Hubballi: Amit Verma and Rohan Kadam starred as Bellary Tuskers paced out five-wicket win over Belagavi Panthers in a rain-curtailed KPL-5 clash at the KSCA Stadium in Rajnagar here on Monday.
Batting first, Panthers piled up a modest 138/8 as Kunain Abbas made a composed 44-ball 52 (5x4). Down the middle order, Shoaib Manager came up with a handy 32 (29b, 3x4) as pacer Prateek Jain (3/33) and Akhil Balachandra (2/19) kept a tight check on the run flow.
As Tuskers geared up for the chase, a 35-minute delay led the umpires to revise the target to 129 in 18 overs. Rohan Kadam (53; 36b, 1x6, 7x4) and Verma (30, 14b, 3x6, 1x4) fired on all cylinders as Tuskers emerged victorious with sevens to spare. With this win, Tuskers have kept their semifinal hopes alive.
Bulls cruise
In the second game of the evening, Naveen MG smashed an 33-ball 52 (2x4, 3x6) in Bijapur Bulls’ comfortable 68-run win against Rockstars.
Batting first, Bulls raced to stack up 175/8 as Bharath Chipli scored 32. Raju Gowda claimed two wickets while Charan Teja took two. In reply, Rockstars crashed for 107.
Brief scores: Bijapur Bulls: 175/8 in 20 overs (Bharath Chipli 32, Naveen MG 52, Raju Gowda 3/24, Charan teja 2/22) bt Rockstars: 107 all out in 20 overs (Sharath BR 24, Charan Teja 28, Sinan Abdul Khader 3/18, Ashdeep Singh Brar 2/19) by 68 runs.
Belagavi Panthers: 138/8 in 20 overs (Kunain Abbas 52, Shoaib Manager 32, Prateek Jain 3/33, Akhil Balachandra 2/19, Prasidh Krishna 2/26) lost to Bellary Tuskers: 129 for 5 in 16.5 overs (Rohan Kadam 53, Amit Verma 30, T Pradeep 2/13) by 5 wickets.
