Vinil and Azharuddeen steer Alleppey Ripples to eight-wicket Kerala Cricket League win

On Friday at the Sports Hub Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Alleppey Ripples defeated Trivandrum Royals by eight wickets in a Kerala Cricket League match after an incisive opening spell from T.S. Vinil and a powerful chase led by Mohammed Azharuddeen.

Left-arm pacer T.S. Vinil produced a fiery PowerPlay burst that included a double-wicket maiden over, unsettling the Royals’ top order, while Azharuddeen answered with an aggressive innings during the reply to finish the contest decisively.

The match began with Vishnu Vinod hitting the first ball from Vinil through the covers for a boundary, but the momentum shifted in the second over when Vinil struck twice: he pinned Vishnu in front and then had Abhishek P. Nair out for a duck.

A further setback arrived when Royals captain Krishna Prasad was run out attempting a non-existent third run, leaving the side reeling at 26 for four during the PowerPlay.

Later in the innings Sijomon Joseph and K. Ajeesh provided a rebuilding effort, adding 39 runs for the seventh wicket which helped the Royals push past the 100-run mark.

Mohammed Azharuddeen began his chase by striking Vinod Kumar for consecutive boundaries and was dropped on eight by Sijomon Joseph; a mistimed drive in the same over was not held at covers, and Azharuddeen then took control of the reply before his dismissal.

After Azharuddeen’s exit, skipper Sachin Baby and K.A. Arun saw Ripples to victory with 43 balls to spare.

The scores: Trivandrum Royals 126/8 in 20 overs (Sijomon Joseph 46, T.S. Vinil 3/19, Jalaj Saxena 2/22) lost to Alleppey Ripples 127/2 in 12.5 over (Mohammed Azharuddeen 68, Sachin Baby 26 n.o.).