Bengaluru, Aug 17: Starting the Bengaluru-leg of the Maharaja Trophy, Mysuru Warriors defeated Mangalore United by six wickets in the league match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday (August 17). It was the opening game of the Bengaluru-leg of the domestic T20 tournament organised under the tutelage of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
Chasing a target of 172, Mysuru Warriors' victory was powered by Pavan Deshpande's unbeaten 53 off 35 balls and Karun Nair's quickfire 47 off 27 balls. Deshpande's composed innings included 4 boundaries and two sixes while Nair scored three boundaries and three over it.
The duo built a strong partnership of 88 runs in 50 balls after opening batters Nihal Ullal (25 off 22) and Nitin Bhille (11 off 9) fell early in the game. For Mysuru Warriors, bowlers Prateek Jain and Aditya Goyal bagged two wickets each while Vidyadhar Patil picked up a wicket.
Earlier in the match, Mangalore United set up a total of 171/7 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Abhinav Manohar played an explosive innings fetching 68 runs off 35 balls. He struck five boundaries and five sixes in his pursuit to help his team set up a strong total on board.
His innings was well-supported by Nikin Jose who also scored a half century (55 off 47 balls). Their skipper R Samarth coming out to open the batting for Mangalore United could muster just 22 runs off 16 balls before he lost his wicket to Prateek Jain.
Mysuru Warriors' bowling unit did a commendable job to pick up early wickets that put the Mangalore United batting line-up under early pressure. Prateek Jain sent Macneil Noronha back to the dugout for a knot in the very first over of the match while their second wicket fell in the fourth over, again it was Prateek who got Samarth for lbw.
With this win, Mysuru Warriors remain on course to make it to the knockouts. They are currently placed second in the pool table with four wins, three losses, and a total of eight points. Mangalore United has been pushed to third place with eight points with lesser NRR compared to Mysuru Warriors.
Brief Scores:
Mysuru Warriors: 172/4 in 20 overs. (Pavan Deshpande 53 off 35 balls, Karun Nair (c) 47 off 27 balls; Prateek Jain 31/2, Aditya Goyal 41/2) beat Mangalore United (Abhinav Manohar 68 off 35 balls, Nikin Jose 55 off 47 balls, Ravikumar Samrath 22 off 16 balls; M Venkatesh 20/2, HS Sharath 32/2) by six wickets.