The action in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 continued, on Wednesday, as the crowd was treated with two back-to-back action-packed encounters. The first match of the day was played between Mangalore United and Mysore Warriors, while the second match took place between Bengaluru Blasters and Shivamogga Strikers.
In the first match, the captain of Mysore Warriors, Karun Nair won the toss and invited Mangalore United to bat first. The Warriors struck early as Prateek Jain sent Macneil Noronha on his way back to the pavilion on the second ball of the innings. Despite losing the early wicket, captain Ravikumar Samarth continued to play shots and didn’t let the pressure build. He got dismissed on the score of 40 after 4.5 overs.
The Warriors looked in trouble as they lost their third wicket on the score of 53 after 7.4 overs. The innings was held together by Nikin Jose and Abhinav Manohar, both of whom added 90 runs in 58 balls for the fourth wicket. Courtesy of their marvellous batting, the United reached a total of 171 after their allotted 20 overs.
The Warriors’ openers came out to chase and gave an electrifying start to their team as they scored some quick boundaries early on. They lost their first wicket on 27 after 2.5 overs in the form of Nitin Bhille. After losing his partner, the other opener Nihal Ullal continued to attack as he sent the ball twice into the stands. Ullal was dismissed on the score of 50 after 6.1 overs.
After the fall of the second wicket, captain Karun Nair and Pawan Deshpande came together at the crease and made sure that there were no more hiccups in the chase going ahead. The duo added 88 runs for the third wicket in just 50 balls. Their partnership was broken with the dismissal of Nair who scored a blistering 47 off 27 balls. There wasn’t much left in the game afterwards as Deshpande and Shivraj S saw the Warriors home with 11 balls to spare.
In the second match of the day, Shivmogga Strikers captain Krishnappa Gowtham won the toss and chose to field first. The Bengaluru Blasters came out to bat and lost their captain Mayank Agarwal on the score of 10. They further lost two more wickets and were reduced to 54/3 after 8 overs.
Opener LR Chethan was timing the ball sweetly from one end and got the much-needed support from the wicketkeeper Shivkumar Rakshith. They added 83 runs for the fourth wicket as the Blasters set their eyes on a big total. They finished their innings on the score of 191 at the loss of six wickets with Chethan unbeaten on 105 off 55 balls.
The Strikers lost an early wicket in their chase on the score of 12. But opener Rohan Kadam continued to show intent and sent the ball to all parts of the ground. No one apart from Kadam managed to get their eyes in and the strikers kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The Strikers eventually fell short of 25 runs as they finished their innings on 166/8 after 20 overs. Pradeep T was the pick of the bowlers who scalped four wickets for 28 runs in four overs.
Match 19 Mysore Warriors vs Mangalore United
Mangalore United 171/7 (20 overs)
Abhinav Manohar 68(35) Prateek Jain 2/31 (4 overs)
Mysore Warriors 172/4 (18.1 overs)
Pavan Deshpande 53*(35) Muralidhara Venkatesh 2/20 (4 Overs)
Player of the Match – Pavan Deshpande
Match 20: Bengaluru Blasters vs Shivamogga Strikers
Bengaluru Blasters 191/6 (20 overs)
LR Chethan 105* (55) Krishnappa Gowtham 2/27 (4 overs)
Shivamogga Strikers 166/8 (20 overs)
Rohan Kadam 67(39) Pradeep T 4/28 (4 overs)
Player of the Match – LR Chethan
