KPL 2015 Final: Bijapur Bulls favourites to clinch maiden title

The Bulls will be hoping that Robin Uthappa can guide the team to victory

Bijapur Bulls will take on Hubli Tigers in the final of the Karnataka Premier League Season 4 at the Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar Ground, Mysore later today. Bulls are the clear favourites heading into the contest as they have never lost a match against their opponents but as they say, “Cricket is a funny game.”

Bellagavi Panthers were the dominant side during the qualifiers but couldn’t carry their form forward to the crucial knockout stages and will have to watch the final match from the sidelines. It will be a battle of nerves as much as anything and Bulls would do well not to take their opponents lightly especially in a format where the game can be decided in a matter of a few deliveries.

The Bulls have a well settled line-up with their spin duo of KC Cariappa and KP Appanna doing a brilliant job this season picking up 13 and 11 wickets respectively. In the batting department, Robin Uthappa has lived up to the pressure while the likes of R Samarth, Rajoo Bhatkal and skipper B Akhil have chipped in with useful contributions.

Hubli Tigers meanwhile left it pretty late to come good winning their final league games before grabbing the key moments in the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 to earn their place for Sunday’s match. In the absence of the injured KL Rahul, the likes of Mohammad Taha, KB Pawan and Chethan William has steeped up and have done the bulk of the scoring. Taha in fact has scored three half centuries so far and is only 22 runs behind Sadiq Kirmani in the run-scorers chart.

Just like their batting, the Tigers’ bowling was also handicapped by the absence of Sreenath Aravind who has since gone on to earn his spot in the Indian T20 squad thanks to his impressive performances for India A. Kishore Kamat has been the standout bowler picking up nine scalps at an impressive economy rate of 5.70.

The Bulls beat the much fancied Panthers in comforatble fashion to book their place in the finals and with their unbeaten history against the Tigers, it will take a brave man to bet against them clinching their maiden KPL title.

Probable line-ups:

Hubli Tigers: KB Pawan, Mohammed Taha, Kunal Kapoor (c), Nitin Bhille (wk), Dikshanshu Negi, Chethan William, Kranthi Kumar, Kishore Kamath, Santhebennur Akshay, Prateek Jain, Shivil Kaushik

Bijapur Bulls: R Samarth, Rajoo Bhatkal, Robin Uthappa (wk), Suneel Raju, B Akhil (c), Nidesh M, Deepak Chougule, Vyshak V, Abhimanyu Mithun, KP Appanna, KC Cariappa