KPL 2018

All-rounder MG Naveen led the reply with a 31-ball 43 (4x5, 2x6), his 47-run opening stand with skipper Chipli (18, 19b, 4x4) from 6.3 overs, ensuring a smooth passage to the title

Credit must also go to Bijapur bowlers who bowled their hearts out. From 52/1 in the first six Powerplay overs, openers Mohammed Taha (24, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) and Abhishek Reddy (42, 33b, 4x4, 1x6) doing the damage for Hubli, the Bulls fought back

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) hosted two women's exhibition matches during the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2018. The games were played before the semi-finals of KPL

With both left-handers gone, Uthappa promptly took Brar off despite his figures reading 2-0-5-1 at the stage and brought in leggie Gopal (3-0-13-3) to the right-handed Shoaib Manager.

In the Super Over that followed, incidentally the first ever Super Over in KPL history, Ballari Tuskers made 21/1 with skipper CM Gautam, who should have finished the match earlier, making 13 not out, slamming his counterpart Anirudh Joshi for two big sixes. Shivamogga, in turn, made just nine for no loss to finish last in the League.

League toppers Bengaluru will once again take on Mysuru in the first semifinal on Tuesday while second-placed Hubli Tigers will meet Bijapur Bulls, who finished third, in the second semi-final on Wednesday

Mysuru though kept chipping away at the wickets and at the end of the 15th over they had kept Bijapur down to 119 for 4, mostly thanks to three smart catches by KV Siddarth, who was over the place, picking his catches at midwicket, long off and long on, the first one seeing the back of a dangerous looking Kaunain Abbas (42, 24b, 4x6)

Koushik, who came back to bowl the 18th and final over after his first two had gone for just two runs, gave away only four more to finish with 3-0-6-2. It was a fine display of swing bowling in slightly helpful conditions, thanks to the change in weather

The final over too saw its share of drama with number nine Shubang Hedge sending the first ball from left-arm pacer Prateek Jain for six. The bowler recovered from the blow, kept his nerve, and finally pulled it off for his side in front of the noisy home supporters

This can directly be attributed to the introduction of Kannada commentary by host broadcasters Star Sports.  Karnataka’s leading cricketers Sunil Joshi, Vijay Bharadwaj, Sujith Somasundar and B Akhil have regaled the audiences with their frank and decisive description of the games

All-rounder Avinash, who came in with 45 needed off 32 balls, smashed his way to an unbeaten 35 (17b, 4x4, 2x6) which included two sixes over extra cover off the slow medium pace of Bharath Dhuri, the man who had dismissed Binny

Had their catching been better they wouldn’t have had even that much to chase. The Mysuru fielders put down as many as four possible catches, at least a couple of them being straightforward ones

Then with nine needed off the final over which became six off the final ball, Bharath swung a poor Karthik delivery way over the fine-leg boundary to seal it for Bijapur. It was also a no ball

Set an asking rate of 9.15 in their second match, Mysuru too began well and raced to 63 for 1 in the six Powerplay overs thanks to opener Arjun Hoysala (31, 18b, 2x4, 3x6) but later suffered a mini collapse against the many spinners that Vinay pressed into service

Two towering sixes in the over by the right-handed batsman shifted the momentum back to the Blasters and despite the loss of Devraj (38, 41b, 3x4) to Aditya Somanna in the 18th over, they managed to cross the line with five balls and two wickets to spare