Greetings everyone! Welcome to CricketCountry’s live match coverage of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) Match No.4 between Dindigul Dragons vs Madurai Super Giants . Both the teams will be playing in their first competition and would want to get off to a good start. A win would give them two points and the much needed kick to get their campaign off to a flyer. The clash between the two teams will take place at the NPR College Ground, Dindigul and it looks a promising one. Subramania Siva (c) will lead the Dindigul Dragons whereas Arun Karthik will be captaining the Madurai Super Giants. Stay tuned as we bring you all the live updates!
With the tournament nicely poised, same expectations cane be made from this match too. The first match saw Dinesh Karthik winning the game single handedly for his side TUTI Patriots. The second match saw Baba Aparajit scoring the first century of the tournament. While match no.4 which took place between Ruby Kanchi Warriors and Lyca Kovai Kings saw this tournament’s first ever super over which Ruby Kanchi Warriors win in a thrilling manner.It was a nerve-wrecking game which came right down to the wire and helped in creating a buzz around TNPL.
Dindigul Dragons, who will get their Tamil Nadu Premier League extravaganza underway with their first ever match against the Madurai Super Giants at the NPR College Ground here on Saturday, might be without the services of their skipper and the team’s biggest asset Ravichandran Ashwin due to international commitments, but are still banking on the experienced cricketer, who will be available from their second match scheduled for August 30 to lead their quest for glory. Meanwhile Dragons possess a good bunch of allrounders in Wilkins Victor and Adithya Arun
Dragon’s stand-in skipper Subramania Siva still expects the team to start on a winning note despite Ashwin’s absence for the tournament opener and has full faith in the squad, which includes IPL surprise package Murugan Ashwin, that has been assembled by the team management.
Madurai Super Giants, meanwhile have a lot of district players in their squad – the most in fact among the eight franchises – and team director Dayanidhi Alagiri believes that their T20 experience will come in handy for their TNPL journey.
Madurai are also without their regular skipper Arun Kathick who is engaged in Duleep Trophy action at the moment but coach Michael Bevan is hopeful that other players in the squad see it as an opportunity to stake a claim for themselves in the playing eleven.
The encounter could witness a battle within a battle when leggie M Ashwin comes up to bowl to Arun Karthick. While M Ashwin has the knack of keeping it tight, it will be interesting to see the approach that Arun takes.
On the other hand, Madurai Super Giants will be riding under the leadership of Arun Karthik. Karthik who keeps the wickets for his side will have a huge role to play as he is regarded as the vital player for his side. having played in IPl for various franchise, his experince can come in handy for Super Giants.
With many happenings in this tournament already, TNPL is turning out a thrilling contest so far. Today, the home side, Dindigul Dragons will be taking on Madurai Super Giants with both teams keen to start the tournament on a high. Dindigul Dragons will be playing at their home ground (NPR College Ground).
Key Players for Dindigul Dragons: All eyes will be on Murugan Ashwin, the player who performed really well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for MS Dhoni;s team Rising Pune Supergiants. He starred in the side and had a great run in his debut season. At times he was even picked up in the side ahead of India’s star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who has been performing brilliantly for India at West Indies. R Ashwin will also feature in India’s first match played at USA, Florida against West Indies.
Key Players for Madurai Super Giants: Madurai’s skipper and wicketkeeper-batsman Arun Karthik will be leading the side against Dindigul Dragons. He has also had his fair share of IPL action for Chennai Super Kings under MS Dhoni. He did not have much luck in IPL but will be expected to lead his side and start their campaign with a bang-on performance. Another key player is Ganapathi Vignesh who has played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Superkings as well.
TOSS: The news from the ground is that Dindigul Dragons have won the toss and have opted to bat. The playing XI is out for both the teams.
Teams:
Madurai Super Giants (Playing XI): Arun Karthik(w/c), Suresh Kumar, Singamuthu Thiyagarajan, P Francis Rokins, DT Chandrasekar, Ganapathi Vignesh, M Raja, Shijit Chandran, Lakshminarayanan Vignesh, Muruganantham, S Aswin Kumar
Benched players: Ashwin Venkataraman, Adithya Arun, S Dinesh, D Prashanth Prabhu, S Shyam Sundar, M Silambarasan, ME Yazh Arun Mozhi, K Mukunth
Dindigul Dragons (Playing XI): Subramania Siva(c), Wilkins Victor, N Jagadeesan(w), Ganga Sridhar Raju, S Abishiek, Sunny Kumar Singh, VRS Guru Kedarnath, MS Sanjay, Murugan Ashwin, T Natarajan, R Vivek
Benched players: Andrew Subikshan, Maan Bafna, C Madhu, Pitchaiayan Sakthi, Varun Narender, R Mihir, Edward Kennedy, Palani Amarnath