TNPL 2018 Qualifier 2: Siechem Madurai Panthers vs Lyca Kovai Kings Live Score, Commentary & Live Updates

Madurai Panthers will now face Dindigul Dragons in the TNPL 2018 final at Chennai on Sunday.

Shijit Chandran seals it with a six. Siechem Madurai Panthers beat Lyca Kovai Kings by seven wickets to seal a spot in the TNPL 2018 final.

Madurai Panthers need one to win off the last two overs after KB defends Nattu's last ball.

Madurai 125/3 after 18 overs

Courtesy of a cover drive from Arun Karthik, the scores are level. Madurai have 13 balls to score one run.

Madurai lost a wicket in that over but they need just 10 runs off the last three overs.

Madurai 116/3 after 17 overs

OUT! Rohit tries to go big but ends up miscuing his slog sweep and Natarajan takes a comfortable catch to dismiss the Madurai skipper. D Rohit c T Natarajan b S Manigandan 30(37)

Madurai 116/3 after 16.5 overs

KB Arun Karthik wants to get this over with. He hits Rajesh for a four and a six off the last two balls of the 16th over to bring the required rate to under 4.

Madurai 112/2 after 16 overs

Arun Karthik's boundary helps Madurai take eight runs off the 15th over. K Vignesh finishes off his spell here after conceding 25 runs in his four overs.

Madurai 99/2 after 15 overs

KB Arun Karthik reaches his fifty with a boundary behind the backward point fielder and Rohit follows it up with a four of his own to make it 10 runs from the over. Madurai need less than run a ball from here.

Madurai 91/2 after 14 overs

Madurai are playing some sensible cricket here as they score 12 runs off the last two overs, three off MP Rajesh's over followed nine runs off S Manigandan's 13th over which included a six from Arun Karthik.

Madurai 81/2 after 13 overs

Yet another over in which six runs were scored off. Madurai are inching closer to win as they need 57 runs to win off the last nine overs.

Madurai 69/2 after 11 overs

Six runs off the tenth over bowled by S Ajith Ram, thanks to a boundary off the bat of skipper D Rohit.

Madurai 63/2 after 10 overs

Manigandan's introduction sees the required rate creep up a little bit as he concedes just four off his first over.

Madurai 57/2 after 9 overs

Easy does it for Madurai. Ajith Ram is hit for five singles off his second over the required rate is still under control.

Madurai 53/2 after 8 overs

MP Rajesh into the attack and he bowled brilliantly until the last ball when KB decided to slog sweep him for a six to take eight off the over.

Madurai 48/2 after 7 overs

At the end of the power play, both sides will be reasonably happy. Kovai picked up two wickets while Madurai still have their leading run-getter this season, KB batting.

Madurai 40/2 after 6 overs

OUT! Thala edges one behind to the keeper and has to go. He could have hit that anywhere but finds the keeper. Thalaivan Sargunam c Rohith b T Natarajan 5(5)

Madurai 40/2 after 5.5 overs

Vignesh K has been economical so far but he hasn't been able to pick up a wicket yet.

Madurai 36/1 after 5 overs

What should have been an excellent over for Kovai is instead one that goes for nine runs even though there was a wicket in there. How costly will that dropped catch be?

Madurai 31/1 after 4 overs

DROPPED! That could be massive. KB slaps one straight to MP Rajesh who drops that. And the Madurai opener survives.

OUT! Stunning catch at deep mid-wicket from Natarajan to get rid of Raheja. He slightly mistimed it initially, composed himself, threw the ball up, went out then jumped back in to complete the catch. Tushar Raheja c T Natarajan b R Mithun 8(8)

Madurai 22/1 after 3.3 overs

Five dot balls from K Vignesh's second over but the one that wasn't went for a massive six over cow corner from Arun Karthik.

Madurai 22/0 after 3 overs

The first over of spin almost results in a wicket but Raheja just clears the in field and survives. Nine came off the second over.

Madurai 16/0 after 2 over

Solid start for Madurai. Just seven off the first over and both openers are off the mark.

Madurai 7/0 after 1 over

There is a slight change for Madurai as debutant Tushar Raheja is opening the the batting alongside KB Arun Karthik instead of captain D Rohit.

And we are back underway for the chase. K Vignesh has the new ball for Kovai Kings.

Can they defend this total like they defended a similarly low target yesterday? Join us in 15 minutes to find out.

