India's star opener Mayank Agarwal, who has been sidelined for the upcoming Asia Cup, is all guns blazing as he struck a scintillating century to fire Bengaluru Blasters in the final of the ongoing Maharaja Trophy's final with a 44-run in the Qualifier 1 tie at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengalury on Tuesday (August 23).
In a thrilling contest, Mayank cracked whip with a 62-ball ton loaded with six sixes and nine boundaries to help his Blasters post a mammoth total of 227/3 against Gulbarga Mystics. LR Chetan (80 off 48) played the second fiddle in the cause.
Chasing a huge target to win, Rohan Patil launched the fightback with his stunning 49-ball 108 (10x4; 7x6) but his dismissal in the 18th over signalled the end of Gulbarga's challenge and they folded up for 183 in 18.2 overs.
Batting first on home turf in an all-important contest, the Bengaluru Blasters openers, LR Chethan and Mayank Agarwal, gave their side a solid start. While Chethan kept rotating the strike and picking up a boundary here or there, his partner Mayank was having none of that.
The Punjab Kings captain has been a cut above the rest all through the tournament, and kept up with that theme, piercing the field and going over the top with utmost ease, as the Blasters notched up 59/0 at the end of the powerplay. Mayank brought up yet another fifty in the 10th over, off 33 deliveries while the century stand for the openers was completed in the 11th over. In the 14th, Chethan got to his fifty with the Blasters ready for lift off.
Chethan changed gears after getting his fifty and both the openers had a century in sight as the last five overs began with the score at 149/0. Chethan however was the first to depart, scoring a scintillating 48-ball-80, having hit 5 fours and as many sixes.
Right after, Aniruddha Joshi joined the party, giving Mayank company as the Blasters inched closer to 200. Joshi was dismissed for a quick 20 but Mayank wasn’t slowing down, and brought up a well deserved hundred in the final over. Mayank, who has scored two hundreds in the tournament, finished unbeaten on 112 off 61 balls, having clobbered 6 sixes and 9 fours as the Blasters, with a score of 227/3 took control of the contest.
The Bengaluru Blasters batter has been in fine touch in spite of the fact that there are reports that his franchise Punjab Kings are considering replacing him as captain for the IPL 2023 season with English batter Jonny Bairstow. Head coach Anil Kumble is already on his way out from PBKS.
