TNPL: Madurai bowlers pull off major comeback win over Chepauk

SIECHEM MADURAI PANTHERS continued their recent good form, beating Chepauk Super Gillies by 12 runs in the Tamil Nadu Premier Leauge.

Batting first in this highly competitive game where bowlers ruled the roost, Madurai had a tough start, losing six wickets within the first 10 overs with their run rate barely touching 5.

However, Indian international Washington Sundar turned things around for them with an unbeaten knock of 56 off 30; assisted by P Saravanan (22 not out off 17).

In the end their innings came to an end at just 141, thanks to the bowling prowess of Baba Aparajith (4-0-18-2) and Silambarasan (4-0-21-2).

It wasn't a great total to defend, and it was obvious that if Madurai were to get something out of this game, they would need their bowlers to step up big time.

But Chepauk started their innings in the exact oppisite way than Madurai did; with a solid 59 run opening partnership betwen S Sanosh Shiv and Narayan Jagadeesan.

However, things started turning around after they lost a couple of wickets. Other than the top three batters in the order, no Chepaul player could manage to get to a two digit score and their line-up completely collapsed.

Almost every Madurai bowler had impactful spells, especially Murugan Ashwin (4-0-25-3), Ajay Krishna (3-0-18-4), P Saravanan (4-0-27-1) and Gurjanpneet Singh (4-0-23-1).

They needed an almost perfect bowling performance to turn the game around, and that's what they produced, limiting Chepauk's innings to 129.

This win has put Madurai back into top four contention, with them equalling the points of the third placed team Dindigul Dragons. This means, if they can extend their two match winning streak further, they will be one of the frontrunners in the race to the playoffs.

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