After being asked to bowl first, Madurai's bowlers got off to the perfect start and finish thanks to Abhishek Tanwar, who finished with figures of 3/28. In between Kovai didn't really get any momentum in their innings until Ashwin V and Rajesh MP got together for the fifth-wicket to put on 57. But even with all that Kovai finished with just 125/7.

Lyca Kovai Kings finish on 125/7 from 20 overs after a run-out off the last ball.

SIX! No team hat-trick as Ajith Ram picks up the slower one and deposits that over long off to get off the mark in style.

TEAM HAT-TRICK coming up for Madurai.

OUT! Abhishek picks up another. An excellent yorker speared into the stumps and Ashwin is trapped lbw. Two wickets in two balls for Madurai. Ashwin Venkataraman lbw Abhishek Tanwar 45(50)

Kovai Kings 117/6 after 19.3 overs

RUN-OUT! After an excellent stop by KB Arun Karthik behind the stumps, he has a shy but misses but the bowler doesn't at the non-striker's end. Tanwar picks up the run-out to finally end the fifth wicket stand. MP Rajesh run-out (Abhishek Tanwar) 29 (24)

Kovai Kings 117/5 after 19.2 overs

WOW! Just wow. An exceptional spell from Varun ends. His figures, 4-0-13-0. And the penultimate over of the innings goes for just four runs.

Kovai 116/4 after 19 overs

An expensive end to J Kousik's spell. The over began with a six and back-to-back fours through cover from MP Rajesh. Before Ashwin Venkataraman joined the party with a six over long on as the over went for 22 runs.

Kovai 112/4 after 18 overs

Just three overs to go. Kovai are inching closer to 100. Firstly, can they get there? And secondly, how much more can they score?

Courtesy of a rare boundary in that over, Varun's figures are slightly worse. Still he has conceded just 10 runs in his three overs.

Kovai 90/4 after 17 overs

Just six off J Kousik's third over and there should have been a run-out as well but KB missed from close range.

Kovai 83/4 after 16 overs

Just two off Varun CV's over. They simply haven't been able to get him away.

Kovai 77/4 after 15 overs

A good over for Madurai as nine runs were scored off the 14th. Six overs left and CV Varun has to bowl three of them. Even 120 looks difficult from here.

Kovai 75/4 after 14 overs

Rahil keeps the pressure on Kovai batsmen as he concedes just five runs off the 13th over. 70 off the last seven overs? Looks unlikely at the moment.

Kovai 66/4 after 13 overs

Two runs and two wickets from the 12th over bowled by J Kousik. The game has tilted towards Madurai's side now.

Kovai Kings 61/4 after 12 overs

Disaster for Kovai! Right after losing Abhinav, they lose the wicket of Antony Dhas, who was run out after a mix-up with Ashwin Venkataraman. A great fielding from "PULI" Kousik and KB Arun Karthik was brilliant behind the stumps as removed the bails in quick time just to find Dhas outside the crease.

Antony Dhas run out (J Kousik/Arun Karthik) 0(3)

J Kousik strikes as he manages to draw an edge off the bat of Abhinav Mukund and the ball goes straight to Arun Karthik behind the stumps.

Abhinav Mukund c KB Arun Karthik b J Kousik 28 (30)

Eight runs off the eleventh over, thanks to a boundary. Kovai will look to score at least 80 runs in the last nine overs to put a decent total for their bowling unit to defend.

Kovai Kings 59/2 after 11 overs

A good over for Kovai considering the way their batsmen are approaching their batting. Seven runs were taken off it.

Kovai Kings 51/2 after 10 overs

The Madurai bowlers are keeping the pressure on the Kovai batsmen as Rahil Shah concedes just four runs off the ninth over.

Kovai Kings 44/2 after 9 overs

Two left-arm spinners bowling in tandem and Mukund finally picks up a boundary. Still only seven off that over from Karthikeyan.

Kovai Kings 40/2 after 8 overs

Tight start from Rahil Shah. The left-arm spinner continues to strengthen Madurai's grip on this encounter in the early stages.

Kovai Kings 33/2 after 7 overs

What a start from Varun CV. Just one runs off the final over of the power play. Kovai Kings just haven't got going at all so far.

Kovai Kings 29/2 after 6 overs

TNPL 2018 Qualifier 2: Siechem Madurai Panthers vs Lyca Kovai Kings Live Score, Commentary & Live Updates

Follow all the live updates as Madurai take on Kovai for a place in the TNPL 2018 final.