Bowlers help Madurai Panthers record easy win over Salem

SALEM: The Siechem Madurai Panthers bagged its first win of the Tamil Nadu Premier League as it defeated Salem Spartans by seven wickets at Salem Cricket Foundation Ground on Saturday.

Madurai Panthers, which is returning after a long break, began the Salem phase of the tournament on a high note.

Opting to field first, Gurjapneet Singh removed Akash Sumra in the first over. He came back to dismiss the in-form Kaushik Gandhi for 3(4). The opener, Amith Sathvik, showed some glimpses of hope when he smashed Washington Sundar for a couple of boundaries. However, Madurai bowlers kept grabbing wickets at the other end. They reduced Salem to 23/4 in the first six overs.

Murugan Ashwin added more damage to the Salem batting line-up when he dismissed Amith Satvik and Muhammed Adnan Khan in back-to-back overs.

Salem captain Abhishek Tanwar smashed two sixes and a four to take the team to 98 before getting out to V Gowtham in the final over of the innings. He made 29 off (18b).

Gurjapneet Singh led the attack with 3/15. Murugan Ashwin and V Gowtham bagged two wickets apiece, while Swapnil Singh, J Kousik, and P Saravanan picked up one wicket each. With only 98 runs on board, the Salem Spartans needed to grab early wickets. It did exactly the same when Sunny Sandhu dismissed captain Hari Nishaanth for a duck.

The team tried to keep things tight. J Kousik brought the Madurai Panthers back into the attack by scoring two sixes and a four in a span of five deliveries. Sri Abisek joined him by scoring a couple of boundaries off R Karthikeyan to end the powerplay at 49/2, and then they moved to 68/3 in 10 overs. Madurai Panthers tried to finish off the game early to improve its net run rate. The impact player for Madurai Panthers, Sri Abisek, was aggressive. Along with Swapnil Singh, the duo added 45 runs for the fourth wicket to take the team home. Sri Abisek was the top scorer for the team with 32*(28).

BRIEF SCORES: Salem Spartans 98 in 19.4 overs (A Tanwar 29, G Singh 3/15) lost to Siechem Madurai Panthers 101/3 in 13 overs (Sri Abisek 32*)