Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2023: Hubli Tigers maintain winning rhythm, Mysuru Warriors clinch maiden victory of the season

While Mayank Agarwal’s half-century augured well for the Blasters, their valiant effort in the field was overruled by a lackluster show with the bat.

Published - 17 Aug 2023, 08:58 IST | Updated - 17 Aug 2023, 08:58 IST

5 Min Read

Day 4, Match 1

Bengaluru, August 16, 2023: The Hubli Tigers stuck to winning ways, completing yet another impressive victory, defeating the Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters by five wickets with 39 balls remaining at the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20.

The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium saw a stellar all-round performance from Manvanth Kumar, who picked up four wickets and scored 28 crucial runs to power a third consecutive victory for the Hubli Tigers. While Mayank Agarwal’s half-century augured well for the Bengaluru Blasters, their valiant effort in the field was overruled by a lackluster show with the bat.

Put into bat, the Bengaluru Blasters had a tepid start, losing opener Bhuvan Raju to an avoidable run out in the fifth over. Despite Mayank Agarwal finding his groove, Bengaluru were locked at 40/1 by the end of the powerplay due to tight spells from pacers Lavish Kaushal and Vidwath Kaverappa. While Mayank Agarwal looked to turn up the heat in the middle overs cracking majestic boundaries, the duo of spinners, Praveen Dubey and KC Cariappa ensured a consistent loss of wickets including Jeswanth Acharya (7), Pavan Deshpande (1) and Suraj Ahuja (14).

In a fatal blow to Bengaluru, Mayank departed soon after completing his half-century in just 32 deliveries, he was scalped by the disciplined bowling of youngster Manvanth Kumar in the fourteenth over. The innings continued to unravel, as KC Cariappa eliminated Aashish Mahesh and Manvanth Kumar went on to dismiss Lochan Appanna (2), Rishi Bopanna (0), and LR Kumar (6) in quick succession. While Shubhang Hedge (7) remained unbeaten, T. Pradeep fell as the last wicket to Lavish Kaushal. The Bengaluru Blasters finished with a paltry score of 105/10.

In response, the Hubli Tigers asserted themselves early on as the in-form Luvnith Sisodia hammered 33 runs in just 17 balls, to catapult Hubli into an even more commanding position. Sisodia eventually fell to Rohan Bopanna in the fourth over after taking him for 14 runs off the first three balls. Soon after his dismissal, fellow opener, M. Taha (10) also fell to Shubhang Hegde.

After a blistering start in the first overs four overs, the loss of the openers mildly derailed Hubli’s innings, with K. Shrijith and Naga Bharath perishing soon after. However, the experience of Manish Pandey came in to anchor the innings while the young Manvanth Kumar (28) played a fearless knock in just 19 deliveries to bring the run chase back on track before he was trapped in front of the stumps by Sarfaraz Ashraf. Pravin Dubey (2*) joined skipper Manish Pandey to complete a comfortable run chase with five wickets and 39 balls remaining.

ends

Hubli Tigers won by 5 wickets

Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters - 105/10 in 18.4 overs (Mayank Agarwal - 50 off 34 balls, Suraj Ahuja - 14 off 14 balls, Bhuvan Raju - 11 off 16 balls, Manvanth Kumar L - 4/15, Praveen Dubey - 2/22, Lavish Kaushal - 1/12)

Hubli Tigers - 111/5 in 13.3 overs (Luvnith Sisodia - 33 off 17 balls, Manvanth Kumar 28 off 19 balls, Manish Pandey - 23* off 16 balls, Sarfaraz Ashraf - 2/22, Kumar LR - 1/9 Rishi Bopanna - 1/26, Shubhang Hegde - 1/26)

Day 4, Match 2

Bengaluru, August 16, 2023: The Mysuru Warriors won their first match of this year’s edition of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20, beating the Gulbarga Mystics by 54 runs. Their victory was propelled by the all-round performance from Manoj Bhandage (32* and 4/19) and a half-century by skipper Karun Nair (57).

Put into bat by the Gulbarga Mystics, Mysore Warriors lost an early wicket as opener CA Karthik (13) fell to the in-form, Abhilash Shetty, in the third over. However, an abundance of runs came through the bat of Ravikumar Samarth (48), who took the team to a reasonable score of 48-1 by the end of the powerplay.

Mysuru Warriors skipper Karun Nair came in at no.3 and accelerated the innings along with Samarth to take the team total to 85-1 at the halfway mark. The duo added 91 runs off 62 balls for the second wicket before Samarth was bowled for 48 runs off 38 balls by veteran leg-spinner Amit Verma. Nair continued his sublime form and made full use of a life granted earlier in the innings through a botched stumping. He brought up his second consecutive half-century, reaching the landmark in 33 balls. Jagadeesha Suchith (17) was promoted to no.4 and immediately smashed a couple of sixes before ending up as Abhilash Shetty’s second wicket for the night thanks to an absolute blinder taken by Macneil Noronha at deep mid-wicket.

Karun Nair perished in the following over, having scored 57 runs from 39 balls, with the score reading 140-4 at the end of the 16th over. Manoj Bhandage (32* off 15 balls) and Shivkumar Rakshith (21 off 8 balls) found the boundary on plenty of occasions to take the team to a final score of 198-5. Abhilash Shetty was the pick of the Gulbarga bowlers finishing with figures of 3/ 49.

In reply, the Gulbarga Mystics found no trouble in accumulating runs swiftly as openers LR Chethan (44 off 35 balls) and Aadarsh Prajwal (16) added 48 runs before the latter was dismissed by CA Karthik in the fifth over. KV Aneesh was out on the final ball of the powerplay attempting to loft Mysore’s Impact Player Shreesha Achar, to leave the scoreboard reading 57-2.

Southpaw R Smaran (15) and LR Chethan kept the scoreboard ticking, coupling singles with timely boundaries before the latter was dismissed by a bouncer from pacer Monish Reddy in the eleventh over. This was followed by Smaran being bowled by M Venkatesh in the next over leaving Gulbarga reeling at 88-4. Just as Macneil Noronha (20) seemed to be picking up the pace of the innings, he was caught behind off left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith in the fifteenth over.

Pacer Manoj Bhandage picked up the wickets of Amit Verma (7), D Avinash (9), and Sourabh Muttur (1) in the sixteenth over. With 73 runs required in the final four overs, the equation seemed improbable. Gulbarga skipper Vyshak Vijaykumar (10) fell to Bhandage in the 18th over and Hardik Raj (6) to off-spinner Shashi Kumar K in the next over to hand Mysuru a comfortable victory of 54 runs. The Gulbarga Mystics finished on 144/10 in 19 overs.

Brief Scores

Mysore Warriors won by 54 runs

Mysore Warriors - 198/5 in 20 overs (Karun Nair - 57 off 39 balls, Ravikumar Samarth - 48 off 38 balls, Manoj Bhandage - 32* off 15 balls, Abhilash Shetty - 3/49, Amit Verma - 1/24, Avinash D - 1/45)

Gulbarga Mystics - 144/10 in 19 overs (LR Chethan - 44 off 35 balls, Macneil Noronha - 20 off 14 balls, Aadarsh Prajwal - 16 off 13 balls, Manoj Bhandage - 4/19, Codanda Ajit Karthik - 1/14, Shreesha Achar - 1/14)

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Maharaja Trophy T20 2023 Hubli Tigers Gulbarga Mystics Karun Nair Mayank Agarwal