Thiruvananthapuram: Mohammed Azharuddeen lit up the stage with a brilliant 47-ball 92 as Alleppey Ripples outplayed Thrissur Titans by five wickets in the opening match of the inaugural edition of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) at the Greenfield International Stadium here on Monday.
Azhar smashed nine sixes and three fours in his swashbuckling knock as Alleppey romped home in 18.3 overs. Vinoop Manoharan chipped in with a 27-ball 30. The two added 84 for the third wicket.
Earlier, Akshay Manohar's sparkling half-century lifted Thrissur to 161/8. Thrissur were off to a disastrous start after Azharuddeen put them in to bat. Abhishek Pratap fell off the very first ball of the contest. The opener was caught by Anand Joseph off Fanoos Fasil's bowling.
Anand struck in the next over as Thrissur captain Varun Nayanar departed for a solitary run. Vishnu Vinod and Ahmed Imran put on 27 runs for the third wicket. Thrissur's icon player Vishnu was castled by Alfi Francis for 22. The right-hander smashed three fours and a six in his 14-ball knock, while Ahmed made 23 off 21 balls.
Akshay Manohar and Arjun Venugopal put on 55 for the fifth wicket. Akshay's 44-ball 57 was studded with five sixes and a four.
Arjun Venugopal scored a run-a-ball 20. Anand was the most successful bowler with figures of 3/32.
Brief scores: Thrissur Titans 161/8 in 20 overs (Akshay Manohar 57; Anand Joseph 3/32, Fanoos Fasil 2/26) lost to Alleppey Ripples in 163/5 in 18.3 overs (Mohammed Azharuddeen 92).
