissed Shyam Sundar, the centurion from the previous game, before Deeban returned to castle J. Kousik.
Kovai Kings went from strength to strength, with Jhathavedh disturbing Bhavan Suriya’s furniture to leave Grand Cholas reeling at 40 for four in the daunting chase.
Opener K. Rajkumar (32) was handed a reprieve in the eighth over when C. Andre Siddarth put him down at long-on off Prashid Akash. The debutant, however, found joy as he ended Jafar Jamal’s stay soon after.
Jhathavedh came back to remove K. Rajkumar, who could not capitalise on his ‘life’, and Antony Dhas to have the Trichy outfit staring down the barrel at 59 for seven.
R.S. Ambrish soon joined in the celebration, dismissing R. Rajkumar and Ganesh Moorthi as Shahrukh Khan’s Kovai Kings finally broke free of their three-match losing streak. Earlier, after the Kovai side was asked to bat, Sachin held the innings together while finding an able ally in Madhava Prasad (38 n.o.). The pair added 75 off 43 balls for the sixth wicket as Kovai Kings went past the 200-mark.
The scores: Vida Kovai Kings 201/6 in 20 overs (B. Sachin 77, Madhava Prasad 38 n.o., K. Easwaran 2/41) bt Trichy Grand Cholas 85 in 16.1 overs (K. Rajkumar 32, K. Deeban Lingesh 3/24, Jhathavedh Subramanyan 3/10, R.S. Ambrish 2/22).
Published – August 15, 2026 11:55 pm IST
