Lyca Kovai Kings became the first team to reach the final of the Shriram Capital Tamil Nadu Premier League 2023 after a 30-run victory over Dindigul Dragons in the 1st Qualifier at Salem Cricket Foundation Ground. Dindigul Dragons won the toss and opted to field first. Suresh Kumar and Sujay of Lyca Kovai Kings opened the batting, while Saravana Kumar of Dindigul Dragons began the bowling attack. Despite bowling four wides in the first over, Saravana Kumar gave only seven runs. However, the openers added 26 runs in the next ten deliveries. Varun Chakaravarthy dismissed Suresh Kumar for 26 (12) in his first over. B Sachin replaced Suresh Kumar and struck his first three balls to the boundaries against G Kishoor. Dindigul Dragons bowlers did well in the middle overs (6 -10) and gave only 24 runs. Sachin took on G Kishoor on the 13th over by hitting six and a four. B Sachin got to his half-century of 36 deliveries in the same over. This is Sachin’s consecutive half-century in this season of Shriram Capital TNPL 2023 previously he scored 67 off 51 balls against Seichem Madurai Panthers. Mukilesh unleashed in the latter part of the innings by smashing two boundaries off Varun Chakaravarthy, followed by a huge six against Aushik Srinivas. However, Mukilesh departed scoring 44 off 27 after adding 82 off 56 for the third wicket. On the 18th over, Subodh Bhati struck twice dismissing B Sachin 70 off 46 balls and Shahrukh Khan 2 off 3 balls. Atheeq Ur Rahman and Ram Arvindh’s cameo in the final three overs took Lyca Kovai Kings to 193/7 in their 20 overs. Dindigul Dragons need 194 to win the Qualifier to make it to the finals.
Atheeq Ur Rahman dominated the partnership with 19 (10). Subodh Bhati was the pick of the bowlers for Dindigul Dragons with four wickets. Dindigul Dragons need 194 runs to win Qualifier 1 and make it to the finals. Vimal Khumar was dismissed by Lyca Kovai Kings Impact player Thamarai Kannan. M Siddharth displayed great t20 bowling at one end, so batters tried to play him out. They took on other bowlers but ended up losing wickets at regular intervals. Shahrukh Khan dismissed Shivam Singh to reduce Dindigul Dragons to 41/2 at the end of the powerplay. Jhathavedh Subramanyan's first over brought the wicket of settled batter Boopathi. A couple of overs later, M Mohammed dismissed Adithya Ganesh and Kishoor G in the same over and got to his 50th TNPL wicket. B Indrajith, who was a silent spectator on the other end, showed his versatility by playing a scoop shot for a six off Yudheeswaran. However, he got out to Gowtham Thamarai Kannan while trying to scoop one over the third. He made 21(17), and Dindigul Dragons found themselves at 73/6. Though the target looked mammoth from thereon, Sarath Kumar and Suboth Bhati gave some hope for Dindigul Dragons. C Sarath Kumar, the impact player of Dindigul Dragons, joined hands with Subodh Bhati to dominate the Lyca Kovai Kings bowlers in the second half of the innings. He walked in when the required run rate was around 17. He smashed three sixes off Jhatavedh Subramanyan, followed by two sixes off M Siddharth to get the required run rate down a bit. Dindigul Dragons needed 83 from the last five overs. M Mohammed, the best bowler for Lyca Kovai Kings today, broke the partnership by dismissing Subodh Bhati for 14. The partnership ended with 42(19). Sarath Kumar continued to hit sixes. He smashed two off Shahrukh Khan and another six off M Mohammed to get to the fastest half-century of the season in 18 deliveries. Dindigul Dragons then needed 45 runs in the final two overs. Gowtham Thamarai Kannan used his experience and bowled 19th over with different variations. In the final ball of the 19th over, he played a switch hit, turned into a left- hander and smashed one over the fence. Despite his exciting effort, the 19th over went for just seven runs, leaving 39 runs to get from the final over. Sarath Kumar's entertaining innings got over at 62(26). He smashed eight sixes and a four in the innings. Dindigul Dragons ended their innings with 163/9.
Lyca Kovai Kings became the first team to make it to the final of Shriram Capital TNPL 2023.
Dindigul Dragons will now face the winner of the Eliminator between Nellai Royal Kings and Siechem Madurai Panthers. Nellai Royal Kings finished third with five wins and two losses. Siechem Madurai Panthers finished fourth with four wins and three losses. Nellai Royal Kings defeated Siechem Madurai Panthers by six wickets in their previous meet in the league phase.
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