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Gulbarga Mystics displayed brilliant all-round skills to defeat the Mysore Warriors and set up a final date with the Mayank Agarwal-led Bengaluru Blasters in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20. Riding on the abilities of their spinners, who restricted the Mysore Warriors batters to 157-5, their star batter Devdutt Padikkal scored a feisty unbeaten 96 from 64 balls to put his team in the ultimate game of the tournament.
Padikkal, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), started his career in the cash-rich league with Royal Challengers Bangalore under the tutelage of Virat Kohli, scoring 473 runs in 15 matches in his debut IPL season and winning the Emerging Player Award for the 2020 season.
And on Thursday night, his inning displayed a similar tenacity, with the star hitting eight boundaries and five sixes. Manoj Bandage supported him well, who came in at no. 5 after a top order collapse. Jeswanth Acharya returned to the dugout with just four on the board and with the previous match's centurion Rohan Patil departing at 1, Gulbarga was left begging for a solid partnership.
Gulbarga's captain Manish Pandey came in with their score at 51/3 in 8.2 overs, but his early dismissal by Monish Reddy put Padikkal in charge to steer his team to the target. The undaunted youngster steadied the innings, and batted with positive intent and a rare penchant for the big hits. He brought down the asking rate to 40 of the last 24 deliveries and finally to a par 12 of 12.
In Manoj Bhandage, Padikkal found a perfect foil and the duo added a decisive 80 runs of 49 deliveries for the unbroken fifth wicket to seal a famous victory with the 17th over proving the most profitable.
Earlier in the match, Gulbarga's trio of spinners Ritesh Bhatkal (0-26), left-arm spinner Pranav Bhatia (1-18) and young leg-spinner Kushaal Wadhwani (2-17) combined their wide and varied skills cleverly and complimented each other either restricting the batsmen or providing the vital through.
The three bowled 12 of the 20 overs and conceded just 61 of the 157 runs the Warriors could muster. The two medium pacers Vidwath Kaverappa (2-52) and Abhilash Shetty (0-42), by contrast, proved ineffective and expensive conceding 94 in their combined eight overs.
Wadhwani, who bowled eight dot balls and not a single no-ball or wide, made the best impression with his disciplined line and deceptive control over his length which helped him dismiss a well-set Nair and the dangerous Shreyas Gopal at crucial junctures to inflict the maximum damage.
The Warriors’ key batters Karun Nair (42, 32 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) and Pavan Deshpande (38, 42 balls, 3 fours) were again the mainstays after the early exit of Nihal Ullal. But Nair once again flattered to deceive while looking to break loose while Deshpande, who crossed the 400-run mark in his 11th innings, was unusually restrained and indecisive.
That only 47 runs came off the six-over power play and 56 of the last five indicate their lack of firepower right through the innings. The Warriors could have had even a lesser total to defend if not for a 12-ball 27 (1 four, 3 six) by Naga Bharath at the end of the innings.
