Trivandrum Royals beat Alleppey Ripples by 14 runs in KCL to register fourth straight win

Trivandrum Royals defeated Alleppey Ripples by 14 runs at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium in the Kerala Cricket League on Monday, recording a fourth consecutive victory.

The Royals managed to prevail despite a patchy fielding display and a strong counter-attacking reply from Alleppey, with contributions through the middle and a late blitz sealing the result for Trivandrum.

Alleppey’s chase was propelled by Sachin Baby, who was dropped on 35 and then forged a 98-run third-wicket partnership with K.A. Arun. Baby was eventually caught at long-on by Krishna Prasad off medium pacer Nikhil for 91 (49b, 8x4, 5x6), which derailed the Ripples’ momentum.

K.A. Arun, who had been reprieved twice earlier, made 37 before a diving catch by Abhishek P. Nair at point—off N.P. Basil—removed him from the contest. Basil’s tidy second spell finished with four for 32 as the required run-rate proved too steep for the Ripples’ lower order.

On the other side, Trivandrum’s innings recovered from a slow start when opener Abhishek P. Nair found form and put the platform in place for the middle order. Govind Dev Pai selected his attacking moments to construct a measured, effective innings as the pair added 85 for the second wicket and the Royals seized control of the middle overs.

Sibin Girish took three wickets to check Trivandrum’s progress at one stage, but Sijomon Joseph’s late, unbeaten quickfire cameo bolstered the total; Joseph scored 31 off 13 balls (4x6) and the Royals amassed 63 from the final four overs.

The scores: Trivandrum Royals 194/4 in 20 overs (Abhishek P. Nair 57, Govind Dev Pai 82 n.o., Sijomon Joseph 31 n.o., Sibin Girish 3/37) bt Alleppey Ripples 180/6 in 20 overs (Sachin Baby 91, K.A. Arun 37, N.P. Basil 4/32).