Madurai Panthers beat Dindigul Dragons to clinch TNPL 2018
It was the fairytale ending that Madurai were hoping for at the start. From beginning the third edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League without a win in the competition, they ended it as the champions of TNPL 2018. Siechem Madurai Panthers beat Dindigul Dragons by seven wickets with 17 balls to spare at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.
The most competitive and closely-fought TNPL so far ended with a one-sided affair as Madurai dominated from the first over and clinched a comfortable win over the only side that they hadn't beaten in the history of the competition before the start of the final.
Chasing 118 for victory, Madurai needed a meltdown of epic proportions to lose it. Although they lost three wickets in the first over to Silambarasan, KB Arun Karthick came through for the Panthers, as he has done all season, bringing up his sixth fifty of the tournament as he saw the side home along with the experienced Shijit Chandran. The pair added 117 runs for the fourth wicket to see the Panthers home with 17 balls to spare.
The win was set up by a fantastic spell of fast bowling by Abhishek Tanwar and Lokesh Raj who ran through the Dindigul top order inside the powerplay. The first five overs of the Dindigul innings produced a wicket apiece as they crumbled to the lowest power play total in a TNPL final, 33/5.
After that, there wasn't much that went Dindigul's way. Despite the fact that Madurai dropped four catches, including two in successive deliveries to give R Vivek a chance to make them pay. Dindigul skipper N Jagadeesan was the only one who did anything of note but even his fifty, which helped his side cross 100 wasn't enough despite as KB saw Madurai home in style.
Brief Scores: Dindigul Dragons 117 all out in 19.5 overs (N Jagadeesan 51, Abhishek Tanwar 4/30, Lokesh Raj 3/31, Varun CV 2/9) lost to Siechem Madurai Panthers 119/3 in 17.1 overs (KB Arun Karthik 75*, Shijit Chandran 38*, Silambarasan 3/23) by seven wickets
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