The Madurai Panthers emerged victorious against Ruby Trichy Warriors in Match 27 of the Tamil Nadu Premier League. With this win, the Panthers finished on the third spot in the points table with 10 points having won 5 matches out of 7. They were tied with Chepauk Super Gillies who also have 10 points from 7 games but have a better net run rate than the Panthers.
The Ruby Trichy Warriors Captain Rahil Shah won the toss and chose to bowl first as has been the tradition throughout the tournament where teams chasing have won more matches than teams batting first. Captain Shah gave a big blow to the Panthers as he dismissed Arun Karthik in the second over of the innings. After losing the first wicket early, Balchander Anirudh and V Aaditya added 58 runs for the second wicket. The partnership was broken due to a miscommunication between the batters as Anirudh was found short of his crease. Anirudh’s dismissal brought two more wickets as the Warriors came back into the match.
The Panthers were reduced to 76/4 in 12.4 overs as captain NS Chaturved and J. Kaushik came together to build a 35-run-partnership between them. Some late fireworks from Sunny Sandhu helped the Panthers to reach 136/6 after their 20 overs.
The Warriors’ chase got off to a good start as the openers added 44 runs for the first wicket. After losing both the openers at the score of 59/2 after 9.4 overs, the Warriors kept searching for a good partnership as they lost the next two wickets in 28 runs and reached 87/4 in 14.5 overs. They needed 50 runs from the last 31 balls and had six wickets in hand but suffered a dramatic collapse and got bowled out for just 100 runs in 18.4 overs. Jagatheesan Kousik was the pick of the bowlers as he picked 4/15 in four overs. Sunny Sandhu was adjudged Player of the Match for his quick-fire knock of 24 off 8 balls and he also picked up 1/5 in his three overs.
Panthers will now play in the Eliminator match on 26th July 2021.
Match Summary
Madurai Panthers 136/6 (20 overs)
Balchander Anirudh 34(26) M. Poiyamozhi 2/24 (4 overs)
Ruby Trichy Warriors 100 all out (18.4 overs)
Santosh Shiv 31(26) J. Kousik 4/15 (4 overs)
