Tailender Anand Joseph turned out to be the unlikely hero as his breathtaking unbeaten three-ball 16 pulled off an incredible heist for Thrissur Titans at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium here on Thursday. His heroics punched Titans’ ticket for the Kerala Cricket League final with a one-wicket win over Trivandrum Royals in the semifinals.

Titans needed 15 from the last over bowled by Rahul Chandran and the left-arm pacer piled on the pressure by conceding only two runs from the first two deliveries. However, Anand launched the third ball over long-off for a towering six, slammed the next one past mid-on for a four and sealed the win with a six over mid-wicket.

Earlier, Anand had made a definite impact with the new ball as he snuffed out the dangerous Vishnu Vinod and in-form captain Krishna Prasad to reduce Royals to 31 for two.

Left-arm spinner Biju Narayan then choked the flow of runs in the middle overs with a tidy spell of two for 20 as Royals slumped to 93 for five. However, Akshay Manohar (53 not out, 26b, 4×4, 3×6) and M. Nikhil (28 not out, 15b, 2×4, 2×6) added 70 from 35 balls for the sixth wicket to raise the total to 163 for five.

Titans lost its openers early but a 45-run third wicket stand between Ahammed Imran (43) and Shoun Roger (23) put the chase back on track. Captain S. Akhil (27) kept his team in the hunt even as wickets fell regularly in the death overs. It looked like curtains for Titans when Akhil fell in the 19th over but Anand’s sensational knock saved the day for his side.

The scores: Trivandrum Royals 163/5 in 20 overs (Akshay Manohar 53 n.o., Biju Narayanan 2/20, Anand Joseph 2/31) lost to Thrissur Titans 167/9 in 19.5 overs (Ahammed Imran 42, Rahul Chandran 3/32, M. Nikhil 2/29).

Thursday’s match: Thrissur Titans 140 in 19.5 overs (Biju Narayanan 37 n.o., K.A. Ajinas 3/20, Sibin P. Girish 2/22, T.S.Vinil 2/27, Abhijith Praveen 2/32) lost to Alleppey Ripples 142/7 in 18.5 overs (M. Sreeroop 31, Sibin P. Girish 31 n.o., Muhammed Irshad 4/38).

T20 is a game of fine margins and Calicut Globstars tried its best to test that theory at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium on Thursday!

Globstars six dropped chances, including four from centurion Vishnu Vinod, yet held its nerve to eke out a seven-run win over Trivandrum Royals to move into the semifinals of the Kerala Cricket League.

Leg-spinner Vignesh Puthur with the season’s first five wicket haul (five for 13) was the standout performer for Globstar and the lone bowler not to receive the punishment from Vishnu who battled as a one-man army for Royals.

Vishnu blasted a blazing century (118, 62b, 10×4, 8×6) making full use of the reprieves to keep his side in the hunt. However, his luck ran out when he top-edged a pull from Akhil Scaria and Rohan Kunnummal covered sufficient ground from long-off to complete the catch at mid off.

Chasing 185, Royals were in control when Vishnu Vinod and Krishna Prasad added 51-runs for the second wicket. But the introduction of Vignesh in the 10th over changed the contest. He dismissed Krishna Prasad (14), slogging a catch to Akhil Scaria at long on and had Govind Dev Pai (0) stumped.

Vignesh’s two more wickets — Sijomon Joseph (2) and M. Nikhil (0) — in the 14th over swung the match in favour of Globstar as Royals slumped to 97 for six.

But Vishnu refused to give up and took 19 runs from the 16th over bowled by M.U. Harikrishnan. He clattered three sixes and slogged Akhin Sathar over midwicket for a boundary to reach his hundred from 56 balls. However, Scaria came back to dismiss Vishnu and with it ended Royals’ hopes.

Earlier, lower order contributions from Salman Nizar (31 not out) and Aswin Anand (24 not out) helped Globstars post 184 for six.

The scores: Calicut Globstars 184/6 in 20 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 35, Jose Perayil 31 Salman Nizar 31 n.o.) bt Trivandrum Royals 177 in 19.3 overs (Vishnu Vinod 118, Vignesh Puthur 5/13, Ibnul Afthab 2/26, Akhil Scaria 2/39).

Wednesday’s match: Calicut Globstars 175/4 in 20 overs (Varun Nayanar 36, Abdul Basith 62 n.o, Salman Nizar 50 n.o., Mohammed Ishaque 2/18) lost to Aries Kollam Sailors 179/4 in 17.2 overs (Vathsal Govind 42, M. Ajinas 64 n.o., Akhin Sathar 2/32).

Trivandrum Royals overcame a sloppy fielding display and a counter attacking innings from Sachin Baby to score a 14-run win over Alleppey Ripples, and continue its mid-tournament resurgence with a fourth straight win, in the Kerala Cricket League at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium on Monday.

