A veritable thriller in Karnataka Premier League 2017 went the way of the home side, Mysuru Warriors, at the S.D.N.R Wadiyar ground on Monday, September 4.
There were plenty of heroes on the day – Ronit More for his four-for, M Nidhish and Dikshanshu Negi for their 100-run partnership – but perhaps the plaudits have to go the way of Vyshak Vijaykumar who gave away just a run and claimed the important wicket of Nidhish in the penultimate over of Bijapur Bulls' chase. It meant Mysuru prevailed at the end of proceedings for a four-run win.
Having opted to bat and after posting 150, Mysuru ensured Bijapur didn't have it easy. They had the big wicket of Mohammed Taha (3) in as early as the third over, before NP Bhareth had both Naveen MG and captain Bharath Chipli dismissed in consecutive overs to reduce Bijapur to 36 for 3 in the seventh over.
It was then that Dikshanshu and Nidhish got together to change the course of the chase. For the most part, Nidhish was the aggressor, going for the big hits, while Dikshanshu played the ideal foil, rotating strike and sealing up one end.
Having begun the partnership assiduously, the hits started coming in the 12th over off Shreyas Gopal, when Nidhish hit a maximum. He found the fence off J Suchith the next over, before clearing the fence against both Suneel Raju and Bhareth. After 15 overs, Bijapur were 100 for 3, needing 51 more in the death.
By this stage, Dikshanshu turned aggressive as well. He took charge, and there were three boundaries off the 16th over of SL Akshay, including a massive six behind square off a full toss. It was more of the same in the next over off Vyshak, Dikshanshu picking him behind the fence at square as well, with minimal footwork. The required rate reduced drastically, and Bijapur had the advantage in a nail-biting chase.
Then, everything changed in the space of an over. Vyshak steamed in and Nidhish fronted up to him. Four dot balls followed, Nidhish swinging and missing outside off each time. Frustrated, Nidhish eventually connected wildly at the fifth delivery, only to find the fielder at long-on. It meant Bijapur needed 14 from the final over, sent down by Shreyas.
Dikshanshu got on strike and then refused a single. A wide went to the fence to add to the tension, before Dikshanshu went big and found the fielder.
The chase lost its sting. Shreyas managed to send down a dot to finish things off, and Mysuru had their second consecutive win, and their first at home.
Earlier, captain Karun Nair and Arjun Hoysala put on a quick 31 to give Mysuru a good start, with Karun in particular looking ominous. He picked a couple of beautiful boundaries, including a six where he cleared his front leg and lifted Abhimanyu Mithun over long-on, but then mistimed a pull off More to depart for 19. Hoysala rode his luck thereafter, especially in the seventh over when HS Sharath induced a couple of sizeable nicks from him only for both to end up at fence. Mysuru were coasting after nine overs at 62 for 1.
Bijapur got together at the time-out, and recalibrated their plans. Vinit Yadav (10), dropped on four off KC Cariappa earlier, holed out after failing to clear the fielder at deep mid-wicket, despite connecting well with his pull off Naveen MG, the medium pacer. Hoysala, having scored a 31-ball 32, followed suit, Cariappa deceiving him into a mistimed slog sweep.
The wickets kept coming every over. Shreyas (4) was sent back by Prithvi Shekawat, the left-arm spinner, before Mithun had KC Avinash (1) trapped plumb in front. At 85 for 5, Mysuru were in a precarious spot. The need of the hour was a partnership, and in Suchith and Suneel, they had two composed batsmen who staged a recovery. Their 39-run stand was comprised mostly of prods into space and smartly taken singles and doubles, but it was instrumental in boosting Mysuru's total.
Eventually, when the stand was broken, it came when the two attempted to accelerate, with Suneel (22) miscuing a slog sweep down a fielder's throat. Suchith attempted to hit out, picking a boundary off Sharath, but he succumbed to More in his next over, one of two consecutive wickets in the penultimate over, SP Manjunath being the other. It meant More ended with excellent figures of 4 for 25.
Brief Scores: Mysuru Warriors 150 in 19.5 overs (Arjun Hoysala 32, J Suchith 27; Ronit More 4-25, Abhimanyu Mithun 2-27) beat Bijapur Bulls 146-5 in 20 overs (Dikshanshu Negi 44, M Nidesh 48; Vyshak Vijaykumar 2-17, NP Bhareth 2-21)-by four runs
