Lyca Kovai Kings vs Chepauk Super Gillies Match 21 Full Commentary

Back to action - The players are back out in the middle. Radhakrishnan and Suresh Lokeshwar are the openers for Lyca Kovai Kings. The new ball is in the hand of Abhishek Tanwar. Radhakrishnan to face. 168 needed from 120 balls. Let's play!

... THE RUN CHASE ...

Under par? That's what we feel. The pitch did look a bit slow at the start, but as the game went on, got better to bat on. And add to it, CSG did harakiri, else they could have got to 200. But that is past. If Chepauk can strike early with the new ball, we might have a game on.

Decent bowling display - It was an all-round team effort from Lyca Kovai Kings. Barring Jhathavedh Subramanyan, everyone bowled superbly, and even G Kishoor, who went for a few with the new ball, returned excellently at the death. Surprisingly though, Shahrukh Khan did not bowl out R.S. Ambrish, who orchestrated the collapse in the middle overs. Ambrish finished with 3/22 in 3 overs. The fielding was sharp as well, with 2 run outs being inflicted.

The derailment - Many times, in cricket, one brings two. Lyca Kovai Kings believed in that principle and searched for someone to break the 4th wicket stand. Manimaran Siddharth gave them that break, getting through Arvindh and the scenario changed again. 101/3 became 130/7 and the dreams of reaching 200 came crashing down. Towards the end, Dinesh Raj's calculated 32 at least ensured that Chepauk reached close to 170.

The counterattack - Chepauk Super Gillies took a gamble, by using their impact substitution very early, bringing in a batter in the form of Ram Arvindh R. It helped them a lot, as Arvindh, along with Swapnil Singh, helped the side get through the Powerplay and stop the collapse. Suddenly, the runs started to come at a brisk place and by the 10th over, the Super Gillies had reached 100/3. And then, at the halfway mark, 220 seemed to be on the cards.

Rocked in the Powerplay - The Lyca Kovai Kings made full use of the toss and conditions as they reduced Chepauk Super Gillies to 21/3 by the end of the third over itself. The wickets fell more or less due to the batter's mistakes, not ready to spend some time in the middle with the ball holding a touch. At that stage, it felt as if the innings would end early.

Manic innings - Probably the best way to describe it. Rocked at the top, counter-attack in the middle, laying the platform but train ending at another platform. Eventually, through some massive self destruction, Chepauk Super Gillies have got to a very average total here.

M Vignesh is the last batter in, replacing M Silambarasan.

M Silambarasan walks in next, at number 10, replacing Dinesh.

R.S. Ambrish to bowl the 19th over. 2-0-8-2 so far. Very surprised to not see him bowl out.

Final 3 overs. CSG will aim for a launch now. G Kishoor returns. 2-0-22-0 so far.

Gasping for breath - No, we are fine, thank you. Hope you are fine as well. But Dindigul Dragons are not. Because even though Dindigul breathed fire at last in their previous match, there has been lack of oxygen in their performances, mostly not creating the fire in the first place. They have two games left, but a loss here will all but knock the 2025 finalists out of the competition. On the other hand, a win for Trichy Grand Cholas will see Trichy get to provisional second place. That's the contest lined up for Wednesday, 19th August, 2026 in the Tamil Nadu Premier League - Dindigul Dragons vs Trichy Grand Cholas - at the Chepauk. The first ball is scheduled to be bowled at 7.30 pm IST but our buildup will begin well in advance. So do tune in early. ADIOS! TAKE CARE!

A slip up - Narayan Jagadeesan and Chepauk Super Gillies would want to think that way. One loss does not make them a bad team and they are still placed fairly comfortably, at third spot in the points table. But with just one game left for them in the league stage, their chances of finishing in the top 2 take a massive hit. Additionally, the Super Gillies were on a roll, winning three on the bounce before this game and would not want their momentum to derail ahead of the playoffs. They play Trichy Grand Cholas next, on Friday as well, in the evening game.

Back in business - That's why you don't rule out a powerful team like Lyca Kovai Kings at any stage. Languishing at 6th place before this match, they have rocketed to second place now and despite three losses, their net run rate is the best of all the teams in the competition. With two wins on the bounce, they have got momentum in their favour and with a solitary game left in their league phase, Shahrukh Khan and co. will want to make it a hattrick of wins and finish in the top 2. They take on Dindigul Dragons in that fixture on Friday, 21st August, 2026 in an afternoon game.

