Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20: Manish Pandey and Sumit star in Mysuru Warriors’ opening match triumph

MYSURU: Manish Pandey and Sumit Kumar’s unbeaten partnership of 86 runs and LR Kumar’s three-wicket haul helped defending champions Mysuru Warriors register a stunning 39-run win over Bengaluru Blasters in their opening match of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 tournament at the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Stadium in Mysuru on Monday.

Blasters were bowled out in 19.1 overs with 141 runs on board with their skipper Mayank Agarawal’s 66 off 49 balls going in vain. Chasing a formidable total of 180, Bengaluru Blasters’ batting order was put to the test by Mysuru Blasters’ pacers LR Kumar and Karthik CA, who demolished the opening line-up with their lethal spells. LR Kumar bagged the first wicket, when Chethan (8) was caught by Manish Pandey while Karthik bowled out Rohan Patil (10). No.4 batter Bhuvan Raju was packed off for a golden duck, leaving the Blasters at a precarious 22 for 3 in 3.4 overs.

Blasters captain Mayank Agarawal and Shubhang attempted to stabilise the innings with 32 runs, but K Gowtham halted their partnership, getting Hegde caught by Bhuvan Shetty. Gowtham remained the cynosure of Mysuru Warriors’ bowling attack as he picked up Suraj Ahuja’s wicket while Shikar Shetty dismissed Rohan Naveen, and M Venkatesh bowled out Naveen MG.

However, there was still some hope in the Blasters’ dugout as their captain, Agarawal, was still at the crease, but with a dipping run-rate, the Bengaluru side were staring at a hard-fought loss. The tail-enders went in quick succession, and Mayank perished as well in the 19th over.

Opting to bat first, skipper Manish Pandey lived up to the billing with a swashbuckling unbeaten 58 off 29 balls, which helped the hosts set up a strong total of 180 for five wickets. Pandey’s entertaining knock, which exemplified aggression with a subtle touch of calmness, was studded with four boundaries and four sixes.

His innings was ably supported by wicketkeeper-batsman Sumit Kumar, who remained unbeaten at 44 runs. He was gifted two lives when he was dropped at 28 runs by Rohan Naveen off Naveen MG and again in the death overs by Kruthik Krishna off Naveen MG. The duo stitched together a valuable sixth-wicket unbroken partnership of 86 runs in 48 balls and weathered the pace of Shubhang Hegde, who had scalped three Mysuru Warriors wickets.

Earlier in the innings, opening batter SU Karthik (3) fell early for a caught and bowled effort by Naveen MG, while pacer Vidyadhar Patil stunned Codanda Ajit Karthik, who was threatening to shine, having scored four boundaries in his 13-run outing.

Down by two wickets and just 20 runs on board, No.3 batter Muralidhara Venkatesh and Harshil Dharmani had their task cut out. They steered the innings and brought stability with 41 runs off 29 balls for the third wicket partnership, taking the total to 61 before Venkatesh (12) fell for Shubhang Hegde’s bowling. He was caught by Bengaluru Blasters’ skipper Mayank Agarawal at long-on. Next to walk back to the dugout fairly quickly was KS Lankesh, thanks to Hegde’s quicker one. Hegde was successful in dismissing Dharmani, too, who was inching towards a half-ton with 38 runs on board off 31 balls.

Pandey and Sumit, however, were outstanding to stick till the end and played out a solid nine overs to reach a commanding total.

Brief Scores: Mysore Warriors 180/5 in 20 overs (Manish Pandey 58*, Sumit Kumar 44*; Shubhang Hegde 3/23) vs Bengaluru Blasters 141/10 in 19.2 overs (Mayank Agarawal 66, Vidyadhar Patil 16, Kumar LR 3/27). (ANI)