Vishal Vaidhya's blistering half-century knock inspires Dindigul Dragons to a nine-wicket win over ITT

K Vishal Vaidhya played a sensational knock of unbeaten 84 runs (off 57 balls) to power Dindigul Dragons to an easy nine-wicket victory over IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans in the 9th match of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2022 on Monday. 

Chasing 146 for victory, Dindigul depended on a phenomenal opening stand of 66 between Vishal Vaidhya and skipper Hari Nishanth (23-ball 25) to achieve their target with 11 balls and nine wickets to spare.  

After the departure of skipper Nishanth, the wicketkeeper batter Mani Bharathi excellently supported the other opener, Vishal Vaidhya to put up an unbeaten match-winning stand of 82 runs off just 57 balls to help Dindigul hunt down the total with consummate ease. 

The 30-year-old Bharathi remained unbeaten at 38 runs off 29 balls. For IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, only M Mohammed could manage to take a wicket. 

Earlier, after being put in to bat first, IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans got off to a terrible start as they lost both of their openers - S Anirudha (8) and S Siddharth cheaply. 

S Aravind then tried to steady the ship, scoring 23-ball 32 before M Silambarasan trapped him LBW. Maan K Bafna (21-ball 21) then joined hands with wicket-keeper batter Tushar Raheja (16-ball 20) and stitched a 38-run partnership for the fourth wicket. 

However, later both Bafna and Raheja got out in consecutive overs to bring Dindigul Dragons back into the game. Former skipper M Mohammed (18-ball 27) and Aswin Crist's (19-ball 20) late flourish helped IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans reach a respectable total of 145 runs at the end of the first inning.  

The left-arm spinner M Silambarasan was the pick of the bowlers for Dindigul Dragons, having bagged three-wicket haul while conceding just 21 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Rangaraj Suthesh and skipper Hari Nishanth also claimed a couple of wickets each. 

It was the second win for Dindigul Dragons, who have now played four matches thus far. With 4 points in their kitty, they have made a quick jump to end up at the third position in the TNPL 2022 points table. 

IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, on the other hand, suffered their first defeat of the season and they are currently placed at the fifth position in the standings. 

Brief Scores: 

IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans: 145/8 (20 Overs) 

S Aravind 32(23), M Mohammed 27(18); 
M Silambarasan 3-21 (4), Hari Nishanth 2-13 (3) 

Dindigul Dragons: 148/1 (18.1 Overs) 

K Vishal Vaidhya 84*(57), Mani Bharathi 38*(29); 
M Mohammed 1-22 (3)

Dindigul Dragons won by nine wickets.