KPL 2016: Bellary Tuskers' semi-final chances improve after 5-wicket win

Hubballi, Sep 27: Amit Verma and Rohan Kadam turned the match on its head to star in Bellary Tuskers' superbly paced out 5-wicket win over Belagavi Panthers in the 5th Karnataka Premier League (KPL) Twenty20 tournament at the KSCA Stadium in Rajnagar on Monday (September 26).

Full schedule of the tournament

A 35-minute interlude owing to rains at the start of the Tuskers' chase of Panthers' 138 played its part in the outcome of the match. It speeded up the sluggish pitch and made stroke-making relatively easier.

The experienced Verma latched on to this and hammered a quickfire 30 (14b, 3x6, 1x4) to stun the opponents. The target had been revised to 129 from 18 overs and Verma's cameo came in handy.

Opener and Man-of-the-match Rohan Kadam (53; 36b, 1x6, 7x4) and Chiranjeevi (20 n.o, 20b, 1x6, 1x4) kept the pressure on Pathers. The win ensured that Tuskers now have a serious shot at making the semi-final stage. Panthers' medium pacer T Pradeep was the pick of the bowlers.

Earlier, opting to bat first Belagavi Panthers found stroke-making a difficult proposition on the day's pitch.

Medium pacer Prasidh Krishna bowled a superb outswinger to knock back opener Mayank Agarwal's off stump and came back later to account for top scorer Kunain Abbas (52; 44b, 5x4).

Abbas and Shoaib Manager (32; 29b, 3x4) were the only batsmen to make worthwhile scores as Prateek Jain (3 for 33) and Akhil Balachandra (2 for 19) too kept a tight check on the run flow.

Brief scores

Belagavi Panthers: 138 for 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, Chiranjeevi 20 n.o, T Pradeep 2/13) by 5 wickets on VJD method.

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