Cricket: Coast Super Kings retain title with three-wicket win

Coast Super Kings youngest Batsman Sachin Shanmugavel 14years old carry overall trophy after his team beat Mt Kenya Chargers during Southern India Cultural Society Cricket tournament at Nairobi Gymkana Club on Sunday 8, 2018. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Coast Super Kings defended their South India cricket title following their three-wicket victory over Mount Kenya Chargers at the weekend.  

Mt Kenya won the toss and elected to field in the 40-overs challenge, but their opening batsman Abraham Vadada watched helplessly as his 87-ball 83 went to waste after Super Kings beat their 220 in 38.2 overs on the final day of the four-week tournament at Nairobi Gymkhana.

With only Vadada excelling with the bat for Mt Kenya, Super King bowler Lakshminarayan Hariharan took advantage of their opponents’ instability taking four wickets while conceding only 17 runs.

Hardhik Paruchuri fought to push Chargers' score but fell to Hariharan, who scored 38 off 37 balls. Others with double digit scores for Mt Kenya were youngster Abhishek Chidambaran 19, Manoj Sai 14 and Leela Prasad 13.

Praveen Rao took two wickets for 30 and Arun Balaraman took one wicket for 27 to set stage for their successful chase.

In response, Super Kings relied on the fourth wicket partnership of Arun Balaraman and 14-year-old Sachin Shanmugavel. Balaraman missed the half ton mark by two runs from 41 deliveries.  

Shanmugavel proved that his tender age did not matter as he came close to scoring a half century but fell short by six runs to register the side’s second highest score and third in the match. [Jonah Onyango]