Feels good - That's the verdict of the victorious skipper of Lyca Kovai Kings, SHAHRUKH KHAN, when asked about his feeling on winning the toss and the match. Adds that even though toss plays a very small role in a 40-over game, it matters. Honestly says that Kovai didn't bring their A game at the start of the season, but improved in their last game and put on a good show here as well. On the wonderful bowling effort in the second half of the first innings, Shahrukh agrees that it was a tremendous effort but quickly adds that he doesn't want to hype his bowlers up too much! Wants them to stick to the processes, as he reckons that more than 80-90 percent of the time, if you stick to your methods, you get the job done consistently. On the confusion regarding the Sachin-Lokeshwar run out, the skipper says that this is the first time he has seen a scenario where a batter has gone to the dugout, removed his pads but is called back in. Ends by saying that Lokeshwar was lucky in this game but does not want it to happen again.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH - The award goes for Lyca Kovai Kings' R.S.AMBRISH, for his wonderful bowling spell of 3-0-22-3. The first question he is asked is, what changes did he have to make to his bowling coming in from the Under-19 World Cup. To this, Ambrish says that the game stays the same in every format, but only the mindset changes. R.S. adds that the other players and captain backed and motivated him. Next, he is told that teams across the tournament have nominated him as a promising player. On the possible feeling of pressure to live up to their expectations, R.S. Ambrish says that pressure is always there, but that is part and parcel of the game. On his captain, he says that Shahrukh has been very supportive, constantly encouraging him and getting the best out of the youngster.

Definitely 20-30 short - That's what the captain of Chepauk Super Gillies, NARAYAN JAGADEESAN, has to say when asked about the total. Explains that it was a very good wicket to bat on and 200 would have been a good score. Asked to delve about the reason of not being able to get there, he notes that in this game, it was important to keep wickets in hand. Jagadeesan rues that they lost 3 wickets in the Powerplay. Adds that after the early collapse, the team had a very good partnership between Swapnil Singh and Ram Arvindh R, but again, lost momentum around the 12th over, where they lost 3 wickets once more. Hence, Narayan feels, on a very good pitch, they ended up way short of a par score and also goes onto say that's where they lost the match. On the positives for his side, he says that the way his bowlers bowled was very good and taking the game till the 19th over was promising.

... THE PRESENTATION ...

Opportunity missed - Earlier in the innings, Chepauk Super Gillies got off to a horror start, being reduced to 21/3 inside 3 overs. But they found a way to come out of that situation, reaching 101/3 around the 11th over. However, the Super Gillies lost their way totally at the death, ending up with a really sub-par total of 167, failing to even play out their 20 overs. Impact substitute made his impact felt, Ram Arvindh R, with a fine 63 (32), while the tunaround for Kovai came via R.S. Ambrish, who picked up 3 wickets.

Misjudging the situation? Well, a coin always has two sides. And that's the way one has to look at Narayan Jagadeesan's captaincy. His bowlers were struggling for the first 60 percent of the chase, but suddenly, found a way to turn things around. Now, that brings into question that 17th over, bowled by Prem Kumar. With overs available for M Vignesh and the experienced Abhishek Tanwar, Jagadeesan preferred to go to Prem. Usually, Abhishek bowls at the death and even though he had not bowled well with the new ball, his experience might have come in handy. Hindsight is such a great thing, isn't it? Eventually, it can be ruled as a great comeback by Chepauk but that one bowling change might have swung the game in their favour.

The 'King Khan' effect - Before this game, Shahrukh Khan was struggling to score runs. Even in this game, he was struggling. But he found a lifeline, in the 17th over, when Prem Kumar gave him two freebies, which also included a no ball. Both the deliveries went for maximums and those resulted in 20 runs from that over and the momentum was back with Kovai. It was a chase which should have been dusted off easily, but nerves came in. However, Kovai just about managed to hang in there in the end.

The loss of momentum - Just as it happened in the first innings, it happened in the second innings too. Kovai were cruising along at 114/1, but a run out of Balasubramaniam Sachin, after a delay of nearly 5 minutes to be adjudicated halted their momentum. Suddenly, the score was reduced to 127/4 and with 41 needed from 32 balls, it was game on.

The consolidation - One things which Lyca Kovai Kings had learnt from their opposition was to not let a collapse happen. Suresh Lokeshwar and Balasubramaniam Sachin ensured that, with a fine 60-run stand for the second wicket. They scored at a brisk rate too, keeping the pressure on the bowlers. However, one mixup changed the scenario.

The Radhakrishnan mission - See ball, hit ball, hammer the opposition and close the game in the Powerplay. That was the policy adopted by Radhakrishnan as he came out all guns blazing. Radhakrishnan blazed to 38 runs in an opening stand of 54 (28) and set a wonderful platform. The ploy was to attack the new ball and it worked brilliantly for Kovai.

Game, or the road through the mountains? What a game. We repeat. What a game. Both teams were on top at one stage, then let the control go, before again getting back on top. Eventually, the side which committed lesser harakiri came out on top.

Match done! What are we checking? Single or boundary.

The field comes in now.

Madhava Prasad walks in next, at number 7, for the finishing duties, replacing his skipper Shahrukh.

M Vignesh comes back. 2-0-13-0 so far.