Dindigul: Opener KB Arun Karthikās unbeaten 85 (50b) helped Siechem Madurai Panthers seal a Playoff berth for the first time in the Sankar Cement-TNPL as they pulled off a sensational four-wicket win over iDream Karaikudi Kaalai at the NPR College ground in Natham (Dindigul) on Thursday.
It was their fifth consecutive win in six matches as they moved to the top of the league table with one round remaining in the third edition. Kaalai, meanwhile, tasted their second straight defeat after a run of four wins and their chances of making it to the Playoffs rests on the outcome of their last match.
Defending 158, Kaalai bowlers made early in-roads to reduce the Panthers to 56/4 in seven overs. In-form Arun Karthik was unfazed and played another impressive innings that included 10 fours and two sixes.
No 6 Shijit Chandran 38 (25b, 2×4, 2×6) shared in a 63-run stand off 44 balls with Arun Karthik for the fifth wicket, which proved vital. The experienced opener closed out the chase in the company of Abhishek Tanwar.
An afternoon shower appeared to have spiced up the pitch. Skipper S Anirudha guided the Kaalais with a solid 48 and middle-order R Rajkumar 20 and R Srinivasan 23 offered some resistance but the rest of the batting collapsed.
Off-spinner Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the Panthersā bowlers with 2-16 from four overs that included 13 dot balls.The wicket was on the slower side. We started off well but all credit to Arun Karthik and Madurai Panthers, they played really well. I think we lost the game in the middle overs.
“Every game we are getting off to a good start may be that is why it looks like that we depend on the top-order. S Anirudha and V Aaditya are playing really well in every game but in the coming matches, hopefully, the middle-order will perform as well,” said Ravi Srinivasan of Karaikudi after his team’s loss.
“KB Arun Karthik is in a very good form, and he is continuing it in all the matches. We are trying to sort out the problem of losing wickets early so looking forward to doing better in the coming matches,” said J Kousik of Madurai Panthers.