Shyam Sundar’s unbeaten 104 sinks the champions, and Trichy go second

S Shyam Sundar walked out at the NPR College Ground with Trichy Grand Cholas three for one in the first over, and he was still there when the innings ended. His 104 not out from 57 balls took Trichy to 196 for 6 on Thursday night, and iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, the side that won this competition last year, fell 17 short of it.

The innings that decided it

Suresh Kumar was bowled by T Natarajan five balls into the match. Shyam Sundar came in at that point and spent the powerplay watching K Rajkumar do most of the scoring, the pair adding 72 for the second wicket before Rajkumar fell for 37 from 33 balls.

His fifty came off 33 balls with six fours and two sixes. Useful, not frightening. The second fifty took 23 balls and five more sixes, and by the time he reached the hundred off 56 he had changed what Trichy were going to be defending. He finished on 104 from 57 with eight fours and seven sixes, a strike rate of 182. Nobody else in the order passed 37.

Jagatheesan Kousik gave him ten balls of company for 20, and Trichy lost wickets steadily around the anchor: 109 for 3, 118 for 4, 155 for 5. Natarajan finished with 2 for 32 from his four overs, which on this ground and against this innings counted as a good night’s work.

Raheja’s 87 nearly took it away

Tiruppur were 13 for 2 inside four overs, with Amit Sathvik caught by Kousik off Athisayaraj Davidson and captain Sai Kishore taken by Shyam Sundar off K Easwaran. What followed was the best batting of the match. Tushar Raheja hit 87 from 43 balls, reaching fifty in 26 and clearing the ropes eight times, and with Pradosh Ranjan Paul he put on 127 for the third wicket.

At 140 for 2 in the 15th over, Tiruppur needed 57 from 31 balls with eight wickets standing. Raheja then holed out to Kousik off Saravana Kumar, and the innings came apart at a speed that had nothing to do with the required rate. Six wickets fell for 24 runs. Mohamed Ali went for 2 with the score on 143, Paul for 44 an over later, and by the 19th over Tiruppur were 164 for 8 with the game gone.

The impact sub who finished it

Easwaran was not in the eleven that batted. He came on as Trichy’s impact player replacement for Rajkumar at the end of the first innings, bowled his four overs for 24, and took three wickets: Sai Kishore early, then V Anovankar and M Mathivannan in the collapse. Sanjay Yadav took two for 28, Davidson two for 24.

Shyam Sundar took two catches on top of the hundred and was named player of the match, which was not a difficult decision.

What it does to the table

Trichy have six points from four matches and the best net run rate in the competition at plus 1.110, which puts them second behind Siechem Madurai Panthers. Tiruppur also have six points but have played five, so they sit third on run rate. Nothing separates the top four by much, and with the league stage past its halfway mark the order is still moving after almost every game.

Both sides are back at Dindigul before the tournament leaves it. Trichy face VIDA Kovai Kings on Saturday evening in the last match scheduled for the NPR College Ground, after which TNPL 2026 moves to the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from 18 August for the rest of the league stage and the playoffs. Tiruppur’s next assignment is in Chennai on 20 August against Madurai.

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