Chennai, August 7: Salem Spartans dented Siechem Madurai Panthers Playoff chances in the Shriram Capital Tamil Nadu Premier League by recording an 11-run victory against them at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.
Pacer Ganeshan Periyasamy (2-22) and leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin (2-25) turned out to be Madurai’s nemesis as they could only muster 133-8 in 20 overs to fall short of the victory target of 145.
B Anirudh Sita Ram (52 off 51 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) fought valiantly but he received little support from the other end.
Captain NS Chaturvedi (23 off 25 balls) did feature in a 55-run alliance with Sita Ram for the third wicket but once he was dismissed by Ashwin in the 11th over, Madurai failed to recover.
Periyasamy ended whatever hopes Madurai had in the final stretch by claiming two wickets in his last spell.
Salem avoided the bottom place with this win to finish with 5 points from 7 matches, while Madurai also ended with the same number of points but was ahead in two places because of a better run rate.
Reflecting on Salem’s showing, Ashwin felt they were a far better side than the seventh-place finish. “We are a very good side. In this game, we posted 144 and we were able to defend it, that’s the strength of our team because we’re a very good bowling side. It was just a matter of putting runs on the board, which didn’t happen in the previous games. As cricketers we’re bound to have a tournament like this so it’s important we learn from these mistakes as students of the game and come back stronger next season,” he said.
Earlier, all-rounder Vijay Shankar (47 off 40 balls, 3 fours, 1 six), captain Daryl Ferrario (30 off 32 balls, 1 four) and Ashwin (30 not out off 12 balls, 4 sixes) were instrumental in Salem raising 144-5 in 20 overs after winning the toss and deciding to bat.
Vijay Shankar and Ferrario raised 47 runs in 49 balls for the fourth wicket to lay the platform for Ashwin to provide a strong finish with a flurry of sixes.
Pacers Raghupathi Silambarasan (2-43) and V Gowtham (2-29) were the top wicket-takers for Madurai.
Brief scores: Salem Spartans 144-5 in 20 overs (Vijay Shankar 47, M Ashwin 30*, Daryl Ferrario 30; V Gowtham 2-29, R Silambarasan 2-43, J Kousik 1-20) beat Siechem Madurai Panthers 133-8 in 20 overs (Anirudh Sita Ram 52, NS Chaturved 23, M Shajahan 21*; G Periyasamy 2-22, M Ashwin 2-25, Ganesh Moorthi 1-15, Lokesh Raj 1-32) by 11 runs.
Toss: Salem Spartans, chose to bat. Debutants: None
Points: Salem Spartans – 2, Siechem Madurai Panthers – 0
Umpires: J R Madanagopal, G S Anantharamkrishnan
Third umpire: M Mohammed Rafi
Match Referee: Vijeylaxmi
Match Awards:
Koo App Most Number of 6s: M Ashwin (SS)
Shriram Most Number of 4s: NS Chaturved (SMP)
Dream 11 Game Changer of the Match: M Ashwin (SS)
Upstox Most Valuable Player of the Match: M Ashwin (SS)
BKT Tires– Commander of the Match: B Anirudh Sita Ram (SMP)
Shriram Capital Player of the Match: Vijay Shankar (SS)
Tomorrow’s match:
Lyca Kovai Kings vs Nellai Royal Kings at 3:30 pm.
Ruby Trichy Warriors vs Chepauk Super Gillies at 7:30 pm.
Live on: Star Sports Tamil, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2HD, Disney+ Hotstar from 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm.
POINTS TABLE (after 26th Match):
| Standing | Team Name | Matches Played | Wins | Loss | N/R | Points | Net Run Rate |
| 1 | CSG (Q) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0.777 |
| 2 | RTW (Q) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0.746 |
| 3 | DD (Q) | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0.396 |
| 4 | NRK | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | -0.518 |
| 5 | SMP | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.597 |
| 6 | LKK | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -0.178 |
| 7 | SS | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | -0.73 |
| 8 | iDTT | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | -1.142 |
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