Hubballi, Sep 29: Belagavi Panthers moved one step closer to a semi-final berth when they crushed Rockstars by 9 wickets in a rain-truncated Karnataka Premier League (KPL) Twenty20 tournament match at the KSCA Stadium at Rajnagar on Wednesday (September 28).

Full schedule of the tournament; Mayank sets KPL record

Morning rains ensured that the match started 40 minutes late and Belagavi, who needed to win this tie to stay in the race for a semi-final spot opted to field first under grey skies and the threat of rain hanging over their fortunes.

They dominated the afternoon match that was played under lights by constantly chipping away at the Rockstars batsmen. Only opener Vihaan Rajeev (24) made a worthwhile score.

A target of 88 in 18 overs was never going to challenge Belagavi and with Man-of-the-match Mayank Agarwal (66 not out, 31 balls, 7x6, 3x4) going great guns the win became a formality.

On way to his aggressive half century, Mayank set a KPL record, becoming the first batsman in the tournament's history to complete 1,000 runs.

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Brief scores

Rockstars: 87 for 9 in 18 overs (Vihaan Rajeev 24, Raju Gowda 19, Satish Bharadwaj 3/12, S Sachin 2/ 32, Praveen Dubey 2/16, CK Akshay 2/9) lost to Belagavi Panthers: 91 for 1 in 8 overs (Mayank Agarwal 66 not out, Kunaian Abbas 19 n.o.) by 9 wickets.

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