Chaturved’s heroics help Panthers ace record chase

N.S. Chaturved had left little impression on TNPL 2025: 139 runs off 107 balls at 129.90, no half-century. But on Saturday at the NPR College Ground, he produced an innings that belonged to a different statistical universe altogether.

He scored 121 off just 47 balls (15x4, 7x6) at 257.45, reaching his maiden TNPL century off 40 deliveries, the fastest in the league’s history. A batter who had offered no warning produced something spectacular. And his team Madurai Panthers benefitted, chasing down 240 against Vida Kovai Kings with six wickets and three balls to spare.

Chaturved’s innings was a study in repetition: the pull and sweep repeatedly found deep square leg and deep midwicket, with the occasional charge down the track unsettling the bowlers. He raced to his fifty off just 19 balls, then accelerated further, cutting and driving when width was offered and carting anything full into the deep.