Finally, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s led Dindigul Dragons (DD) lifted its maiden trophy by achieving a 6-wicket victory against Lyca Kovai Kings (LKK) in the final match of Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2024. It was the third appearance for the Dragons in the TNPL finals. Earlier, they made it through the finals in two consecutive years 2018 and 2019, but failed to win a trophy.

Ahead of the match on 4th August 2024 (Sunday), it was expected that the pitch conditions at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai would favor the teams batting first and slow down as the game progresses. The prediction was purely based on the outcome of the Qualifier 2 round between the IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans and Dindigul Dragons. However, the toss-winning skipper Ravichandran Ashwin had different plans and invited the opponent team to bat first.

The effective bowling performance from Sandeep Warrier, Varun Chakravarthy, P Vignesh, and Suboth Bhati restricted Kovai Kings to a low total of 129-7 in 20 overs. But it was Ashwin’s composed half-century and Sarath Kumar’s quick-fire cameo, that guided the Dindigul Dragons to its first championship title in TNPL.

With this remarkable victory, the Dragons became one of the rarest franchises to claim the championship after concluding in the fourth position in the points table during the league stages of TNPL.

Let’s delve deeper into the interesting highlights of the LKK vs DD final match of TNPL 2024 as well as find out the award winners, prize money, and the important stats of the 8th season of the tournament.

How Dindigul Dragons win their maiden championship title? LKK vs DD final match Highlights

The strong batting and bowling performance of the Dindigul Dragons made it impossible for the previous season’s winner Lyca Kovai Kings (LKK) to retain their championship title. Here are the important highlights of the TNPL Season 8 you need to know:

1. Instant Dismissals of Lyka Kovai Kings Batters:  

The batting performance of Lyka Kovai Kings completely failed compared to their impressive performance in the Qualifier 1 round against IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, where the team successfully chased the target of 201 runs riding on Sai Sudharshan’s unbeaten century.

In contrast, the Kings weren’t able to maintain a steady partnership and these four batters collapsed at frequent intervals during the early stages of the first innings:

• Suresh Kumar (At 19-1 in 2.2 overs): 11 runs from 9 balls (including 2 fours). 
• S Sujay  (At 49-2 in 5.4 overs): 22 runs from 12 balls (including 3 fours).
• U Mukilesh ( At 49-3 in 5.5 overs): 0 from 1 ball.
• Sai Sudharsan (At 51-4 in 5.5 overs): 14 runs from 14 balls (including 1 six).

2. Powerful bowling combination of Warrier, Chakravarthy, Vignesh and Bhati:

The Dindigul Dragons bowlers namely Sandeep Warrier, Varun Chakravarthy, and P Vignesh grabbed 2 wickets each in their 4-over spell, while Suboth Bhati played a supportive role by dismissing Atheeq Ur Rahman (25 runs from 17 balls – including 2 fours and 1 six). These are the impressive bowling figures in the match:

• Sandeep Warrier: 2-26 in 4 overs.
• Varun Chakravarthy: 2-26 in 4 overs. 
• P Vignesh: 2-15 in 4 overs.
• Suboth Bhati: 1-17 in 2 overs.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin’s Captain Knock: A Steady Performance

The Dindigul Dragons captain Ravichandran Ashwin led from the front after his team lost two quick wickets of its opening batters Vimal Khumar (9 runs from 8 balls – including 2 fours) and Shivam Singh (4 runs from 3 balls – including 1 four).

Ashwin’s 46-ball-52-run-knock, which includes 1 four and 3 sixes with a batting strike rate of 113.04, anchored the team’s innings to successfully chase a below-par total in T20 cricket. Additionally, Baba Indrajith took his time to play a supportive knock of 32 runs from 35 balls (including 3 fours) and maintained a crucial 65-run partnership with Ashwin, which proved to be valuable for the team’s victory.

4. Sarath Kumar’s Special Cameo:

The Indian all-rounder C Sarath Kumar’s fiery knock of 27 runs from just 15 balls (including 2 fours and 2 sixes) at a strike rate of 180.00, steered the Dindigul Dragons to a comfortable victory by 6 wickets and 10 balls to spare. Interestingly, he scored the winning runs and finished the match in style by smashing a six in the 2nd ball of the 18th over in the match bowled by the captain Shah Rukh Khan. As a result, the Dragons scored 131-4 in 18.2 overs.

TNPL 2024 Award Winners and Prize Money

Let’s find out the list of award winners of TNPL 2024 and the prize money offered during the presentation ceremony:

TNPL 2024 Stats: Impressive Records of Batting and Bowling Performance

Here are the notable records in terms of batting and bowling performance in TNPL 2024 tabulated below in detail:

TNPL 2024 Batting Stats:

TNPL 2024 Bowling Stats: