Chennai, August 5: Nellai Royal Kings bowlers kept the Salem Spartans on a tight leash and restricted them to 120-8 in their Shriram Capital Tamil Nadu Premier League match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.
Spinners NS Harish (2-12), Sanjay Yadav (1-18), and captain Baba Aparajith (2-23) shared the bowling honors.
Barring the third-wicket partnership of 64 runs off 51 balls between star all-rounder Vijay Shankar (41 off 35 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) and Abishiek Selvakumar (25 off 21 balls, 2 fours) there was nothing to shout about in the Salem batting. The Salem innings just gave away once this partnership was broken in the 12th over when Abishiek was bowled
by Yadav. From 69-2 after 11 overs, they could add just 51 runs in nine overs for the loss of six wickets.
Salem suffered a blow before the game when their captain Daryl Ferrario was ruled out due to a twisted ankle. KH Gopinath stepped in his place and made a good start by winning the toss but the batsmen failed to back that call.
It was a big occasion for the tournament as this was the 150th match, an indication of an impressive journey that began in 2016.
Brief scores: Salem Spartans 120-8 in 20 overs (Vijay Shankar 41, Abishiek S 25, Lokesh Raj 15; NS Harish 2-12, B Aparajith 2-23, Athisayaraj D 2-24) vs Nellai Royal Kings
Toss: Salem Spartans, chose to bat. Debutants: T Veeramani (NRK)
Points: Salem Spartans, Nellai Royal Kings
Umpires: M G Saidharshan Kumar, Rakesh Raghavan
Third umpire: M Madhu
Match Referee: Vijeylaxmi
Tomorrow’s match:
Chepauk Super Gillies vs Lyca Kovai Kings at 7:30 pm.
Live on: Star Sports Tamil, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2HD, Disney+ Hotstar from 7:30 pm.
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