Uthappa, spinners guide Bijapur Bulls to KPL final

Veteran skipper KP Appanna picked up three wickets

Mysuru, Sept 18: A fine 50 by Robin Uthappa, coming in at No 3 and his 73-run partnership for the second wicket enabled Bijapur Bulls to storm into the final of the Karbonn Smart KPL 2015 here on Friday. Taking on last year’s finalists Belagavi Panthers in the first qualifier, the Bulls depicted good all-round work in the contest to romp home comfortable six-wicket winners and take their spot in the title tilt.

Chasing the Panthers’ meager 118, the Bulls lost opener Samarth (0) off the second ball of the innings. But Robin and Rajoo Bhatkal (23), dropped when yet to open his account, stayed calm and went about their job of stabilizing the innings. Once set, Uthappa began freeing his shoulders and hammered five fours and three sixes in the 41 balls he faced putting his team on the road to victory.

Bhatkal fell soon after, but Suneel Raju (19 N.O.) showed the right approach and along with Nidesh M (11 N.O.) guided the team past the target.

Earlier, some disciplined bowling by the Bulls saw the Panthers struggling. Runs were not easy to come on a wicket that was slow and the Panthers batsmen went for their shots and paid the price. Veteran left-arm spinner KP Appanna and young leggie KC Cariappa bowled intelligently to claim three wickets apiece even as four opposition batsmen got into double figures but failed to capitalize on the starts.

Belagavi will now clash in an all cats affair with Hubli Tigers in Qualifier II on Saturday with the winner earning the right to take on Bijapur in the final on Sunday.

SCOREBOARD

Toss: Won by Bijapur Bulls; opted to field.

Belagavi Panthers:

Stallin Hoover c Suneel Raju b Vyshak V 1; Vinay Kumar c Rajoo B b Akhil B 8; Abhishek Reddy c Akhil B b Appanna KP 27 (27b, 4x4); Jonathan Ibw Appanna KP 15; Zeeshan Ali Sayyed c Samarth R b KC Cariappa 4; Chiranjeevi GS st R Uthappa b Appanna KP 2; KN Bharath c Appanna KP b KC Cariappa 14; Praveen D c Deepak Chougule b KC Cariappa 15; Extras (b2, Ib 5, w1) 8.

Total (For Eight wickets, 20 overs) 118

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Stallin Hoover); 2-31 (Vinay Kumar); 3-52 (Abhishek Reddy); 4-52 (Jonathan); 5-62 (Zeeshan Ali Sayyed); 6-66 (Chiranjeevi GS); 7-88 (KN Bharath); 8-102 (Praveen D);

Bowling: Abhimanyu Mithun 4-0-23-0; Vyshak V 3-0-17-1; Rajoo Bhatkal 2-0-16-0; Akhil Balachandra 1-0-4-1; Suneel Raju 2-0-9-0; Appanna KP 4-0-18-3; Cariappa KC 4-0-24-3.

Bijapur Bulls:

Samarth R Ibw Vinay Kumar 0; Robin Uthappa c Praveen D b Stallin Hoover 50 (41b, 5x4, 3x6); Rajoo Bhatkal c Vinay Kumar b Stallin Hoover 23 (23b, 3x4); Akhil Balachandra c Bharath KN b Sharath HS 13; Suneel Raju 19 (not out); Nidesh M 11 (not out) Extras (b1, Ib 2, w3) 6

Total (For Four Wickets, 16.4 overs) 122

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Samarth R); 2-73 (Robin Uthappa); 3-81 (Rajoo Bhatkal); 4-100 (Akhil Balachandra);

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 3-0-13-1; Sharath HS 3-0-20-1; Praveen Dubey 4-0-27-0; Stallin Hoover 3-0-20-2; Vinu Prasad 2-0-20-0; Bharath KN 1-0-11-0; Zeeshan Ali Sayyed 0.4-0-8-0.

Result: Bijapur Bulls won by 6 wickets.