Mangaluru: The tenth day of Mangalore Premier League 2016 saw a great battle as Maestro Titans and Team Elegant Moodbidri locked horns on a decisive game of the tournament. Though Team Elegant set an achievable target in the first innings, their bowling was pretty hard on Maestro Titans and restricted their run rate.
Team Elegant could manage to set a target score of 167 at the end of 20 overs for a loss of seven wickets. In a bid to catch up to the chaseable target, Maestro Titans gave their best in the second innings. Team Skipper Akshay Ballal won the toss and as is customary, decided to field and chase the target in the second innings.
In the first innings of the game however, the Titans bowled and fielded well and hardly let Team Elegant get their runs easily. However, Team Elegant did the same to Maestro Titans in the second innings. Team Elegant leg spinner Mohammad Asif and fast bowler Shivil Kaushik would not let the Titans score much during the end game.
At the seventh over of the second innings, Akshay Ballal scored 23 runs in an over to reach a quick half century with four back to back boundaries, a sixer and a single. The man of the match title officially went to Team Elegant skipper Bharath Duri though unofficially shared by him and Suvil Koushik.
This match was the key for Maestro Titans to enter the semifinals directly but as they lost the match with a score of 145, they will have to play a qualifier match on December 28 and win to make it.
