NRK vs SMP assets, TNPL 2023

Chasing a meager total of 127, Arun Karthik and Sri Neranjan steered the Nellai Royal Kings to a blistering start. The right-handed Karthik went all guns blazing early on in the chase and made the most of the field restrictions. Sri Neranjan took his time to adjust to the conditions before the southpaw also swatted two maximums. The duo stitched a quick 30-run opening partnership before the Impact Substitute Neranjan walked back on 15(14) as a result of a runout. 

Arun Karthik continued his assault inside the powerplay and accumulated 32(12) before Dev Rahul halted his progress with an exceptional catch off his own bowling. Nidhish S Rajagopal joined forces with SJ Arun Kumar and kept the scorecard ticking at a brisk rate as Nellai Royal Kings collected 57 runs off the powerplay. Balu Surya kept the Panthers in the hunt by trapping SJ Arun Kumar 11(11) in front but they were unable to dry up the boundaries.

The Impact Substitute V Gowtham removed Ramsingh Sonu Yadav on 13(10) but the left-handed Rajagopal 42*(26) batted with calculated aggression and cruised his team to a massive victory. From a bowling perspective, V Gowtham, Balu Surya, and Dev Rahul bagged a wicket each. 

Earlier in the day, after electing to bat first,  the Siechem Madurai Panthers openers were flustered by some early movement off the surface. Ramsingh Sonu Yadav drew first blood inside the powerplay by dismissing S Karthik 1(3). C Hari Nishaanth and K Deeban Lingesh broke the shackles in the 4th over by collecting three boundaries but the Royals Kings were quick to strike back as Lakshay Jain had the better of the right-handed K Deeban Lingesh 6(11). 

The Nellai Royal Kings tightened the screws again after the wicket of K Deeban Lingesh as the Panthers only managed to orchestrate 28 runs off the powerplay. The left-handed pair of C Hari Nishaanth and Washington Sundar started to rotate the strike once the field was spread out and stitched a crucial 49-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Just when they were starting to accelerate the innings, Washington attempted a needless reverse sweep and departed for 19(17). 

C Hari Nishaanth kept pegging away and secured a brilliant half-century before he holed out in the deep at 64(51). The Siechem Madurai Panthers lost wickets at regular intervals after Nishaanth’s departure and could never recover. S Mohan Prasath was the pick of the bowlers for Nellai Royal Kings and finished his stint with the figures of 3/26. Stay tuned for the post-match presentation!