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Match 8 of the 2021 Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) sees the unbeaten Siechem Madurai Panthers take on the Ruby Trichy Warriors at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, July 25.
The Panthers are third in the TNPL 2021 points table with two points and a net run rate of 1.667. They cruised to a comfortable six-wicket win in their first game of the tournament against the Dindigul Dragons, who were bowled out for just 96. J Kousik was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all-round show.
The Warriors had an excellent start to the season as they thrashed the Nellai Royal Kings by 74 runs on the third matchday. However, they suffered a heavy eight-wicket defeat to the Lyca Kovai Kings in their second game and are currently placed fourth with a net run rate of 1.447.
The recent head-to-head record is even. While the Warriors beat the Panthers in 2016 and 2017, the last two seasons have seen the latter exact revenge. Interestingly, the 2019 clash between the two sides went to a Super Over.
SMP vs RTW Prediction: Can the Panthers keep their perfect TNPL 2021 record intact?
The Ruby Trichy Warriors' batsmen have stood up and taken responsibility in the absence of Murali Vijay and Anirudha Srikkanth, who pulled out of TNPL 2021 citing injury. Amit Sathvik has been exceptional at the top of the order, and he has had support from Nidhish Rajagopal and Antony Dhas.
The Warriors' first-choice playing XI might be devoid of current Tamil Nadu stars, but they're a gritty bunch of cricketers who've found ways to win. Left-arm spinner M Mathivannan has been the standout in the bowling department, while senior pacer Sunil Sam had a productive outing in the first game.
The Siechem Madurai Panthers put in a complete bowling performance against the Dindigul Dragons a few days ago. The pace quartet of Ramalingam Rohit, Kiran Akash, R Silambarasan and J Kousik took all ten wickets to fall as left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas complemented them well with a stingy spell.
Arun Karthick and Kousik were the only two batsmen to spend a considerable amount of time in the middle, with captain NS Chaturved scoring an unbeaten 18 to take the team over the line with five overs to spare.
The Trichy Warriors are on the back of a demoralizing loss, while the Panthers have momentum on their side. The Panthers haven't been put through a real test in TNPL 2021 so far and should face a stern challenge in the form of the Warriors. While either team could come out on top, the Panthers' bowling attack might prove to be too difficult to handle.
Prediction: Siechem Madurai Panthers to win Match 8 of TNPL 2021
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