The action in Maharaja KSCA T20 2022 continued yesterday as the crowd was treated with two thrilling encounters. The first match was between Shivamogga Strikers and Mysore Warriors. Mysore Warriors captain Karun Nair called it correctly at the toss and chose to bowl first. Shivamogga Strikers happily accepted the invitation to bat first as their openers Rohan Kadam and Sharath BR put on 56 runs for the first wicket in just 5.1 overs.
A double strike from Shubhang Hegde in the sixth over brought the Warriors back into the game. Following the two quick blows, Sharath and K. Siddharth came together at the crease to add 33 runs between them. Sharath brought up his half-century and was finally dismissed for 53 off 35 balls. Some useful contributions from the lower order propelled the strikers’ total to 174/8 at the end of 20 overs. Vidyadhar Patil was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped three wickets for 39 runs in his four overs.
Manish Pandey played a brilliant knock for Gulbarga
The Warriors’ chase began in the worst possible manner as they lost their captain Karun Nair on the second ball of the innings. The chase kept getting hiccups as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Only Pavan Deshpande showed some resistance against the Strikers’ bowlers as he scored a brilliant 64 off 47 balls. No other batter other than him could make a significant contribution to the total as the Warriors fell 13 runs short of their target.
In the second encounter between Gulbarga Mystics and Mangalore United, the United won the toss and chose to bowl first. The decision to bowl first proved to be right as the Mystics lost three wickets for 40 runs in 6.5 overs. Their innings was rescued by Krishnan Shrijith and captain Manish Pandey who together added 86 runs for the fourth wicket. Pandey went on to score an unbeaten 86 off 45 balls. Some late fireworks by Manoj Bhandage who scored quick-fire 29 runs off 11 balls took the Mystics to a total of 192.
The United Chase got off to the worst possible start as they lost captain Ravikumar Samarth on the very second ball of the innings who departed for a duck. They found themselves in more trouble as they lost three wickets for 47 runs in 5.3 overs. The batters continued to stitch small but impactful partnerships and didn’t let the required run rate go out of hand. A magnificent knock from Abhinav Manohar of 55 off 25 balls and some useful contributions from the lower order got the United home with two balls to spare as they won by three wickets. Abhinav Manohar was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ for his match-winning knock.
Here’s the round-up of both the matches
1st Match
Shivamogga Strikers 174/8 (20 overs)
Sharath BR 53(35) Vidyadhar Patil 3/39 (4 overs)
Mysore Warriors 161/8 (20 overs)
Pavan Deshpande 64(47) K. Gowtham 2/22 (4 overs)
2nd Match
Gulbarga Mystics 192/6
Manish Pandey 86(45) Vijaykumar Vyshak 3/28 (4 overs)
Mangalore United 195/7
Abhinav Manohar 55(25) Shreesha Achar 3/26 (4 overs)
