The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
Right then. That brings us to the end of our coverage for this game. The good news is that it's a double-header day, so we've got one more game in store. There are plenty of big names in action there too, none bigger than a certain Ravichandran Ashwin. To keep up with all the action from that game, you only have to switch tabs. That's all from myself (Pratyush), and my partner-in-crime, Soorya. Buh bye for now!
Arun Karthik (Nellai Royal Kings captain): I don't know if we bowled well or they played badly. The wicket was good but since it was the first game they were playing here we picked up wickets using the wind factor. After giving the new ball to the fast-bowlers, I felt it would work by bringing the spinners on after four or five overs. My old team (Madurai) but they're a superb team. They've got all their bases covered. This win is special for me not because it's Madurai but they have a lot of special players. They will definitely bounce back. We're a young side. We don't have great superstars in our side. There are a lot of areas we can improve - the catching and run outs. We will work on that in the next match.
C Hari Nishanth (Siechem Madurai Panthers captain): Somehow I feel we didn't get a partnership going since wickets kept falling. But I had to talk to the boys and get the best out of them. We needed a partnership and it's part of our process. We definitely missed it today but it's a very short tournament. So we have to keep going. We have batters and a lot of youngsters. When it comes to responsibility we have J Koushik, Washi and Swapnil bringing experience. We had to drag the game until the end since net run-rate is a big factor in this tournament. Some minus points but we have to take it in our stride.
S Mohan Prasath is the Player of the Match. Here is what he has to say: It's very important since we built pressure at the right time. I executed well. The odd delivery did hold in the pitch but the wicket was good. After the 15th over, the captain trusted me with more overs and I'm very happy. Bowling quick is my strength. The odd delivery I can bowl slow but I didn't try much. Yes (I stuck to the basics).
Nidhish Rajagopal (Nellai Royal Kings): I would call it more of a team effort. The bowlers bowled really well. On this wicket it was way below par. We thought of 170 at the toss. 126 was an excellent effort by the bowling and fielding department. Sandeep Warrier is really experienced, he has played for India. Poiyamozhi and Mohan Prasath have been playing this tournament for a long time. They know the expectations that comes with this tournament. I felt we were always in control if we could keep the scoreboard moving.
Nellai Royal Kings won by 6 wickets!
Nidhish Rajagopal - 42* (26) | S Mohan Prasath - 3/26 C Hari Nishanth - 64 (51) | V Gowtham - 1/4
Game. Set. Match. To keep it in tennis terms, this was as convincing as wrapping up a game in straight sets. Nellai Royal Kings were superb with the ball in the afternoon and did a superb job to restrict the Madurai Panthers to an under-par total, even though the surface might have been a tad tricky to begin with.
In reply, their openers did most of the damage upfront with the captain leading the way. A quickfire knock from Arun Karthik set the tone for his side with Sri Neranjan also doing his bit in the powerplay. Even though the Kings lost their two openers within five overs, they were well ahead in this contest through and through.
Nidhish Rajagopal took control of the innings to make sure he shuts the door on any hopes of a Panthers comeback. The spinners for Siechem left plenty to be desired in terms of their performance, and so did some of their tactics throughout the game. Eventually, they were outplayed in all three departments and that shows in the end result.
Rajagopal led the way with his splendid knock, missing out on a well-deserved half-century. Considering how easily his side chased this total down though, the bowlers deserve most of the credit for the work they did in the first innings. In the end, it's the Royals who start their campaign with a commanding win to jump to second place in the points table. Stick around to get the reactions from the captains.
13.4 Gurjapneet Singh to G Ajitesh, FOUR! DONE IN STYLE! Overpitched outside the off stump and Ajitesh powers his wrists into it. He shovels it past extra cover and picks the gap with the sweeper having no chance of cutting across. A dominant performance from start to finish as Nellai Royal Kings beat Siechem Madurai Panthers by 6 wickets with 38 deliveries to spare!
13.3 Gurjapneet Singh to G Ajitesh, attempted yorker outside the off stump but it comes out as a full toss. Ajitesh doesn't get bat on his attempted slash as he misses out on that
13.2 Gurjapneet Singh to G Ajitesh, EDGED! FOUR! Sums up everything you need to know about this game. Slower delivery into the block hole outside the off stump. Ajitesh throws everything into it as the ball takes the outside edge and trickles between the keeper and short third man for a boundary
13.1 Gurjapneet Singh to G Ajitesh, slower back of a length delivery with width on offer. Ajitesh cuts hard off the splice as short third man fumbles to his left, allowing the batters to ease back for the second
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SNR College Cricket Ground, Coimbatore
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