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Chandran bowls Thrissur Tigers to title win in Kerala Cricket League

Thrissur Tigers players after the title victory. — Supplied photo

Chandran picked up four wickets for 10 runs from just 2.5 overs and turned the script decisively in his team’s favour, helping Trissur overpower Alleppy Amigos by 26 runs in the spectacular finale.

The Twenty20 event, organised by the Willows Cricket Club and supported by the Dubai Sports Council, offered Dh70,000 and a gold trophy for the winners, while the runners-up received Dh40,000 and a silver trophy.

The teams who finished third and fourth also received a cash prize of Dh15,000 each, making KCL one of the lucrative cricket events in the UAE.

Ali Ibrahim Mohammed Ismail, Deputy Director General — Department of Economic Development Dubai and Ghazi Al Madani, Manager, Sports and Tourism, Dubai Sports Council, were present during the prize distribution ceremony. Thrissur, who batted first, were given a rousing start by their openers Malintha and Praveen. Malintha went on to make an excellent half-century while Praveen gave good support by chipping in with an useful 21.

Malintha hammered four boundaries and one six in his 44-ball 53, while Mohammad too hit a 25-ball 41 and boosted Thrissur’s final score.

However, the middle order caved in cheaply and Alleppy eventually managed to restrict Thrissur to 146.

Alleppy openers Biny Raj and Bijy Raj gave a good start to the team as they added 25 runs for the first wicket. Biny fell for a run-a-ball 13, while Bijy scored a 17-ball 24 with three fours and one six.

Though Rameez (3) fell cheaply, Azeem, who scored 18 and experienced campaigner Khurram Khan brought back Alleppy into the match with some sensible batting. Khan was steady hitting a 30-ball 31, but Chandran turned the match on its head after the 16^th over. Chandran bagged two crucial wickets at that stage, which turned out to be lethal blows in the final.

Earlier, in the second semi-final Alleppy had secured a 18-run victory over Kottayam Kings.

Azeem, who hit an entertaining 92 off 53 balls was the star of the second semi-final. He smashed 11 boundaries and four sixes and powered Alleppy to 180 for eight in their allotted 20 overs. Though wickets fell at the other end Azeem made sure that his team had a winning score to clinch a berth in the final.

Though Kottayam lost their way early in the chase with the fall of wickets at regular intervals, Sheraz brought some life into the match by hitting a powerful 61 off 24 balls with two fours and six sixes. However his effort proved futile when Kottayam finished with 162 for seven in 20 overs.

Best batsman: Mohammed Bilal of Thrissur Tigers (198 runs) , Best Bowler: Nadir Hussain of Calilcut Challengers (13 wickets), Man of the Tournament: Shafaqat Ali of Kottayam Kings (105 runs and 13 wickets)