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KPL 2018: Bijapur Bulls claim record 2nd title

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

KPL 2018 Bijapur Bulls win record 2nd title
Author
Mysuru, First Published Sep 7, 2018, 9:14 AM IST

Mysuru: Bijapur Bulls became the first team in the Karnataka Premium League (KPL) to claim the title a second time. They had earlier won in 2015.

The Bharath Chipli-led side completely dominated the final at the SDNR Wadiyar Stadium on Thursday night (September 6), handing the hapless Bengaluru Blasters a seven-wicket defeat, incidentally their first loss in the tournament.

Boosted by another stellar performance from their star left-arm spinner KP Appanna, whose skills ensured that the Bulls were up against the lowest ever target in a KPL, the Bulls chased down Blasters’ very poor 101 all out inside the 14th over.

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.

Naveen had earlier picked up two 19 after his skipper Chipli had decided to bowl first. The Blasters came up with a terrible performance to be bowled out for a poor 101 off the last ball of the 20th and final over.

As bad as the Blasters batting was, Appanna’s bowling was exemplary. He had got two crucial wickets in the semi-final, ending with two for 28 against Hubli Tigers, but on Thursday night at the packed SDNR Wadiyar Stadium, he went one better with three for 16 from his four overs.

Coming on in the 8th over with the Blasters on 37/2, Appanna struck straightaway, having opener KB Pawan caught at deep midwicket. Using the arm ball to the left-handers and the stock away ball to the right-handers Appanna kept the batsmen guessing all the time.

As usual he got good support from fellow spinners KC Cariappa and Suneel Raju, the latter having two catches dropped off his bowling.

Of the top five batsmen in the Bengaluru Blasters line-up, only opener KB Pawan (22, 25b, 1x4, 1x6) got into double figures and to think he was actually dropped twice before he made 10.

The biggest blow was the loss of their skipper Robin Uthappa, the one with the experience and skill to handle both the pressure of a big final as also the vagaries of a wearing surface.

Medium pace-bowling all-rounder Naveen made up for dropping Pawan when with his first ball he had Uthappa (9) chasing a wide ball that moved away a shade and nicking to wicketkeeper KL Shrijith.

But it all started with the Bulls skipper Chipli bringing off a sensational run out. Not only did he make a great stop at cover when Pawan drove Gulecha firmly, but Chipli also came up with a superb reflex action direct hit to catch non-striker Chetan Williams off guard.

That was just the fourth ball of the match and it was a setback that the Blasters just didn’t overcome, not with bat and certainly not with the ball.

The winners took home Rs 10 lakh and the runners-up took Rs 5 lakh. The semi-finalists were awarded Rs 2.5 lakh each.

Brief scores: Bengaluru Blasters: 101 all out in 20 overs (KB Pawan 22; Bhavesh Gulecha 2-14, MG Naveen 2-19, KP Appanna 3-16) lost to Bijapur Bulls: 106/3 in 13.5 overs (MG Naveen 43) by 7 wickets.

Awards

Man of the match: MG Naveen (Bijapur)

Man of the Series: Bharath Chipli (Bijapur)

Best Batsman: Bharath Chipli – 254 runs

Best Fielder of the series: Stuart Binny (Belagavi)

Purple Cap: Mahesh Patel (Hubli) – 12 wickets

Orange Cap: Bharath Chipli

KPL Champions

2009: Provident Bangalore Rural

2010: Mangalore United

2014: Mysore Warriors

2015: Bijapur Bulls

2016: Bellary Tuskers

2017: Belagavi Panthers

2018: Bijapur Bulls

Note: Tournament was not played from 2011 to 2013

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