Panthers hand Bulls first defeat of KPL Season 4 as Vinay Kumar sizzles with the bat

Vinay Kumar earned the Man of the Match award for his unbeaten knock of 60

Mysuru, Sept 16: An unbeaten 60 by skipper R Vinay Kumar and his 61-run association for the second wicket with Stalin Hoover (41) paved the way for Belagavi Panthers’ convincing seven-wicket victory over Bijapur Bulls in the Karbonn Smart KPL 2015 here on Wednesday Night.

With the victory the Panthers achieved two things; they went to the top of the table with a net run rate of +1.375 as against Bijapur Bulls’ +1.000; secondly they handed the Bulls their first defeat to ensure no team stayed unbeaten in the league phase.

Chasing The Bulls’ painfully slow 118, Belagavi lost opener Reddy early. But Stalin and Vinay made merry on a wicket that was difficult to bat on. Three teams, two from the first match and the Bulls in the second failed to come to terms with the slowness of the wicket and struggled to make runs.

But the Panthers showed that they had shrugged off the lethargy they displayed on Monday night and went about ensuring victory for themselves. After the fall of Hoover, Vinay continued to call the shots and led his team through.

Earlier, Bijapur Bulls were in all kinds of trouble losing wickets in quick bursts. Even the batsmen who spent time in the middle for a fair bit were guilty of throwing their wicket away. Thanks to Nidesh M (24 N.O.) and Vyshak (21), the Bulls managed to post 118 in their allotted 20 overs, in spite of struggling at 73 for seven at one point of time.

The two teams will clash again in Qualifier One on Friday evening.

SCOREBOARD

Toss: Won by Belagavi Panthers; opted to field.

Bijapur Bulls:

R Samarth c Chiranjeevi b S Hoover 23 (19b, 5 x 4); Rajoo Bhatkal b Vinay 8; Robin Uthappa (run out) 11; Aditya Somanna c P Dubey b K Bharath 21 (25b, 1 x 4); Deepak Chougule c Chiranjeevi b Vinu Prasad 0; Suneel Raju b K Bharath 3; Sharath B R c & c Zeeshan Ali 1; Nidish M (not out) 24 (23b, 1 x 4); Vyshak Vijay Kumar c Chianjeevi b HS Sharath 21 (20b, 2 x 4); KC Cariappa (not out) 0.

Extras: (b-1, lb-3, w-2) 6.

Total: (For eight wickets, 20 overs) 118

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Bhatkal); 2-32 (Samarth); 3-62 (Uthappa); 4-66 (Chougule); 5-69 (Somanna); 6-71 (Raju); 7-73 (Sharath);

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 4-0-28-1; HS Sharath 4-0-28-1; Stalin Hoover 3-0-16-1; Praveen Dubey 4-0-20-0; Vinu Prasad 2-0-12-1; K Bharath 2-0-8-2; Zeeshan Ali Sayyed 1-0-2-1.

Belagavi Panthers:

Abhishek Reddy c KC Raghavendra b A Somanna 5; Stalin Hoover c Samarth b Cariappa 41 (27b, 5 x 4, 1 x 6); Vinay Kumar (not out) 60 (49b, 7 x 4, 1 x 6); Abdul Majid c Uthappa b KC Raghavendra 4; R Jonathan (not out) 6.

Extras: (lb-1, w-4) 5.

Total: (For three wickets, 16.2 overs)

Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Reddy); 2-85 (Hoover); 3-96 (Majid).

Bowling: Vyshak Vijay Kumar 2-0-14-0; Aditya Somanna 2.2-0-27-1; Suneel Raju 1-0-7-0; R Samarth 1-0-12-0; KC Raghavendra 4-0-30-1; KC Cariappa 3-0-10-0; Nidesh M 3-0-20-0.

Result: Belagavi Panthers won by seven wickets.