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And so, we know what the playoffs draw looks like. But there is still a game to be played in the round-robin phase as Nellai Royal Kings play Ba11sy Trichy at this very venue tomorrow. Nellai will be looking to enter the playoffs with a win and momentum on their side while Trichy would certainly not want to end a horror season without a win against their name. What will unfold then? Do join us for our coverage of that and plenty more cricketing action tomorrow from around the world right here on Sportskeeda. For now, this is your host Karthik Raj taking your leave. Good night and see you around soon!
A performance which will certainly boost the Panthers' confidence to no end as they head to Salem for the Eliminator against the Nellai Royal Kings. Alas for the Chepauk Super Gillies, their tournament ends as a result and they will have to pack their bags. No fourth successive trophy for them even as they had their moments this season and missed out narrowly. As for the iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, they impressed in patches and had plenty of positives themselves but the whole clearly didn't outweigh the sum of its parts. Loads of work to do for them ahead of next year's edition.
Hari Nishanth (Siechem Madurai Panthers captain): The first two matches, our display was poor and our net run-rate was negative. But I felt that if we win four out of five we'll be good. I have to thank the boys. Moving into the tournament having qualified, we can't ask for better confidence. The main worry (before the last over) was we had five fielders inside the ring. Gurjapneet, the next league awaits. He's a big player in the making. Definitely 15-20 runs short but the wicket wasn't easy. I told the boys that we should cover up those runs with our fielding and the boys responded. (On Lokeshwar) He has come in the middle of the season. I know Loki from a long time and knew he would do well. He's hitting the ball well. Moving into the tournament, a knock like this will help him a lot.
NS Chaturved (iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans captain): Tremendous effort from the entire team. Could have been lethargic thinking that we are out but showed a lot of intent until the last ball. Bhuvaneswaran has come from the dristricts and he has a lot of ambition to do well. We could have played consistently. I could also have made better calls with the bat. Could have also have done more with the bat
S Lokeshwar is the Player of the Match for his 37-ball 44. Here's what he has to say: Obviously a great feeling. I just wanted to react to the ball and express myself. I just wanted to play to the situation. We've secured qualification after the way the first two matches went. Personal performance is good but the team qualifying feels even better. I didn't plan in advance - whatever the ball was I just wanted to react accordingly. (Dedicating the award to someone?) Obviously my parents, sister and my friends.
Let's hear from Murugan Ashwin of Siechem Madurai Panthers: We just peaked at the right moment. Very happy to play such a match and qualify for the playoffs. (On the team winning every time he picks up at least one wicket) Very happy - I'm playing with a fracture so I just want to contribute to the team. (Conversations in the death overs) It was more about being precise in our plans and being clear on what to execute. I think both Gurjapneet and Ajay bowled magnificently. I like the vibe of Salem so very happy to play the Eliminator there.
What a thrilling victory for Siechem Madurai Panthers as they get into the play-offs by going past Chepauk Super Gillies. Magnificent work from the pace bowling duo of Ajay Krishna and Gurjapneet Singh who held their nerve to pull off this result!
Chasing 161 for victory, the opening pair of K Vishal Vaidhya and Tushar Raheja got off to a steady start. Just as it looked like Tiruppur will get through the Powerplay without losing a wicket, Ajay Krishna got rid of Vishal in the sixth over. The big-hitting R Vivek was promoted to No.3 but the move didn't quite work as he struggled for a while before holing out to long-on off Saravanan's bowling. This is when Vijay Shankar joined Tushar Raheja in the middle and the duo stitched a decent partnership. Eventually, Tushar got to his maiden fifty but he soon miscued an attempted big hit off M Ashwin to long-on. A couple of overs later, Gurjapneet got the big scalp of Vijay Shankar as the all-rounder dragged on courtesy a slower delivery.
The Tiruppur skipper NS Chaturved was also undone by a hard length delivery from Ajay Krishna as the fifth wicket fell in the penultimate over. Ajay left 17 runs to defend for Gurjapneet but the left-arm seamer was put under pressure as Bhuvaneswaran scored a six and a four off the first two balls. Yet, Gurjapneet came back strongly to dismiss B Anirudh before bowling a cracking yorker to help Madurai sneak a close win!
20
overs
156/6score
6
4
1
W
1
0
runs
P Bhuvaneswaran*
18(7)
Gohulmoorthi S
1(1)
Gurjapneet Singh
2/40
19.6 Gurjapneet Singh to P Bhuvaneswaran, GURJAPNEET DOES IT FOR MADURAI! Yorker angling across off, Bhuvaneswaran tries to squeeze it out but he fails to. So, Madurai who sneak in a four-run victory and make it to the play-offs! Chepauk are out with this!
Tiruppur need five off the final delivery. Madurai need to win to qualify!