After a gruelling schedule of 28 matches, the two most consistent teams of the tournament over the past four years — Dindigul Dragons and Chepauk Super Gillies — find themselves in the battle for a direct berth into the final when they face off in the first qualifier of the Sankar Cement-TNPL at the India Cements ground here on Sunday.
Dragons, last year’s finalist, topped the league for the second consecutive year with just one loss in seven games, while Gillies (2017 winner & 2016 finalists) finished second with five wins.
Led by R. Ashwin, Dragons have been clinical, be it defending small totals or chasing targets with N. Jagadeesan and C. Hari Nishanth delivering at the top of the order.
Minor blip
The team had a minor blip in its last game against Lyca Kovai Kings where it failed to chase a modest 135, bowled out for 99. However, Jagadeesan said the performance was not a cause for concern even though it exposed the middle-order a bit with the top two batsmen scoring close to 600 runs between them.
For Gillies, K.H. Gopinath has been the most consistent batsman with some one-off performances from the others though the return of Vijay Shankar should be a big boost.
While the bowling is settled with pacers Harish Kumar, G. Periyaswamy and left-arm spinner R. Alexander, skipper Kaushik Gandhi said he expected more from his top-order including himself to complement Gopinath.
No big difference
In the second match of the day, VB Kanchi Veerans takes on defending champion Siechem Madurai Panthers and there is little to separate the two. Veerans, led by B. Aparajith, has had different players step up when needed, with the skipper himself producing some consistent performances despite two losses towards the end of the group stages before a clinical win on Friday sealed its berth in the last four.
Panthers on the other hand, after two losses in its first three games, come into the eliminator on a four-match winning streak and the team has done well despite losing three players — C.V. Varun (injury), D. Rohit and Thalaivan Sargunam (ineligible after the duo shifted to Pondicherry for Ranji Trophy) — from the title-winning squad last year.
