Gulbarga Mystics were struggling to post a fighting total when Prithviraj Shekhawat walked in to bat. Shekhawat went ballistic and stormed to his half-century in just 18 balls but on the penultimate delivery got out in an unfortunate manner. Shekhawat was dismissed obstructing the field.
When Shekhawat took his guard, Mystics were 85/4 from 13.5 overs. He hit his first boundary off Samarth Nagaraj in the 15th over. He showed signs of naked aggression and smashed Paras Gurbax Arya for two consecutive sixes, one over his head and the other over deep mid-wicket.
The left-handed batter was unfazed by the wicket of Wahid Faizan Khan. In the 18th over, he hit Abhilash Shetty for two fours and two sixes. He hit a maximum over fine leg and other over the deep extra cover fence. In the penultimate over, Arya dismissed Praveen Dubey and Ritesh Bhatkal off consecutive deliveries.
In the final over, Vijaykumar Vyshak returned to the pavillion. Meanwhile, Shetty gave away too many extras as he struggled with his line. Shekhawat hit him for a six over backward square leg. Shetty bowled a no ball but Shekhawat was not on strike. He got the strike on the fourth legal delivery of the over and smashed it for a six over deep mid-wicket to reach his fifty from 18 balls. On the penultimate delivery of the innings, he was dismissed obstructing the field. His 19-ball 54 was laced with three fours and six sixes.
On the last ball, Monish Reddy was run out. Shekhawat's quickfire half-century helped Mystics post 169 on the board. Earlier, openers Luvnith Sisodia and skipper Devdutt Padikkal got Mystics off to a decent star. Wicketkeeper-batter Sisodia scored 39 runs from 40 balls whereas Padikkal contributed with a 17-ball 30.
Rain plays spoilsport
In the run chase, Mangalore Dragons openers Macneil Hadley Noronha and Rohan Patil got their side off to an ideal start. Noronha scored 33 runs from 17 balls whereas Patil scored 11 runs from 10 balls before rain played spoilsport. Dragons were 46/0 after 4.3 overs. The game was abandoned and both teams shared a point each.
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