A dominant performance by the Gulbarga Mystics batting unit ensured an eight-wicket victory over the Mysore Warriors at the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Stadium to mark their first victory of the Shriram Capital Maharaja Trophy, powered by Fancode. Nikin Jose (52) and Prajwal Pavan’s (45) massive partnership set up the run chase before Smaran R’s 22-ball half century provided the finishing touches. Despite Venkatesh M’s impressive knock of 77 runs, that powered the Warriors to 184/9 in the first innings, the home team suffered their first loss of the season.
Chasing 185, Luvnith Sisodia’s (23) quick fire start ensured that the Mystics were ahead of the equation by the end of the powerplay at 59/1. The left handed opener creamed two consecutives sixes off CA Karthik, before the latter sent him packing in the fourth over.
Nikin Jose and Prajwal Pavan kept the run chase on track, duo put on 92 runs in 60 balls. Nikin dropped the anchor but both batters found boundaries at regular intervals. After hitting five fours and a six in 33 balls, Prajwal was caught behind in the 14th over, claimed by Yashovardhan Parantap. Smaran R (52*) joined Nikin with the score at 124/2. He wasted no time and took down K Gowtham for two fours and a six, diluting the equation to 42 runs in 30 balls.
Nikin remained unbeaten and brought up his half century in 32 balls but it was Smaran’s late innings fireworks that steered the Mystics home comfortably in 18 overs. Smaran hammered a six to complete the run chase and bring up his half century in 22 balls, including five fours and four sixes.
Earlier, the Warriors’ decision to bat first looked promising as opener Karthik SU lit up the early overs with three fours and three sixes in a brisk 17-ball 36. Lavish Kaushal removed CA Karthik (4) in and struck again in the sixth over to dismiss Karthik SU a ball after being hit for three consecutive boundaries, taking the hosts to 53/2 at the powerplay.
Local boy, Venkatesh M then joined Harshil Dharmani in a fluent 72-run stand off 48 balls. Harshil (40 off 23) cleared the ropes thrice before falling to Mystics skipper Vyshak Vijaykumar in the 14th over bringing the score to 123/3. Venkatesh, who began cautiously, reached his 40-ball fifty with a towering six off Praveen Dubey and, in partnership with captain Manish Pandey (12), added a rapid 48 in 22 balls. He followed his half-century with 27 runs in just 10 deliveries before Monish Reddy removed him in the 18th over at 171/4.
The innings faltered in the closing stages. Five wickets fell in the span of 15 deliveries with Pandey, Sumit (0) and K Gowtham (0) departing in quick succession, as the Warriors eventually posted 184/9. Lavish Kaushal was the pick of the Mystics attack with figures of 3/38, while Monish Reddy returned 2/30 in his three overs.
Brief Scores
Gulbarga Mystics won by 8 wkts
Mysore Warriors 184/9 in 20 overs (Karthik SU 36 runs off 17 balls, Harshil Dharmani 40 runs off 23 balls, Venkatesh M 77 runs off 50 balls, Lavish Kaushal 3/38, Monish Reddy 2/30)
Gulbarga Mystics 187/2 in 18 overs (Nikin Jose 52* runs off 39 balls ,Prajwal Pavan 45 runs in 33 balls, Smaran R 52* runs off 22 balls, CA Karthik 1/23, Yashovardhan Parantap 1/44)
