Nellai Royal Kings – Artifex.News

Rithik is Royal King, guides team home in a thriller

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:45:00 +0000

Rithik smashed two sixes in the final over.
| Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan

The weather gods briefly halted the proceedings in the battle between the Kings at the NPR College Ground on Thursday.

But once the rain relented, S. Rithik Easwaran weathered the Vida Kovai Kings storm with a sensational 69 off 31 balls (4×4, 6×6), helping Nellai Royal Kings overcome a mid-innings wobble and win by two wickets in a Tamil Nadu Premier League thriller.

The Royal Kings’ 163-run chase stuttered at the start as left-arm spinner M. Siddharth struck in the second over, dismissing Santhosh Kumar.

Deeban Lingesh removed the other opener, S.R. Athish, in the third over before G. Ajitesh and U. Mukilesh looked to repair the damage. Ajitesh smashed G. Kishoor for a six but was caught off the very next ball in the eighth over, the pacer holding a sharp return catch to break a 38-run stand.

Mukilesh soon followed him to the dugout while Jhathavedh Subramanyan castled debutant Sachin Sre Dev as the Nellai outfit slipped to 92 for five. Deeban piled more misery, striking twice in the 17th over and leaving Royal Kings in trouble.

Rithik, however, refused to throw in the towel. With 17 needed off the final over, he smacked Kishoor for two huge sixes before Sachin Rathi scampered through for a bye to seal a dramatic victory with a ball to spare.

Earlier, V. Yudheeswaran’s three for 25 and Rathi’s two for 30 kept the Kovai side in check.

In the other match, Shyam Sundar’s unbeaten 104 (57b, 8×4, 7×6) set up Trichy Grand Cholas’ 17-run win over iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans. Opener Tushar Raheja’s 87, his third half-century of the edition, went in vain.

Shyam’s unbeaten century set up Grand Cholas’ victory.
| Photo Credit:
G. Karthikeyan

The scores: Vida Kovai Kings 162/9 in 20 overs (B. Sachin 42, Emmanuel Cherian 2/37, Sachin Rathi 2/30, V. Yudheeswaran 3/25) lost to Nellai Royal Kings 163/8 in 19.5 overs (S. Rithik Easwaran 69, Deeban Lingesh 3/41, G. Kishoor 3/32). Trichy Grand Cholas 196/6 in 20 overs (K. Rajkumar 37, Shyam Sundar 104 n.o., T. Natarajan 2/32) bt iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 179/8 in 20 overs (Tushar Raheja 87, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 44, Athisayaraj Davidson 2/24, K. Easwaran 3/24, Sanjay Yadav 2/28).

Friday’s matches: SKM Salem Spartans vs. Dindigul Dragons, 3.30 p.m.; Madurai Panthers vs. Chepauk Super Gillies, 7.30 p.m.

Published – August 14, 2026 12:15 am IST

Source link

Jagadeesan and bowlers win it for Chepauk Super Gillies

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 19:05:00 +0000

Jagadeesan led his team from the front.
| Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan

Chepauk Super Gillies produced a clinical bowling effort before captain N. Jagadeesan’s unbeaten 90 (58b, 8×4, 5×6) powered it to a seven-wicket win over Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League at the NPR College Ground here on Sunday.

After a rain-delayed start, Super Gillies opted to field and struck early, with pacer Abhishek Tanwar (two for 19) having Anuraag Nair (0) and R.K. Jayant (11) caught at mid-on. A mix-up saw Karthik Saran (4) get run out at the non-striker’s end, leaving Dragons at 37 for three in the PowerPlay.

Ashwanth Valthapa (two for 20) struck twice with carrom balls, trapping Shivam Singh (25) and R. Vimal Khumar (21) plumb in front to help restrict the ‘home team’ to 126 for eight.

In reply, Jagadeesan anchored the chase, reaching his fifty off 43 balls before shifting gears. He hit two consecutive sixes off spinner Mohit Mittan to seal his side’s first win of the season.

In the second match, openers Tushar Raheja (90 n.o., 52b, 6×4, 5×6) and Amith Sathvik (76, 31b, 3×4, 8×6) added 119 off 52 balls to set up iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans’ eight-wicket win over Nellai Royal Kings.

Tamizhans chased down 207 with 11 balls to spare.

Tushar was belligerent, taking the attack to pacer Emmanuel Cherian with a lofted four and three sixes, including back-to-back maximums. He brought up his fifty with a cover drive off a full toss from left-arm seamer S. Selvaganapathi.

