TNPL 3: Dindigul notch up their first win

CHENNAI: Madurai Panthers might have changed their name as well as their ownership ahead of the third season of TNPL, but a win continues to elude them. In their opening match of TNPL 2018, they were handed a nine-wicket drubbing by Dindigul Dragons at the IC ground in Tirunelveli. While R Ashwin took 3/25 with the ball, R Vivek (70 not out off 33 balls) and N Jagadeesan (68 not out off 42 balls) did the bulk of the run-scoring to give Dindigul their first victory this season.
Chasing 170 for victory, Dindigul wasted no time in displaying their aggressive intent. It was apparent right from the very first ball in fact, when opener C Hari Nishanth (28 off 17 balls) greeted left-arm spinner Rahil Shah with a towering maximum.
Nishanth continued to cut loose in the early stages, before a brilliant catch by X Thalaivan Sargunam in the extra-cover region abruptly ended the left-hander's stay at the crease.
Despite Nishanth's dismissal, Dindigul looked in no trouble whatsoever as they blunted the Madurai attack with consummate ease. While Jagadeesan always looked in control of proceedings as expected, Vivek sprung a surprise or two with his flamboyant stroke-making having been promoted up the order.
Madurai desperately needed quick breakthroughs to have any chance of victory, but it never came as Jagadeesan and Vivek stayed unbeaten to notch up a 125-run stand for the second wicket and guide them home.
Earlier, after winning the toss and batting first, Madurai in fact had begun their innings robustly with openers D Rohit and Arun Karthik stitching together an opening partnership of 50 in just five overs. Just when things started looking ominous for Dindigul, however, Rohit was sent back to the dugout for 24 when his namesake from Dindigul Dragons, seamer R Rohit, clean bowled him with a fullish delivery.
Karthik, the senior statesman in the side, continued finding the boundary after Rohit's departure, even as the incoming Thalaivan laboured to find his timing.
As a result of Thalaivan's early struggles, Madurai managed just 29 runs in the next five overs and found themselves at 79/1 from 10 overs. Leggie M Abhinav had squeezed in a couple of quiet overs in the meantime.
But Madurai duly upped the ante in Abhinav's third over, with both Thalaivan and Karthik hitting him for a six each. Karthik's hit straight down the ground also brought up his half-century off just 33 balls.
With Madurai on 124/2 after 15 overs and Karthik still at the crease, Ashwin - who had bowled just two overs for six runs in the first 15 overs - brought himself on. The move paid dividends, as Karthik holed out for 61 off 44 balls to Rohit at deep mid-wicket just one ball after being dropped by the short third-man fielder.
While P Shijit Chandran ensured the Madurai innings didn't fall away courtesy a cameo of 35 from 20 balls, it needed a couple of lusty sixes in the final over off Ashwin for them to prop up their total to 169/6 in 20 overs. Despite the 15 runs conceded by Ashwin in the 20th over, he (4-0-25-3) was clearly the pick of the bowlers, taking up the responsibility of bowling the difficult overs after their death-bowling woes in the previous game.
Brief scores: Madurai Panthers 169/8 in 20 overs (Arun Karthik 61; R Ashwin 3/25). Dindigul Dragons 170/1 in 15.2 overs (R Vivek 70 not out, N Jagadeesan 68 not out). Dindigul won by 9 wickets.