Mysuru: Aided by a scintillating 22-ball unbeaten 69 that was studded with six sixes and as many fours by skipper Balachander Akhil, Bijapur Bulls defeated the Rockstars by 97 runs to become the second team to be assured of a place in the qualifiers of the Karbonn Smart KPL 2015. The total enabled them top the points table with a superior net run rate.
In the first match of the day, the Rockstars found the Bulls too wild to handle. If the top order batsmen did their bit to keep the Rockstars busy on the field, Akhil sent them on a retrieving spree.
Chasing the Bulls’ huge 197, the Rockstars found the going difficult from the beginning and lost wickets at regular intervals. All the six bowlers used by Akhil got amongst the wickets and the Rockstars managed to score an exact 100 in reply.
The top four of Bijapur Bulls was led by M Nidesh who scored a pleasing 56 inclusive of four fours and two sixes that had the team cantering to a healthy total.
Once Akhil took guard, the Bijapur innings went into overdrive as the tall veteran hammered the Rockstar bowlers at will.
He basked in the situation and with the crowd begging for more, delivered boundaries after boundaries to swell his team’s total.
“This was a very important game. In this game our focus was on increasing our net run rate and win with 10 wickets in hand. We also wanted to promote a few players and try out different combinations before the qualifiers,” said Akhil.
The Bulls’ total is second to the Panthers’ highest total of 210 in this edition of the League.
SCOREBOARD
Bijapur Bulls:
R Samarth b R Raghu 17; M Nidesh c M Mohan b C Raghu 57 (45b, 4 x 4, 2 x 6); Robin Uthappa c Sub (Nitesh) b C Raghu 24 (18b, 3 x 4); Suneel Raju c Charan b Dhruv S 20 (10b 2 x 6); Rajoo Bhatkal lbw b S Joshi 1; B Akhil (not out) 69 (22b, 6 x 4, 6 x 6); A Mithun (not out) 0. Extras: (w-6; nb-3) 9.
Total: (For five wickets, 20 overs) 197
Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Samarth); 2-104 (Uthappa); 3-104 (Nidesh); 4-106 (Bhatkal); 5-173 (Raju).
Bowling: R Raghunath 4-0-32-1; Sunil Joshi 4-0-28-1; C Raghu 4-0-23-2; Charan Teja 4-0-48-0; Dhruv Sharma 4-0-66-1.
Rockstars:
Raju Gowda b KP Appanna 26 (21b, 2 x 4, 2 x 6); Raahul RK c S Raju b A Somanna 4; Madan Mohan c R Uthappa b S Raju 5; Kiccha Sudeep c R Uthappa b S Raju 3; C Raghu lbw b Cariappa 13; Dhruv Sharma c R Uthappa b A Mithun 2; Sunil Joshi c B Akhil b D Chougle 7; Sharma Keerthiraj c A Somanna b Cariappa 3; Pratap Narayan (not out) 8; Charan Teja c Cariappa b Appanna 24 (18b, 1 x 4, 2 x 6), Raghunath (not out) 0. Extras: (b-1, nb-1, w-1, lb-2) 5.
Total: (For nine wickets, 20 overs) 100.
Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Raahul); 2-30 (Mohan); 3-38 (Gowda); 4-42 (Sudeep); 5-58 (Sharma); 6-58 (Raghu); 7-64 (Keerthiraj); 8-69 (Joshi); 9-100 (Teja).
Bowling: Aditya Somanna 4-0-29-1; KP Appanna 4-0-18-2; Abhimanyu Mithun 2-0-8-1; Suneel Raju 4-0-20-2; KC Cariappa 4-0-8-2; Deepak Chougle 2-0-14-1.
Toss: Won by Rockstars; opted to field
Result: Bijapur Bulls won by 97 runs.
Akhil steers one to third-man during his blistering 22 ball 69
