Against the trend of the tournament, the Kovai Kings opted to bat first in the high-profile contest. Within minutes, the two openers, S Radhakrishnan and Lokeshwar proved that Shahrukh Khan’s decision to bat was vindicated. Within four overs, the pair went on the offensive, with six and three fours, reaching 30 without any Cholas’ response.

Cholas’ first and probably the biggest mistake of the clash came in the fifth over when the experienced campaigner Kousik dropped a simple catch, with Lokeshwar on seven off eight balls. Shyam Sundar added to the woes, with a dolly to let Radhakrishnan off the hook, as the Kings reached 50/0.

The pair punished the Cholas, taking 16 runs off Sanjay Yadav’s over, racing away to 73/0, which quickly turned into 103 after 10 overs, as Lokeshwar punished Saravana Kumar for six and four, as the right-hander raced away to his half-century off just 29 balls, his seventh TNPL fifty.

While Rajkumar’s three wickets briefly pulled things back in Trichy’s favour briefly, Shahrukh Khan ensured that the Kovai Kings got to a good total after an impressive 20th over, smashing 14 runs to take Kovai to 183/5 after 20 overs.

Deeban needed just three balls to put the chase in jeopardy. The right-armer completed TNPL 2026’s first hat-trick — and the competition’s first golden hat-trick — by removing K Rajkumar with an outswinger, Shyam Sundar caught at slip and Kousik bowled through the gate.