Hubballi, Sep 18: Mysuru Warriors made light work of their task, as their batsmen romped home with seven wickets in hand, and 17 balls to spare in the second match against Mangalore United owned by Mangaluru North MLA Mohiuddin Bava at Karbonn KPL powered by Cycle Agarbathies.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Mangalore United were pushed onto the back foot early in the innings, after a three-wicket burst from Mysuru Warriors, reduced United to 3 for 33 inside the batting power-play. Nishanth Shekhawat and Shishir Bhavane, both went back without troubling the scorers.
The Mysuru bowlers did well to keep the United batsmen quiet, with a scorecard of 3 for 46 at the halfway mark, highlighting the tight spells bowled by Vyshak Vijaykumar, Adithya Sagar, and Rajoo Bhatkal.
With pressure mounting and number of balls reducing, Nidesh decided to take the attack to the opposition, slamming 54 off just 40 balls, before being trapped lbw off J Suchith's bowling.
Unfazed by the fall of wickets at one end, United stand-in skipper, CM Gautam, blended caution with aggression, slamming 64 of 55 balls, before falling to a fine piece of fielding from Rajoo Bhatkal. Fifties from Gautam and Nidesh ensured that Mangalore United reached a fighting total of 148 for 7 at the end of their twenty overs.
For the Warriors, both Sagar and Vyshak took two wickets each.
In reply, Mysuru Warriors got off to a brisk start, scoring at nine runs an over in the batting power-play. Undeterred by the intermittent drizzles, Bhatkal and Arjun Hoysala motored along nicely, with Bhatkal being the aggressor; slamming 48 from 29 deliveries, before holing out to Harsha Basavraj at long on. Arjun (22) soon followed suit, dragging an inside edge onto the stumps off Bhareth NP's bowling.
That brought K Gowtham to the middle, whose power hitting ability was on full display, as he nonchalantly launched four sixes into the Hubbali sky, before being dismissed for a well-made 36 off 20 balls.
Gowtham was the last Mysuru wicket to fall, as Jonathan and R Prateeksh steered their team home in a jiffy. On a day when every bowler went for more than eight runs an over, Bhareth NP returned figures of 3-0-20-1.
Rajoo Bhatkal was adjudged the Man of the Match for his 29 ball 48.
Grand Opening Ceremony
All roads led to Hubballi on Saturday, as The Karnataka State Cricket Association held a grand opening ceremony to mark the commencement of KPL-5 at city's Rajnagar cricket stadium.
Adding to the excitement of T20 cricket was the razzmatazz that was on offer at the opening ceremony, adorned by a delightful amalgamation of entertainment and cultural extravaganza. The ceremonial began with a mesmerizing performance by a shadows dance troupe, which was followed by Sinchan Dixit and Deva, performing the official KPL anthem.
To keep up with the spirit of the tournament, each franchise owner /team captain walked towards the centre stage with their respective anthem being played in the background and kids carrying the team flags.
Present at the event were Chief Guest Mr. Jagadish Shettar, former Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr. Vinay Kulkarni, District-In-Charge along with a host of other esteemed KSCA officials and dignitaries. The inauguration saw Chief Guest being introduced to the captains of all eight KPL teams and the opening ceremony was brought to an end by signing of spirit of cricket by all the skippers.
The first leg of KPL season 5 will be played at Hubbali, after which the tournament will move to Mysuru, where the final will be played on October 2. All matches of the Karbonn KPL 2016 will be telecast live and exclusive on Sony ESPN SD and Sony ESPN HD Channels.
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