That's it from our coverage of Qualifier 2 of TNPL2023. Join us for the final where we will have the battle of the Kings on Wednesday July12th. Do join us for more cricketing actions across the globe in our network across formats. For now, this is Ayan Chatterjee signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Deepak Prakash alongside scorer/analyst Paras Yadav. Stay safe, happy, and cool. Goodnight and Take care!
Player of the match: Ajitesh Guruswamy
Rithik Easwaran: "Ah, a much-needed win for us. I am out of the breadth at the moment actually, really sorry about that but happy to go into the final and I think we would have a good party tonight. We just felt we had to take on the bowler with the shorter side, had no choice. Just had to use brain over brawn. It has been a team effort. Every match, somebody other has stepped up."
10:54 PM IST: Easwaran finishes things off in style as Nellai Royal Kings have come out of nowhere to win this game by 7 wickets off the final ball of the match. This match looked to be going Dindigul's way, but the Kings hung in there to win the game.
Chasing a stiff target for 186 for the win, skipper Arun Karthik got off to a great start scoring 26 off 15 balls. His opening partner Sugendhiran struggled but got in the 20s. Rajagopal also struggled for his 26 before retiring out. But it was the Ajitesh show as he scored 73 off 44 balls under pressure and remained unbeaten. He was ably supported by the keeper batter Easwaran as he remained unbeaten 39 off 11 balls. He was the finisher and hit the winning runs in the end off the final ball of the match.
A wicket for Varun Chakravarthy and Aushik Srinivas. The spinners kept things tight but the pacers went for runs. Kishoor was hit for 33 runs in the 19th over he bowled and that turned the game on its head and sealed the deal for the Nellai Royal Kings. The other bowlers went wicketless.
Earlier in the game. Shivam Singh's 76 off 46 balls powered the Dindigul Dragons after they were put into bat first by Arun Karthik. He was ably supported by Boopathi Kumar who scored 41 off 28 balls. Vimal Khumar and Ganesh got to double figures while skipper Baba Indrajith scored a quickfire 13* off 5 balls to power the total past 180.
Sonu Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for Nellai Royal Kings as he picked up a couple of wickets for 31 runs in 4 overs. A wicket also for Sandeep Warrier, Poiyamozhi, and Lakshya Jain. It was a thriller of a game and it was the Kings who came out on top in the end.
So, a win for the Nellai Royal Kings by 7 wickets as they qualify for the finals of TNPL 2023. Stick around for the presentations.
What a finish to this game as the Nellai Royal Kings have come out of nowhere to win this game and qualify for the finals.
OVER 20
Nellai Royal Kings
191/3
Rithik Easwaran
39(11)
G Ajitesh
73(44)
Subodh Bhati
0-31(4.0)
19.6 S Bhati to R Easwaran
6 SIX! Wow, Easwaran finishes things in style! What a thriller of a game we have had tonight, Nellai Royal Kings held their nerves and sealed their berth for the grand Finale. Bhati tries the yorker but loses grip on the ball and ends up bowling a low full-toss delivery on the stumps. Easwaran sits down on one knee and slogs it over the square leg for a massive six.
Scores are level with one ball to go. Could we have a super over here?