Ripples were in the hunt when Baby, who was dropped on 35, and K.A. Arun allied for a 98-run third wicket stand. But the chase was scuppered when the former was caught at long-on by Krishna Prasad off medium pacer Nikhil for 91 (49b, 8×4, 5×6). Arun (37), who was dropped twice, fell to a diving catch by Abhishek P. Nair at point off N.P. Basil. The mounting run-rate proved to be tough for the Ripples’ lower order as Basil bowled a tidy second spell to finish with four for 32.

Earlier, opener Abhishek (57, 30b, 5×4, 2×6) ran into form and helped Royals overcome a slow start. Govind Dev Pai (82 not out, 50b, 6×4, 5×6) chose his attacking moments sensibly to play a well paced innings as Royals seized control of the middle overs.

The duo added 85 runs for the second wicket before Sibin Girish took three wickets to check Royals’ progress. But Sijomon Joseph infused the much-needed momentum with a quickfire, unbeaten 31 (13b, 4×6) to help Royals add 63 runs from the last four overs.

The scores: Trivandrum Royals 194/4 in 20 overs (Abhishek P. Nair 57, Govind Dev Pai 82 n.o., Sijomon Joseph 31 n.o., Sibin Girish 3/37) bt Alleppey Ripples 180/6 in 20 overs (Sachin Baby 91, K.A. Arun 37, N.P. Basil 4/32).

Left-arm pacer T.S. Vinil’s fiery spell upfront and Mohammed Azharuddeen’s blitzkrieg during the chase powered Alleppey Ripples to an eight-wicket win over Trivandrum Royals in the Kerala Cricket League at the Sports Hub Greenfield Stadium on Friday.

Vinil’s spell in the PowerPlay, which included a double wicket maiden over, broke the back of Royals batting and it limped to 126 for eight in 20 overs. Azharuddeen (68, 29b, 8×4, 5×6), who was dropped on eight by Sijomon Joseph, sewed up the contest in the PowerPlay. After Azharuddeen’s dismissal, skipper Sachin Baby (26 not out) and K.A. Arun (24 not out) guided Ripples home with 43 balls to spare.

There was no hint of a Royals collapse when Vishnu Vinod smoked the first ball of the match from Vinil through covers for a boundary. However, Vinil’s twin strikes in the second over changed the contest on its head. Vinil got the ball to jag back and pinned Vishnu (7) in front and dismissed Abhishek P. Nair for a duck.

When Royals’ skipper Krishna Prasad was run out, trying to go for a non-existent third, the team slumped to 26 for four in the PowerPlay. Sijomon (46) and K. Ajeesh (23) counterattacked to add 39 runs for the seventh wicket which enabled Royals to cross 100.

Azharuddeen started imperiously, spanking Vinod Kumar for consecutive boundaries, but Sijomon, at covers, failed to latch on a mistimed drive from the batter in the same over. Azhar made Royals pay for the grave error and took the game away with his scintillating knock.

The scores: Trivandrum Royals 126/8 in 20 overs (Sijomon Joseph 46, T.S. Vinil 3/19, Jalaj Saxena 2/22) lost to Alleppey Ripples 127/2 in 12.5 over (Mohammed Azharuddeen 68, Sachin Baby 26 n.o.).

The player auction for the third season of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) is expected to spring a few surprises, with some of the biggest names in Kerala cricket going under the hammer on Saturday.  

Explosive batter and IPL star Vishnu Vinod, former Kerala captain Sachin Baby, Vignesh Puthur, under-19 internationals Manav Krishna and Mohammed Ennan, and veteran all-rounder Vinoop Manoharan are among the 139 players up for grabs

However, it is unlikely that any of these players will break Sanju Samson’s record-breaking price of ₹26.80 lakh, which Kochi Blue Tigers paid last season. 

While the six franchises have retained a total of 17 players, they are expected to spend the remaining purse wisely to build their squads. Each franchisee must buy at least four players from Pool A category. 

The total team budget and salary cap of players across all categories remained unchanged from last season.

The 32 players enlisted in Pool A command a base price of ₹3 lakh. Pool B features 37 players with a base price of ₹1.5 lakh. Pool C, which comprises under-19 and club-level cricketers, has the highest representation, with 87 players all carrying a base price of ₹75,000. 

Having retained only Mohammed Azharuddeen, Alleppey Ripples enters the auction with the maximum available budget of ₹42.5 lakh. 

The available purse with the other franchises is as follows: Kochi Blue Tigers (₹41 lakh); Trivandrum Royals (₹39.5 lakh); Aries Kollam Sailors (₹34.5 lakh); Thrissur Titans (₹34.5 lakh); Calicut Globstars (₹33.75 lakh).

Charu Sharma will return as the auctioneer for the third successive season.