Amith struck a 104-metre six off leg-spinner B. Rocky — the longest of the season so far — before smashing three successive maximums off the same bowler, underlining the ferocity of his assault.

The scores: Dindigul Dragons 126/8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Tanwar 2/19, Ashwanth Valthapa 2/20) lost to Chepauk Super Gillies 131/3 in 16.2 overs (N. Jagadeesan 90 n.o.). Nellai Royal Kings 206/8 in 20 overs (D. Santhosh Kumar 43, G. Ajitesh 35, U. Mukilesh 46, R. Silambarasan 4/46, Sai Kishore 2/23) lost to iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 207/2 in 18.1 overs (Amith Sathvik 76, Tushar Raheja 90 n.o., Sai Kishore 32 n.o.).

Monday’s match: SKM Salem Spartans vs. Madurai Panthers, 7.30 p.m.

Published – August 10, 2026 12:35 am IST

Source link

TNPL 2024: Chepauk Super Gillies and Dindigul Dragons lose, miss chance to play qualifier

admin — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 07:00:06 +0000

Openers’ day out: Lokeshwar and Arun Karthik’s knocks proved crucial for their respective teams.
| Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan

Boosted by Lokeshwar’s opening salvo and J. Kousik’s back-end blows, Siechem Madurai Panthers got to 191 for four and restricted Chepauk Super Gillies to 182 for eight to post a nine-run victory in the eighth season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) at the N.P.R. College cricket ground here on Sunday.

With this loss, the Chepauk side squandered its chance to finish second on the points table and play the qualifier.

Lokeshwar (55, 40b, 2×4, 5×6) is a pocket-knife who makes the opposition bleed runs in the first six overs. The highlight of his PowerPlay batting on Sunday was his taking down of left-arm spinner Rahil Shah for 22 runs in the third over.

He charged and smacked a straight six, paddle-swept for a maximum behind square on the leg side, cut for a four behind square on the off, and swept for a six to deep square leg. There was also a helicopter-like flick for a six to deep midwicket off medium-pacer Abhishek Tanwar on the third ball of the match.

Kousik (43 n.o., 24b, 3×4, 2×6) converted two attempted-yorker-turned-full-tosses into two sixes in the penultimate over.

Arun Karthick of Nellai Royal kings scored 45 runs against Dindigul dragons at a TNPL match held at Natham in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, on July 28, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
G. Karthikeyan

During the chase, Pradosh Ranjan Paul (52, 37b, 1×4, 4×6) who came in at No. 4, helped his team keep up with the asking rate in his own classical way. He stood and delivered an inside-out six off leg-spinner V.S. Karthick Manikandan for the shot of the day: well-timed and graceful, it was peak Pradosh!

He was involved in a 78-run third-wicket stand with opener and left-hander D. Santhosh Kumar (48, 36b, 3×4, 3×6).

In the second match of the day, Shivam Singh’s 59-ball 70 (4×4, 5×6) helped him top the Orange Cap leaderboard and Dindigul Dragons post 136.

During the chase, K.B. Arun Karthick (45, 30b, 3×4, 3×6) and skipper G. Ajitesh (43 n.o., 39b, 5×4) were involved in a 51-run second-wicket stand after opener L. Suryapprakash fell early.

Just as it appeared that the pair would comfortably take Nellai Royal Kings home, the Dindigul spinners pegged Nellai back.

Two wickets fell in three balls — Arun Karthick was out leg before to left-arm spinner P. Vignesh, and Nidhish Rajagopal was caught by Vignesh at cover off R. Ashwin (two for 23).

Ashwin had Rithik Easwaran leg before with a quicker delivery that went with the arm. Suddenly, Nellai was reduced to 76 for four.

But Ajitesh stayed and played a steady hand for Nellai to claim a four-wicket win, even as Varun Chakaravarthy claimed two wickets (two for 15).

With this loss, Dindigul too failed to capitalise on its chance to finish second on the points table and play the qualifier.

The scores:

Siechem Madurai Panthers 191/4 in 20 overs (S. Lokeshwar 55, Hari Nishaanth 37, J. Kousik 43 n.o.) bt Chepauk Super Gillies 182/8 in 20 overs (D. Santhosh Kumar 48, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 52, Karthick Manikandan 3/23).

Dindigul Dragons 136 in 19.4 overs (Shivam Singh 70) lost to Nellai Royal Kings 138/6 in 17.5 overs (Arun Karthick 45, G. Ajitesh 43 n.o.).

Source link