Maharaja Trophy T20: Prabhakar, Smaran lead Gulbarga to victory over Mysore Warriors
Bengaluru: Abhishek Prabhakar and Smaran R. did the star turn as the Gulbarga Mystics defeated the Mysore Warriors by five wickets in a league match of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.
Abhishek delivered an exceptional spell with figures of 5-21 to restrict Mysore to 154/9 while Smaran R’s (52) half-century sealed the run chase in favour of the Gulbarga Mystics. Mysore Warriors suffered their third defeat in the competition.
Earlier in the match, Manoj Bhandage’s 14-ball stint that earned 38 runs and J Suchit’s (25) contribution helped Mysore put on a fighting total after they were wobbling at 68/7 in 12 overs.
In response to the Mysore Warriors, Luvnith Sisodia (23) and Devdutt Padikkal (24) put on a breezy opening stand of 41 runs. Vidyadhar Patil broke through when he picked up Sisodia in the fifth over and Padikkal was caught behind off K Gowtham’s turner in the seventh over to leave Gulbarga at 50/2.
Smaran R. and Impact Player, Aneesh K.V. (8) put on 40 runs before Aneesh K.V., driving on the up, straight to mid-off, was dismissed by Manoj Bhandage.
Smaran R. continued his good run, bringing up his half-century in 31 balls as he lofted Bhandage over long-on to reach the landmark. Meanwhile, Venkatesh M dismissed Ritesh Bhatkal but only after he played a cameo of 22 runs in 15 balls.
With 16 runs needed in two overs, Bhandage picked up Smaran in the 19th over, but Pravin Dubey’s speedy knock of 17 runs in just four deliveries helped Gulbarga breach the target with 5 wickets and seven balls to spare.
The Mysore Warriors’ Power-play saw Karthik S.U. (24) take the early initiative, working three boundaries off Monish Reddy in the third over. The same over would see the run-out of Jasper E.J. (2). Karun Nair (0) was next in line, trapped LBW by Vyshak Vijaykumar. Coming in at number four Samit Dravid (12) looked dangerous as he struck Prithiviraj Shekhawat for two consecutive boundaries before he was caught at cover point off Abhishek Prabhakar, leaving Mysore at 40/3 by the end of the powerplay.
Mysore Warriors stumbled further when Karthik SU was caught on the deep mid-wicket boundary, pulling Abishek Prabhakar in the eighth over. Harshil Dharmani (16) was then ousted by Pravin Dubey while Prabhakar would go on to scalp M Venkatesh (0) and Sumit Kumar (9) in the span of four balls, bringing the score line to 68/7 in 12 overs.
J. Suchit (25*) and K. Gowtham (11) combined for 24 runs in 27 balls. Gowtham’s knock ended when he completed Prabhakar’s five-wicket haul, miscuing a hard length delivery to long on.
Manoj Bhandage was once again at the forefront of Mysore’s finish. Bhandage raced to 38 runs in 14 balls, taking down Vyshak Vijaykumar for two sixes and a four before falling to him, in the next ball, in the 20th over. While Suchith remained unbeaten at the other end, Vidyadhar Patil hit 10 runs off the final two balls to catapult Mysore to 154/9.
Brief scores:
Mysore Warriors 154/9 in 20 overs (Karthik SU 24, J. Suchit 25 not out, Manoj Bhandage 38 not out, Abishek Prabhakar 5-21, Vyshakh Vijaykumar 2-47) lost to Gulbarga Mystics 157/5 in 18.5 overs (Smaran 52, Luvnith Sisodia 23, Devdutt Padikkal 24, Manoj Bhandage 2-36) by five wickets.
