JOIN US It was power-hitting at its best as Abhimanyu Mithun (30 n.o., 10b) and M Nidish (33 n.o., 16b) guided Bijapur Bulls to a thrilling four-wicket victory over Ballari Tuskers in their Karnataka Premier League game at the S D N R W ground here on Saturday.
CM Gautam’s unbeaten 35-ball 50 helped Ballari post 172/6. In response, Bijapur were then reduced to 118/6 in the 17th over. The Bulls still needed 55 runs and the duo of Mithun and Nidish produced a scintillating effort to knock of the required runs in 17 balls.
Also playing a crucial role in Bijapur’s chase was their captain Bharath Chipli who slammed a half-century (63). He took on both Zahoor Faroqui and Prateek Jain and continued on the attack. Bijapur were well-placed at 73/1 at the half-way stage. However, the defending champions got back into the game when Anil IG, the left-arm spinner, managed to dismiss Chipli.
However, Mithun then entered the fray. He used his muscles well to loft two sixes off the final two balls of the over, lofting both down the ground for six. Nidish then repeated the feat off Jain, clubbing a couple of consecutive sixes, one of which cleared the ground. The target was reduced to 25 off the final two overs.
The penultimate over, by Faroqui, yielded 13 runs after Nidish found the fence off the last two deliveries. Mithun then took charge, clearing his front leg for two massive sixes .
Binny stars again
In the second game of the day, Stuart Binny (52 and 2/23) scripted yet another all-round show to help Belagavi Panthers register a 30-run victory over hosts Mysuru Warriors.
Brief scores: Ballari Tuskers 172/6 in 20 overs (Amit Verma 46, CM Gautam 50; Abhimanyu Mithun 2-26, Naveen MG 2-35) lt to Bijapur Bulls 174/6 in 19.3 overs (Bharat Chipli 63, Nidish M 33 n.o., Abhimanyu Mithun 30 n.o.; Zahoor Faroqui 2-41).
Belagavi Panthers: 180/5 in 20 overs (Manish Pandey 25, Stuart Binny 52 n.o; NP Bhareth 1-31) bt Mysuru Warriors: 150/8 in 20 overs (K C Avinash 47, Shreyas Gopal 25; Stuart Binny 2-23, Shubhang Hegde 2-32, Darshan Machaiah 2-17).