VB Kanchi Veerans continued their impressive run in the 4th Sankar Cement Tamil Nadu Twenty20 Premier League (TNPL) with a thumping 58-run victory over Tuti Patriots at the India Cements Ltd-Sankar Nagar Ground, here on Tuesday.

Opener S Sidharth’s aggressive 50 (38 balls, 7 fours, 1 six), captain Baba Aparajith’s elegant 76 not out (48b, 8 fours, 2 sixes) and Rajagopal Sathish’s belligerent 47 not out (19b, 3 fours, 4 sixes) powered the Veerans to 193-3 in 20 overs, the highest total of the season.

Their bowlers led by fast bowler Gowtham Thamarai Kannan (3-40) then restricted the 2016 champions to 135-8 in 20 for a convincing win. The Coimbatore bowler came back strongly after being collared for 21 runs in his first to claim three wickets in his second spell (2-0-6-3). His third spell of one over was also expensive as he went for 13 runs but by then he had caused considerable damage to the opposition.

It was the third successive win for the Veerans, who now have six points from four matches. It puts them in the second spot behind leaders Dindigul Dragons, who have eight points from four.

Earlier, a late assault by senior pros Aparajith and Sathish in the last five overs propelled VBKV to a strong total. The duo, who came together in the 15th over smashed 77 runs in 31 balls for the unbroken fourth wicket partnership.

Sathish was brutal on Athisayaraj Davidson smashing him for 41 runs off the 11 balls he faced from the fast bowler. He struck three fours and four sixes as Davidson went for 28 and 17 runs in his last two overs. The 27-year-old bowler from Thoothukudi with a slinging action conceded 61 runs in his wicketless four overs to return the most expensive figures in TNPL.

The previous worst analysis was in the name of VB Kanchi Veerans’ fast bowler Raghupathi Silambarasan 4-0-61-1 against Tuti Patriots in 2018 at the same ground. Interestingly, both bowlers conceded the same number of runs but Silambarasan slid to the second spot since he had a wicket against his name.

Opener Siddarth led the initial charge against the TP bowlers, which began with a four and six against Davidson in the third over and three fours off pacer Tamil Kumaran in the fifth over of the innings. The 22-year-old from Nagapattinam dominated the 71-run alliance off 54 balls for the second wicket with captain Aparajith, contributing 41 runs.

While his partners at the other end used the long hand with telling effect, Aparajith was equally effective with deft placements and elegant drives.

While VBKV motored on, the Patriots were guilty of numerous fielding lapses that included two dropped catches. Aparajith was the beneficiary on both occasions, first when he was on 10 and then on 28.  SP Nathan spilled a fairly easy chance at mid-on off left-arm spinner Ganesh Moorthi while TP captain Subramania Siva dropped a hot chance at extra cover off leg-spinner A Venkatesh.

Debutant Venkatesh was the most impressive bowler for the Patriots. The 25-year-old Chennai spinner troubled all batsmen with his flight and claimed two wickets for 18 runs. Venkatesh’s first coach, M Shanmugham, who is the venue manager at this ground, was delighted with his ward’s display. “Flighting the ball is an art, and he has that,” exclaimed the coach.

Venkatesh claimed both his wickets with his guile – Veerans opener S Sidharth was beaten by the flight and got stumped while Sanjay Yadav was drawn into playing a shot off a widish leg-break straight into long-on’s hands.

Both teams now travel to NPR College Ground, Natham, Dindigul for the next round of matches. Tuti Patriots meet iDream Karaikudi Kaalai on Thursday (August 1) while VBKV face Chepauk Super Gillies on Friday (August 2).

Brief scores:

VB Kanchi Veerans 193-3 in 20 overs (S Siddarth 50, B Aparajith 76 not out, Rajagopal Sathish 47 not out; A Venkatesh 2-18) beat Tuti Patriots 135-8 in 20 overs(Akshay Srinivasan 22, Sivagnanan Senthil Nathan 25; Rangaraj Suthesh 2-31, Gowtham Thamarai Kannan 3-40) by 58 runs.

Toss: TP, opt to field

Debutant: A Venkatesh (TP)

Points:VB Kanchi Veerans 2; Tuti Patriots 0

Umpires:GR Sadashiv Iyer, MM Srinivasarangan. TV umpire: M Ashwin Kumar.

Match referee:S Sharath.

MATCH AWARDS

Sankar Cement Man of the Match: Baba Aparajith (VBKV)

Sankar Cement Maximum 6s: Rajagopal Sathish (VBKV)

TCM-Nippon Paint Atom Best All-rounder: Rajagopal Sathish (VBKV)

SNJ VSOP Adhiradhi Four: Baba Aparajith (VBKV)

BKT Tyres Commander of the Match: S Siddharth (VBKV)

Sprite Juicy+ Refreshing Player: A Venkatesh (TP)

TVS Most Valuable Player of the Match: Rajagopal Sathish (VBKV)

Sharon Ply Strong Performer of the Match: NS Harish (VBKV)