Hyderabad E-Champions beat Anvita Khammam Aces to lift inaugural TG20 trophy

Chasing a target of 158, E-Champions romped home with 15 balls remaining; captain Abhirath hits 48

Hyderabad: Hyderabad E-Champions were crowned winners of the inaugural Sreenidhi University TG20 League cricket championship when they recorded a six-wicket win against Anvita Khammam Aces in the final at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday night.

Interestingly, captain Abhirath Reddy (549 runs) and all-rounder Ajay Dev Goud (21 wickets) were the first picks of E-Champions in the players’ auction, and both finished as the lead run-getter and wicket-taker of this edition, respectively!

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Aces clearly paid a heavy price for shoddy catching for sure tonight.

Chasing 158, Champions saw opener Vikas Reddy (4) trapped lbw by pacer Y. Harshith Sai in the second over.

Then, pinch-hitter Shanmukha Ashwin (36, 21b, 3×4, 2×6) was dropped on one and captain Abhirath Reddy on 21 in the second over.

Abhirath (48, 30b, 6×4, 1×6), dropped again on 36, looked good to see the team through, but a rush of blood and a bit of cramp saw him go for a big heave only to edge to the wicketkeeper off another left-arm spinner, Shaik Azhar, after hitting him the previous ball for a six.

When leg-spinner Ved Reddy removed Yashveer Goud with the last ball of his spell, Aces was back in the game at 104 for four in 13 overs.

But Vaishnav Reddy’s cameo (41 n.o., 28b, 1×4, 3×6) and his unbroken 51-run stand with Pranav Varma (19 n.o., 16b, 2×4) for the fifth wicket helped E-Champions cross the line with ease. Vaishnav finished off the game in style with a huge six off Harshith Sai in the 18th over.

Earlier, put in to bat, Khammam Aces scored 157 for eight in 20 overs and was reduced to a disappointing 26 for three in five overs.

Pacer Dev Mehta bowled a splendid opening spell of 4-0-25-2, and Ajay Dev Goud struck the other blow to remove the top three in quick succession.

Then, the seasoned campaigner K. Himateja and the in-form Mickil Jaiswal put on a useful 50-run stand to raise hopes of a recovery before bad light, because of the floodlights’ malfunctioning, stopped play at 76 for three in 11 overs.

Later,left-arm spinner Yashveer Goud struck a double blow in the 16th over, forcing Himateja (31,26b, 2×6) to go for a big shot only to be caught and bowled and then trapped Aces captain Chama Milind (0) lbw with one that kept a trifle low to make it 120/5 in 15.2 overs.

In the next over, Aces lost the lead scorer Mickil (65b, 39b, 4×4, 4×6) to pacer Ajay Dev Goud to see the team slump further (128/6 in 16.5 overs).

The scores: Final: Anvita Khammam Aces 157/8 in 20 overs (K. Himateja 31, Mickil Jaiswal 65, Vidyananda Reddy 20 n.o., Dev Mehta 2/25, Ajay Dev Goud 2/36,

Yashveer Goud 3/17) lost to Hyderabad E-Champions 159/4 in 17.3 overs (Abhirath Reddy 48, Shanmukha Ashwin 36, Vaishnav Reddy 41 n.o.).