Pavan Deshpande walked in at the fall of the third wicket and totally disrupted Mangalore United’s game plan in the second match of the day. The left hander’s aggressive running between the wickets with skipper Stuart Binny and free flow of strokes on either side of the pitch saw Namma Shivamogga register a seven-wicket win in the fifth edition of the KPL 2016 on Thursday.
Chasing 144 for a win the Shivamogga team were 69 for three in the 10th over when Pavan joined Binny and set about flaying the rival attack. His brilliant 47 off just 30 deliveries (2x6, 5x4) and the unbroken 75-run fourth wicket stand with Binny 31 n.o. (23b, 4x4) saw the team winning in a canter with 13 balls to spare.
Earlier, put in to bat, Mangalore United made an excellent late rally to ramp up their final score to 143 for 6 from 20 overs. The Mangaloreans were 100 for four in the 17th overs and were in danger of being restricted to under 125. But M Nidhish (32; 18b, 1x6, 4x4) changed gear and led the charge on the opposition.
Mangalore had a good opening stand of 69 between their most experienced batsmen, CM Gautham (49; 45b, 6x4) and skipper Karun Nair (29; 30b 4x4). Although the duo had weathered the new ball and set a good platform, the other batsmen failed to capitalise on it.
Then, just when it looked like Namma Shivamogga would have a cakewalk Nidhish came up with his late assault. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna (2/17) was the pick of the bowlers and was hence declared man of the match.
Brief scores:
Mangalore United: 143/6 (CM Gautham 49, M Nidhish 32, Karun Nair 29, KP Appana 2/17) lost to Namma Shivamogga 144/3 in 17.5 overs (Pavan Deshpande 47 n.o, Stuart Binny 31 n.o, Sadiq Kirmani 26) by seven wickets.
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