Lyca Kovai Kings captain Shahrukh Khan was delighted after they registered their first win of the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League 2022.
LKK defeated Salem Spartans convincingly by eight wickets at the NPR College Ground, Dindigul on Wednesday.
LKK restricted Salem Spartans to 146-9 in their 20 overs after Khan won the toss and decided to bowl first. Abhishek Tanwar scalped three wickets for LKK but he conceded 39 runs in his quota of four overs. However, Balu Surya was the pick of the bowlers as he snared three wickets and conceded only 14 runs in his fine spell.
Furthermore, K Vignesh took two wickets for LKK. Murugan Ashwin, Gopinath and Pranav Kumar all got off to starts for SS but none of them could go past the 50-run mark.
On the other hand, LKK chased down the total comprehensively with 21 balls to spare. LKK opener Suresh Kumar scored a match-winning knock of 64 runs from 43 balls whereas Sai Sudharsan also scored an unbeaten knock of 56 runs to help his team get over the line.
Shahrukh Khan said in the post-match presentation, “We had lost two in a row, showed a lot of character today to make that sort of a comeback. A lot of credit to the bowlers, we kept picking wickets.”
Suresh was awarded the Player of the Match and he said he played according to the merit of the ball.
He said after the game, “It was initially sticky but the ball came onto the bat better later. I play according to the merit of the ball. I got drained a bit and I was just trying to use the bowler’s pace and place it in the gap.”
On the other hand, SS captain Murugan Ashwin admitted that they should have batted better against LKK as 146 was never going to be enough.
Ashwin said after the loss, “We should have a batted better. On a very good track, 146 wasn’t enough. Building partnerships – we need to do that. We need at least 2 partnerships and that’ll get us to 180. I knew I could bat in the powerplay that’s why I promoted myself.”
LKK will next face Ruby Trichy Warriors on Sunday at the SNR College Cricket Ground, Coimbatore.
