Madurai Panthers did not win a single match in the TNPL before this year’s tournament, they have now won the title. (Source: Twitter)
This is it then, the final of the Tamil Nadu Premier League. Madurai Panthers take on the Dindigul Dragons at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. It is the first final without either Tuti Patriots or the Chepauk Super Gillies involved. Arun Karthick has been the man of the season so far for Madurai Panthers and his latest fifty, his fifth of the season, helped them beat Kovai Kings by 7 wickets to make it to the final. The Dragons had beaten the Panthers earlier in the first qualifier. They will hope that they can repeat that result. Catch live score and updates of the TNPL final here.
TNPL Final Live score Live streaming Dindigul Dragons vs Madurai Panthers:Ā On the back of KB Arun Karthickās fifth fifty of the season, Madurai Panthers beat Kovai Kings by 7 wickets and 10 balls to spare to make the final. (Source: Twitter)
THAT'S THAT! Madurai Panthers have won TNPL 2018. They beat Dindigul Dragons by 7 wickets. They had not won a single match in the two seasons before this and have now won the title itself. What a remarkable turnaround.
Madurai 58/3 after 9 overs. That first over was a false dawn for Dindigul. Since then Arun Karthick and Shijit Chandran have managed to hold it together and they are now in a very strong position.
THREE WICKETS IN THE FIRST OVER! Well what do you know! Silambarasan has taken Sargunam, Raheja and Rohit in the very first over of the innings. Madurai are 2/3 in 1st over.
That's that! Dindigul all out for 117, Madurai need 118 to win TNPL 2018. A rather pathetic batting efford from Dindigul. They were blown away in the first five overs and if it wasn't for the skipper, there was no way they would have crossed into three figures.
GONE! M Silambarasan b Chakravathi. Through the gates and the penultimate wicket falls. Second wicket of the night for Chakravarthi.
50 for Jagadeesan. The skipper has almost single handedly got Dindigul to a respectable total. He brought so with a rather hard-fought double, had to dive to make his ground.
RUN OUT! Rohit has been run out and that is the end of the stand. They tried to go for a second and that led to the wicket. Dindigul are 85/7
Jagadeesan hit a six off the first ball of the 14th over but there were no other boundaries that followed. He and Rohit have managed to give some stability to the innings and they really need to switch gears now. Score is 79/6.
A partnership! Rohit and Jadageesan have managed to put a stand together and Dindigul are 68/6 after 12 overs.
Two drops on the bounce! Well just to balance out the fantastic start, Madurai drop two catches on the bounce. They were not exactly sitters but then, in a final like this, every drop counts.
GONE! Mohan Abhinav c Arun Karthik b Abhishek Tanwar, Another nick, another wicket. This utterly brilliant from Madurai. They are keeping the length outside off stump and Dindigul are simply being suckered in.
Varun Totadri c Arun Karthik b Lokesh Raj, another over, another wicket. There has been a wicket in every over so far. Short ball outside off and the batsman flashes at it, nicks it to the keeper who takes a brilliant catch once again.
GONE! Chaturved c Rahil b Abhishek Tanwar, another one! A disastrous start this for the Dragons. Into just the third over and they have already lost three wickets. Dragons 19/3
OUT! Balchander Anirudh c Arun Karthik b Lokesh Raj While Dean Jones is chatting away to glory with N Srinivasan who is talking about bringing foreign players into the tournament, a brilliant catch by Arun Karthik takes care of Anirudh. Dindigul Dragons 14/2.
WICKET! Hari Nishanth b Abhishek Tanwar: Early strike! Just what the Dragons were looking for. Good length delivery from round the wicket that the batsman tries to loft over the on side, ends up missing it completely. Dragons 9/1 in the 1st over.
TEAMS:
Dindigul Dragons: Hari Nishanth, N Jagadeesan(w/c), R Vivek, Balchander Anirudh, M Mohammed, NS Chaturvedi, Ramalingam Rohit, Mohan Abhinav, M Silambarasan, Trilok Nag, Varun Totadri
Madurai Panthers: Arun Karthik(w), Tushar Raheja, Thalaivan Sargunam, D Rohit(c), Shijit Chandran, R Karthikeyan, Jagatheesan Kousik, Lokesh Raj, Varun Chakravathi, Abhishek Tanwar, Rahil Shah
Madurai Panthers win the toss, elect to bowl first:They ended the first two seasons without a single win and are now just one more victory away from winning the tournament itself. Arun Karthick gave up captaincy last year and he has set the tournament on fire after that, scoring 397 runs in 9 innings averaging 66.17. But Madurai have lost both the matches they have played against Dindigul this year.