KPL 2019: Bengaluru Blasters' register thrilling one-run victory against Ballari Tuskers

Nagging rain and a few callous strokes on the part of the Ballari Tuskers meant Bengaluru Blasters won their first match by one run via the VJD Method in the Redmi Karnataka Premier League, powered by Dream11 here on Thrusday.

Asked to bat, Blasters reached 93 for 8 in 16 overs and their tally was revised to 99 after rain curtailed the innings at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Thursday. Tuskers made it to 55 for 5 when the second spell of rain stopped play. The VJD par score was 56.

Earlier, the Blasters stuttered to 58 for 4 in 11 overs when rain forced a stoppage of play at 3:50 pm. The heavy but brief shower meant the groundsmen had the ground ready in about half-an-hour and the players returned to the field at 5 pm.

The game was reduced to a 16-overs-a-side affair, leaving the Blasters with five overs to land some blows. They tried, but with Abrar Kazi (3/15) and the rest of Tuskers’ bowling unit staying sharp, they didn’t go too far.

The trend of teams losing an opener inside the first two overs was once again in evidence as Tuskers lost CA Karthik to Manoj S Bhandage (2/17) for nought off the first ball of the second over.

Devdutt Padikkal fell soon but Abhishek Reddy (30) kept the scoring rate up, and with CM Gautam, threatened to take the game away from Blasters. Anand Doddamani struck big when he got rid of Reddy, but there was more drama to come as Gautam and Zeeshan Ali Sayeed fell within six runs of each other. To Gautam’s ire almost all of the dismissals, including his own, were a result of poor shot selection.

Blasters had Tuskers on the mat at 55 for 5, but another quick spell of rain halted proceedings at 6:19 pm. Though the rain had abated, the game had run out of time, leaving the Blasters without a chance of a fourth successive win in as many games.

Brief scores: Bengaluru Blasters 93 for 8 in 16 overs (Rohan Kadam 22; Abrar Kazi 3-15) beat (revised VJD total 99 in 16 overs) Bellary Tuskers 55 for 5 (Abhishek Reddy 30; Manoj S Bhandage 2-17, Bharath Dhuri 2-9) by 1 run. VJD par score: 56.

Divya stars for Tuskers

G Divya lead from the front with a fine 55 not out to guide Ballari Tuskers to a win over Shivamogga Lions in the opening women’s KPL contest at the Raja Rajeswari Medical College grounds on Thursday.

The Tuskers put up 103 for 6 in 20 overs despite C Parthyusha’s 2 for 12 before restricting the Lions to 86 for 9 in 20 overs to win by 17 runs.

Chandu V and Nikki Prasad finished with identical figures of 2 for 16, while Shreyanka Patil ended with 2 for 18.

Brief scores: Ballari Tuskers 103 for 6 in 20 overs (Divya G 55 not out; Parthyusha C 2-12) beat Shivamogga Lions 86 for 9 in 20 overs (Chandu V 2-16, Shreyanka Patil 2-18, Nikki Prasad 2-16) by 17 runs.

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