Rain was expected to disrupt the opening day’s play of Karnataka Premier League Season 8 and it did so, forcing the abandonment of the clash between Bengaluru Blasters and Myrusu Warriors here on Friday.
The match was finely balanced with Blasters on 88/3 in 13 overs when rain lashed the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Much to the dismay of the organisers and the players, the rain didn’t relent, the tournament getting off to a damp start.
In the little play that was possible, in-form left-arm spinner J Suchith was the star of the night. His figures of 3 for 13 from 3 overs was instrumental in halting Blasters’ march. Devaiah KS and Vyshak Vijay Kumar, the opening bowlers for Mysuru, kept Blasters down to 22 in the first four overs.
Skipper Amit Verma then summoned Suchith and the move turned out to be one which would dictate the tempo.
Keeping it mostly flat and on a length, neither did Suchith give the batsmen time to get under the ball nor was he wide enough for the cut. On the rare occasion that he did toss it up, he ensured the ball would dip short of the advancing batsmen. By operating with such control, he accounted for Sharath BR, Rohan Kadam and Jonathan Rongsen. Kadam, in particular, was a big haul for the spinner as the left-hand batsman was beginning to open up. In fact, Kadam, who scored a record 536 runs in the recently held Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, was looking to take on Suchith when a quickly-dipping delivery did him in for 23.
With most of the big-hitters out of the way and Nikin Jose (28 not out) finding it difficult to put the boundary balls -- even the rare ones -- away, Mysuru kept the lid on tight. That was until rain swept their chances under the covers.
Scheduled close of play, including extension, was 10:46 pm, but weather permitting, Mysuru would have had a shot at chasing a VJD score in five overs. But at 10:24 pm, the cut-off time for the five-over chase, rain continued to drench the covers.
Brief scores: Bengaluru Blasters: 88/3 in 13 overs (Nikin Jose SJ 28; J Suchith 3-13) vs Mysuru Warriors. No result.