Bengaluru Blasters skipper Mayank Agarwal made the run chase of 174 look like a walk in the park. Agarwal smashed Shivamogga Strikers bowlers all over the park during his maiden century in the ongoing Maharaja Trophy 2022.
Agarwal started his innings with a boundary in the first over. He hit Devaiah for a six in the first over as well to make his intentions clear from the start. His opening partner LR Chethan went on a rampage too. He scored 34 runs from 15 deliveries.
After the powerplay overs, Blasters' score was 81/1. Mayank got to his half-century in the eighth over with a six off Krishnappa Gowtham. Agarwal got to his century in the 16th
over with a boundary off Stallin Hoover. He breached the three figures from just 48 deliveries. Blasters won the game by nine wickets with 26 balls to spare.
The 31-year-old remained unbeaten for 102 off 49 deliveries including 10 fours and six sixes. He batted with an astonishing strike rate of 208.16.
Agarwal’s century is the second century of the season. Before the quickfire ton, 20-year-old Rohan Patil became the first to score a century in the tournament.
Earlier, Earlier, Shivamogga Strikers' openers scored their respective half-centuries. Rohan Kadam scored 84 runs off 52 balls including eight fours and three sixes. His opening partner Srikar Bharat did not score at a good strike rate. Bharat took 45 deliveries to score his 51. The two shared a 116-run opening stand.
Later, cameos from skipper Gowtham and Avinash helped strikers post a total of 173/2. This was Strikers fourth loss on the trot. They are currently at the bottom of the table in the six-team tournament.
On the other hand, with three wins from four games, Blasters are at the top of the table with a net run rate (NRR) of 1.404.
