KPL 2018: Robin Uthappa heroics seal victory for Bengaluru Blasters

It was the Robin Uthappa show at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during the inaugural match of the Karnataka Premier League 2018.

His experience came in handy for the home side as he smashed his way to a 81 run knock in just 38 deliveries with eight fours and six sixes to his name as the Blasters thrashed the defending champions Belegavi Panthers.

There was an immense amount of rain prior to the match. At one point, it looked like no play would be possible, however, due to the world-class drainage system, which was introduced by Sub-Air last year, play began about half an hour after a heavy bout of rain.

The Blasters started off well with Vishwanathan taking the attack to the bowlers.

They lost the wicket of Pawan early on, however, once Uthappa came at the crease, there was no turning back. He took his time to get going but once he did, there was no stopping him. He smashed the hapless Panthers bowlers to all parts of the ground with some sublime strokes.

He did not spare any bowler and took on all of them with aplomb. He formed fifty-plus partnerships along with Vishwanathan and Pavan Deshpande, both who missed out on scoring a half-century. In the end, he was dismissed towards the end of the innings while looking to smash Binny for a six over long-off.

In reply, the Panthers began extremely slowly in their chase and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. First, it was Stallin Hoover, who had a terrible time with the ball as well. He was dismissed for a golden duck in the very first over.

None of the batsmen were able to stick around at the crease for a long time. Sharath was the only one who troubled the opposition bowlers, scoring a quickfire 49. However, he was dismissed at the wrong time, thus denying any chance for the Panthers to come back into the game.

In the end, the Blasters won the match by 67 runs.