The statisticians were made to work overtime on Saturday as the Tamil Nadu Premier League Season 10 playoff race delivered a close finish.
Two spots were up for grabs when the final first-round match between playoff aspirants Nellai Royal Kings and Panthers got underway at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here. In a competition that went down to the wire, Madurai Panthers (10 points), Vida Kovai Kings (eight) and iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans (eight) joined Trichy Grand Cholas (10) in the top four on the last day of the gripping league phase. At the end of it, the Madurai side not only sealed a Qualifier 1 berth with a comprehensive 72-run victory but also lent a helping hand to the Tiruppur outfit. While the Royal Kings’ target for a top-two seat was 199, the magic number they chased was 144, a score which would have guaranteed them a path to the next stage. But a collapse of epic proportions – from 92 for three to 126 all-out – led to its elimination.
Shoaib Mohammed Khan (65, 43b, 6×4, 3×6 and two for 20) came up with a Player-of-the-Match show while a number of other players also contributed to the big win. The Tiruppur team’s fate was no longer in its hands after it suffered a 45-run defeat to SKM Salem Spartans earlier in the day. The scores: SKM Salem Spartans 169/8 in 20 overs (Karthick Manikandan 57, M. Mathivannan 3/18) bt iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 124/9 in 20 overs (Tushar Raheja 75, M. Poiyamozhi 2/11, Rahil Shah (Impact Player) 3/23).
With the result, Spartans avoided the ignominy of going winless in this campaign and Kovai Kings confirmed a final-four spot.