TNPL 2018: Lyca Kovai Kings Rout Madurai Panthers to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

In the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League’s (TNPL 2018) third edition, Lyca Kovai Kings kept their playoff hopes alive as they defeated Siechem Madurai Panthers in a must-win game by eight wickets. In the meantime, Kings ended Panthers’ five-match winning streak.

Despite the loss, Madurai Panthers maintained the second position in the points table. On the other side, Net Run-rate boosts the chances for Kings as they stand in fourth place on the table.

The Kovai Kings after winning the toss decided to ball first on a dry surface. It proved a right decision from the side as bowlers struck with regular intervals followed by a splendid performance in the fielding.

A summary of the match:

Madurai Panthers lost their top three batsmen inside their powerplay overs. The opening batsman, Arun Karthik lost wicket on his score of a solitary run followed by the skipper D Rohit, who scored four runs off eight balls.

Things worsened for Panthers as Thalaivan Sargunam due to a misjudged call lost his wicket. Apart from R Karthikeyan in the middle with 13 off 14 and J Kousik with 32 off 28, everyone failed to deliver for Panthers.

However, the number ten batsman of Panthers, Varun Chakravathi scored a handy knock of 20 off 15 – to help his team to attain a total of 103.

TNPL 2018: How Lyca Kovai Kings chased down the target against Madurai Panthers?

Kovai Kings got off to a flier. They put 27 runs on the board at the completion of fourth over. All the batsmen who came to bat from them managed to enter into double figures.

The wicketkeeper-batsman of Kings was the top scorer as he achieved figures of 34 off 37.

The skipper of Kovai Kings, Abhinav Mukund, scored 12 off 14 before handing over a simple return catch to Rahil Shah.

However, Shahrukh Khan played a knock of 29 off 24 whereas Ashwin Venkataraman scored an unbeaten knock of 28 off 29 to seal the deal for Kovai Kings with 16 balls to spare.