KSCA T20: Shivamogga Lions clinch victory in nail-biting finish against Gulbarga Mystics to remain undefeated

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 18 : Shivamogga Lions prevailed over the Gulbarga Mystics in a final over thriller to win their third consecutive game in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20. Chasing an imposing target of 176, they were reduced to 39-5, before contributions from Shreyas Gopal (52), Abhinav Manohar (28), S Shivraj (27*) and HS Sharath (31*) took them home from a difficult position. They chased down the target in 19.5 overs with three wickets in hand.
Asked to bat first by the Shivamogga Lions’ skipper Shreyas Gopal, the Gulbarga Mystics were off to a disastrous start with LR Chethan run out by a direct hit from Kranthi Kumar in the very first over of the match. The Shivamogga bowlers piled on the dot balls and in a bid to break free from the pressure, Sourabh Muttur fell to V Koushik. However, a few boundaries from opener Aadarsh Prajwal (43) helped his team recover to a score of 35-2 at the end of the powerplay.
The tenth over bowled by pacer HS Sharath fetched Gulbarga 23 runs with two fours coming from southpaw R Smaran (40) and a six from Aadarsh Prajwal, taking them to 86-2 after 10 overs. The two added 77 runs off 47 balls for the third wicket before a watchful Prajwal (43 runs off 41 balls) was dismissed by Kranthi Kumar in the 13th over. The next over saw Shivamogga skipper Shreyas Gopal remove Smaran (40 runs off 28 balls) leaving the team in a precarious position at 107-4 after 14 overs.
Shivamogga pacer Kranthi Kumar came back to get rid of Amit Verma (10) and Macneil Noronha (16) to finish with figures of 3/17 in his four overs. Srinivas Sharath (22* off 11 balls) and D Avinash (19*off 9 balls) made the death overs their own putting together an unbeaten partnership of 38 runs from 17 balls to propel Shivamogga to175-6 in 20 overs.
In the second innings, the Gulbarga bowlers were all over the Shivamogga Lions, picking up five wickets with skipper Vyshak Vijaykumar and the leading wicket-taker of the tournament Abhilash Shetty picking two wickets apiece. Sharan Goud also got the crucial wicket of Kranthi Kumar to have Shivamogga struggling at 43-5 after 6 overs.
Skipper Shreyas Gopal (52) and Abhinav Manohar (28) then steadied the ship by rotating strike and put together a partnership of 71 runs in 57 balls. In the 14th over, Gopal took young left-arm spinner Hardik Raj for 18 runs and reached his half-century in the process before being caught deep off the final delivery leaving the team with 66 runs to get in the final six overs.
S Shivraj (27* off 17 balls) came in and found boundaries immediately before Abhinav Manohar was dismissed by D Avinash to bring HS Sharath to the crease. The tall pacer from Mandya played match-winning innings of 31* runs from just 11 deliveries with two fours and three sixes to take the Shivamogga Lions past the target with three wickets and one ball to spare.

Brief Scores: Gulbarga Mystics- 175/6 in 20 overs (Aadarsh Prajwal 43, Smaran R 40, Srinivas Sharath 22*, Kranthi Kumar 3/17, Shreyas Gopal 1/29, V Koushik 1/47) vs Shivamogga Lions - 179/7 in 19.5 overs (Shreyas Gopal 52, HS Sharath 31*, Abhinav Manohar 28, S Shivaraj 27*, Vijaykumar Vyshak 2/25, Abhilash Shetty 2/45, Sharan Goud 1/29).