Manish Pandey-led Hubli Tigers beat Mysore Warriors by nine runs to win the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2023 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on August 29. Mohammed Taha's 72-run knock, Pandey's unbeaten 23-ball 50 followed by a spirited bowling effort under pressure nullified Warriors opener Ravikumar Samarth's 35-ball 63 in the final clash.
Pandey won the toss and opted to bat first. Opener Luvnith Sisodia departed early. Taha and Krishnan Shrijith shared an 89-run partnership for the second wicket. Shrijith departed after a 31-ball 38. Taha was dismissed in the 14th over. His 40-ball 72 was laced with seven fours and four sixes. After Sanjay Ashwin retired out, Pandey led the charge and smashed four sixes and three fours in his 23-ball 50. Mavanath Kumar contributed with a cameo as the Tigers posted 203/8.
The run chase got off to an ideal start with SU Karthik and Samarth sharing a 57-run partnership. Mitrakanth Yadav broke the partnership in the sixth over. Samarth was going all guns blazing. In the 12th over, he got run out trying to take a risky second run. He scored 63 runs from 35 balls. In the next over, skipper Nair departed for a 20-ball 37. Warriors middle order batters could not cope with the required run rate. They came close but could post 195/8 on the board and lost the final by eight runs.
Taha was adjudged 'Player of the match' for getting the Tigers off to a flyer. Pandey was short of words after the match. Not just his teammates, he praised the groundsmen as well for producing good wickets.
“There's a lot of things in my head right now. Feels great to be standing here in front of the fans. As soon as the batsman hit it I thought "oh my word". Luckily I caught it and threw it back. Happy to contribute as a captain and player. Had the faith, as every captain does, that my team will win. Groundsmen have done a really good job. Really good wickets,” Pandey said in the post-match presentation.
On the other hand, in-form Nair blamed himself for the loss and said, “I should be taking responsibility for that, should've finished the game off. Happy with how the team went in the tournament. Lot of positives, lot of youngsters came through. Total team effort.”
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