Madurai Panthers clinch maiden TNPL crown

CHENNAI: Siechem Madurai Panthers capped off a memorable season by scoring a seven-wicket win over Dindigul Dragons in the TNPL-3 final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday night.
Fittingly enough, it was the pair of KB Arun Karthick (75 n.o., 4x4, 1x6) and Shijit Chandran's (38 n.o., 3x4, 1x6) - the most experienced of the lot in the team - who stitched together an unfinished 117-run stand for the fourth wicket to help Madurai clinch their maiden TNPL crown.
They came together at a time when Madurai were struggling at 2 for 3 in the opening over of the chase. The side got off to a shocking start as left-arm spinner M Silambarasan (3 for 23) dismissed opener Thalaivan Sargunam (0), Tushar Raheja (0) and skipper D Rohit (0) in the first five balls of the innings. At that stage, Madurai needed an experienced pair to do the repair job.
In Arun and Shijit, they had the right men for the job. With the asking rate not on the higher side, the duo kept Madurai in the hunt with their well-judged singles and twos.
The duo did not try anything fancy and kept the inflow of runs by playing conventional shots. In the 14th over, Arun raised his sixth fifty in the tournament from 41 deliveries. More importantly, Arun ensured he stayed till the side crossed the finish line in 17.1 overs.
Earlier, skipper N Jagadeesan (51, 5x4, 1x6) led the show with the bat as his side finished with a modest total of 117. The 43-run seventh wicket stand between Jagadeesan and R Rohit (15) was the only period where Dindigul put up a fight in an otherwise ordinary outing with the bat. Dindigul had a shocker of a start as they lost half their side with just 21 on board in the 5th over.
Abhishek Tanwar (4 for 30) did the maximum damage as he dismissed opener Hari Nishant (1), NS Chaturved (9, 2x4) and M Abhinav (1) to leave Dindigul reeling. His new-ball partner Lokesh Raj (3 for 31) gave him ample support from the other end.
Dindigul's No.7 R Vivek (13, 1x6) - the man in-form - started off with a six sailing over covers region. He was dropped off successive deliveries --- by R Karthikeyan and Shijit Chandran - when on 8 and 10 respectively. But Vivek went for one shot too many, and was caught by Kathikeyan at third man region to leave Dindigul at 42 for 6 in the 8th over.
Vivek's departure brought the pair of Rohit and Jagadeesan together. The duo kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and twos. Madurai had the stand broken when Rohit was run out trying to go for a non-existent second run at the end of the 14th over. C Varun (2-9) was steady in the middle overs and never allowed the batsmen to get their eye in.
Even as Madurai's bowlers were on the money, their fielding standard too went up by a few notches. Arun Karthick - in the thick of things with the bat this season - brought his keeping skills to the fore by taking four catches. Arun's first catch was a one-handed attempt diving to his left to dismiss B Anirudh (4) in the bowling of Lokesh Raj. Arun went on to pouch Varun Totadri (0), M Abhinav (1) and M Mohammed (17, 2x6) subsequently.
Brief scores: Dindigul Dragons 117 all out in 19.5 overs (N Jagadeesan 51; Abhishek Tanwar 4 for 30, Lokesh Raj 3 for 31). Siechem Madurai Panthers 119 for 3 in 17.1 overs (Arun Karthick 75 n.o., Shijit Chandran 38 n.o.; Silambarasan 3 for 23). Madurai won by 7 wickets.