Tamil Nadu Premier League 2023: Last ball thriller sees Nellai knock out Madurai in playoffs
IN A THRILLER that went down to the very last ball, Nellai Royal Kings defeated Siechem Madurai Panthers by just 4 runs to make it to the Tamil Nadu Premier League second qualifier for the final.
Batting first in this 'Eliminator' playoff match, Nellai put together a total of 211 where every single run proved to be crucial. Nidhish S Rajagopal (76 off 50) put on yet another fine innings at the TNPL while G Ajitesh (50 off 30) provided important support. And Rithik Easwaran S's stormy 29 runs off just 10 balls also helped make sure that even as wickets kept falling, the run rate never went down.
Successful Madurai bowlers like Gurjanpreet Singh (2/42) and P Saravanan (1/33) also struggled to contain the flow of runs; but Murugan Ashwin (1/24) was a notable example here.
Nonetheless, the Panthers had a mammoth target to chase and although they lost C Hari Nishaanth early, they went after the Nellai bowlers from early on. Suresh Lokeshwar (40 off 26) and V Aditya (73 off 50) got things going well; when Lokeshwar fell to a run out the run rate was well over 10. Swapnil Singh (48 off 30), the next one in, tried his best to keep the momentum going ith Jagatheesan Koushik (16 not out off 9) but when the former fell to Mohan Prasanth (1/43) the match was in as precarious a position as imaginable.
New batsman P Saravanan was on the crease with 12 runs to chase from 2 balls.
Despite the enormity of the task, Saravanan started confidently, hitting Prasanth for a six in his first ball. In the second, however, he could not find his mark despite his best effort. The Madurai innings ended at 207.
With this hard-earned win, Nellai Royal Kings will now take on Dindigul Dragons on Monday in the second qualifier match. The winner will face Lyca Kovai Kings in the TNPL grand finale on 12th July.
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