The inaugural season of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2022 is edging closer to its culmination with just two more matches left in the tournament. The previous day two exciting games took place in the tournament with both going right down to the wire.
Let’s look at the match report for both of these matches.
Eliminator: Hubli Tigers vs Mysore Warriors
Hubli Tigers had defeated Mangalore United in their last match to enter the eliminator. They, however, could not go any further as their march was halted by an impressive Mysore Warriors side.
The MW won the toss and elected to field, asking the HT to bat first. Coming onto bat first, the HT got off to a good start with both in-form openers Luvnith Sisodia (33), and Mohammed Taha (27) looking steady. It was Shreyas Gopal, however, who dismissed both to land the HT side into a place of worry. Wickets continued to fall then on with Swapnil Yelave (30*) and Gneshwar Naveen (32) the only two batters to contribute positively. HT, at the end, produced 164/7 in 20 overs.
Coming onto chase what looked like a good total, the MW team got off to an even better start. Captain, Karun Nair played a knock of 23 off of 14 deliveries but it was the other batter Nihal Ullal, who took the team across the finish line with his 77 off of 58 deliveries.
Shreyas Gopal also contributed 32 runs to the run chase. In the end, MW won by five wickets to move into qualifier two. They now play against Gulbarga Mystics in the second qualifier of the Maharaja Trophy.
Brief Score:
HT: 164/7
Luvnith Sisodia: 33(24), Gneshwar Naveen: 32(24)
Doddamani Anand: 4-27-4, Gneshwar Naveen: 3-47-1
MW: 166/5
Nihal Ullal: 77(58), Shreyas Gopal: 32(19)
Shreyas Gopal: 4-33-3, Shubhang Hegde: 4-20-1
Qualifier: Bengaluru Blasters vs Gulbarga Mystics
The second match of the Maharaja Trophy brought the top two teams head-to-head. As is the case with all teams, GMY won the toss and elected to bowl first. This decision, however, proved to be disastrous for GMY as both BB openers smashed the GMY bowlers all around the field on way to their individual half centuries. After LR Chetan got out at 80 off 48, the Bengaluru captain Mayank Agarwal raced to his second century of the tournament (112) in just 61 deliveries. On the back of openers’ knocks, Bengaluru reached 227/3, the highest score in the tournament so far.
Coming onto chase what seemed like a very big total, Gulbarga Mystics got off to a sensational start with Rohan Patil taking the game by the scruff of the neck. While wickets continued to fall from the other end, Patil looked to be in a zone of his own.
While other batters found staying at the wicket impossible, Patil hit the same bowlers all around the ground for massive sixes. The GMY team proved to be a one-man army but could not get to the humongous total despite Patil’s sensational 108 off of 49 balls.
GMY lost the match by 44 runs, in the end, and Mayank Agarwal was given the Player of the match award for his 112.
Brief Score:
BB: 227/3
Mayank Agarwal: 112(61), LR Chetan: 80(48)
Ronit More: 4-41-3, Jagadeesha Suchith: 4-29-2
GMY: 183/10
Rohan Patil: 108(49), Manoj Bhandage: 26(21)
Vidhwath Kaverappa: 4-48-2, Ajay Gouda: 4-59-1
