Match 4: 22nd July 2021
Teams: Dindigul Dragons vs Siechem Madurai Panthers
Place: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Toss: Madurai won the toss and elected to field first
Lineups:
Dindigul Dragons: Rajhamany Srinivasan (c), Hari Nishanth, S Arun, RS Mokit Hariharan, Mani Bharathi (wk), R Vivek, MS Sanjay, M Silambarasan, Gurjapneet Singh, Rangaraj Suthesh, S Swaminathan
Siechem Madurai Panthers: Arun Karthik (wk), K Rajkumar, B Anirudh Sita Ram, NS Chaturved (c), Jagatheesan Kousik, M Shajahan, R Mithun, Ramalingam Rohit, R Silambarasan, Kiran Akash, Aushik Srinivas
Debutants: Gurjapneet Singh (Dindigul), K Rajkumar (Madurai)
Low total defence breached by swinging bats
On a Chepauk pitch which poses challenges to both the teams playing, the match was a treat to watch. “T20 cricket is not only about hitting runs, but expressing oneself and act according to the situations:, reckoned Badrinath, coach of Dindigul Dragons.
The last match of the first round of fixtures involved the last two teams Dindigul Dragons and Siechem Madurai Panthers squaring against each other. The former was the runner up of 2019 TNPL and the latter champions of TNPL 2018. Madurai won the toss and made Dindigul bat first. S Arun and Hari Nishanth opened for the Dindigul side. Rohit Ramalingam opened the bowling for the Madurai franchise.
The Madurai captain NS Chaturved who earlier played for Dindigul Dragons had his bowlers changing and made them create pressure on the opposition. Hari Nishanth who usually propels with the runs and Jagadessan, his former opening partner who would play the anchor role, had a very rustic approach and was struggling for runs. He finally broke the shackles when he dispatched the ball to the fence off Kiran Akash’s 2nd over. S Arun, on the other hand, opened the account for the team in the 2nd over of the innings. Both of them struggled to compile runs and got out within the powerplay. S Arun was dismissed by Kiran Aakash with a neat nipper making Arun edge to the keeper and Rohit R dismissed Hari Nishanth in the same manner in the last ball of the powerplay. The score read 32/2 in 6 overs for the Dindigul Dragons.
The spin sensation Aushik Srinvas, who is also a veteran in the TN circuit, choked the opposition with his timely spin and controlled things for the opposition. He returned figures of 0-16 in 4 overs being the most economical of the lot of bowlers from the Madurai franchise. Wickets were tumbling with no steady partnership being allowed for the Dindigul franchise with R Silambarasan, R Rohit , Kiran Aakash and J Kousik playing spoilsport. Rohit and Kousik took 3 wickets each while Kiran and Silambarasan took 2 wickets each. The Dindigul side were dismissed for 96 runs in 18.5 overs.
Next came the Madurai franchise for batting. Debutant Gurjapneet Singh and R Suthesh opened the bowling for the Dindigul side and kept disturbing the franchise for fow of runs and were constantly taking wickets apart from choking them for runs. KB Arun Karthik and K Rajkumar opened for the Madurai franchise and R Suthesh struck first when he had Rajkumar caught by S Arun. Next came Anirudh Sita Ram B and he played the anchor role while the other opener KB Arun Karthick swung his willow for some shots to the stands and the fence.R Suthesh again struck when he had Anirudh caught by substitute Vimal Khumar. The retained dragon for the Dindigul franchise, R Vivek struck the most important chord when he castled KB Aun Karthik with the off stump taking a walk on the ground. NS Chaturved and J Kousik were in the middle when the wily AR unleashed his game. He struck when the balls came loose and eased the pressure of the chase for the franchise. He finally departed in the 14th over when R Vivek came again nipping a full length ball making Kousik edge the ball to the keeper. The game was sealed when NS Chaturved hit the last ball of the 15th over for a four and the Madurai franchise happily took 2 points home.
Brief Scores: Dindigul Dragons 96 all out in 18.5 overs (C Hari Nishanth 19, K Mani Bharathy 26; R Rohit 3-19, J Kousik 3-23, R Silambarasan 2-18, iran Akash L 2-14) lost to Siechem Madurai Panthers 97-4 in 15 overs (J Kousik 31, K B Arun Karthick 22, N S Chaturved 18*, R Suthesh 2-12, R Vivek 2-21) by 6 wickets.
Player of the Match: J Kousik (Siechem Madurai Panthers)
