<p>Mangalore United’s skipper-stumper Rohit Sabharwall had dominated the first semifinal with an all-round show, and Naidu followed suit in the second last-four clash as the defending champions brushed Malnad Gladiators aside with ridiculous ease at the Chinnaswamy stadium.<br /><br />Building on the fantastic platform provided by Naidu (44, 35b, 6x4, 1x6) and MK Manjunath, Provident made Gladiators’ seemingly competitive 157 for five appear remarkably anaemic, romping to a six-wicket victory with 16 deliveries to spare after piling up 158 for four.<br />Naidu, who had pulled off two smart stumpings in the afternoon, and Manjunath added 62 (56b) for the first wicket, and once the wicket-keeper was narrowly run out, skipper B Akhil took it upon himself to hasten the end, smashing his way to an unbeaten 45 (22b, 4x4, 3x6).<br /><br />Akhil and Aniruddha Joshi (17, 7b, 2x4, 1x6) put on 47 in just 20 deliveries to round off a most commanding Provident performance.<br /><br />Akhil’s decision to stick the opposition in bore instant dividend when Kunal Kapoor was run out in the second over, but S Sanjay Kumar batted with refreshing freedom on his way to a 39-ball 47 (5x4, 2x6). The Gladiators paced their innings well, keeping wickets in hand for a final assault that came through skipper Ganesh Satish (34, 27b, 4x4, 1x6) and Rajoo Bhatkal, who displayed excellent power-hitting while remaining unbeaten on 26 (12b, 4x4, 1x6).<br /><br />The last five overs yielded 57 but that counted for little in the final analysis.<br /><br />MALNAD GLADIATORS: Kunal Kapoor (run out) 3, S Sanjay Kumar c Aiyappa b Shetty 47, KC Avinash st Naidu b Joshi 21, Ganesh Satish c Ashraf b Akhil 34, K Gowtham st Naidu b Shetty 18, Rajoo Bhatkal (not out) 26, Nishanth Hegde (not out) 0. Extras (LB-5, W-3) 8. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 157.<br /><br />Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Kapoor), 2-73 (Sanjay), 3-88 (Avinash), 5-125 (Gowtham), 5-153 (Satish).<br /><br />Bowling: NC Aiyappa 3-0-30-0 (w-1), Anand Katti 3-0-22-0, B Akhil 4-0-33-1 (w-1), Sarfaraz Ashraf 4-0-25-0 (w-1), Aniruddha Joshi 2-0-24-1.<br /><br />PROVIDENT BANGALORE: MK Manjunath c Kapoor b Bhatkal 30, Thilak Naidu (run out) 44, Amit Verma b Moinuddin 13, B Akhil (not out) 45, Aniruddha Joshi c & b Gowtham 17, Sunil Kumar Jain (not out) 4. Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-3) 5. Total (for 4 wkts, 17.2 overs) 158.<br />Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Manjunath), 2-81 (Naidu), 3-97 (Verma), 4-144 (Joshi).<br /><br />Bowling: S Sanjay Kumar 3-0-11-0 (w-2), KP Rohan 2.2-0-19-0, K Gowtham 3-0-42-1 (w-1), SK Moinuddin 4-0-38-1, Rajoo Bhatkal 4-0-37-1, Sandesh Satish 1-0-9-0.</p>
<p>Mangalore United’s skipper-stumper Rohit Sabharwall had dominated the first semifinal with an all-round show, and Naidu followed suit in the second last-four clash as the defending champions brushed Malnad Gladiators aside with ridiculous ease at the Chinnaswamy stadium.<br /><br />Building on the fantastic platform provided by Naidu (44, 35b, 6x4, 1x6) and MK Manjunath, Provident made Gladiators’ seemingly competitive 157 for five appear remarkably anaemic, romping to a six-wicket victory with 16 deliveries to spare after piling up 158 for four.<br />Naidu, who had pulled off two smart stumpings in the afternoon, and Manjunath added 62 (56b) for the first wicket, and once the wicket-keeper was narrowly run out, skipper B Akhil took it upon himself to hasten the end, smashing his way to an unbeaten 45 (22b, 4x4, 3x6).<br /><br />Akhil and Aniruddha Joshi (17, 7b, 2x4, 1x6) put on 47 in just 20 deliveries to round off a most commanding Provident performance.<br /><br />Akhil’s decision to stick the opposition in bore instant dividend when Kunal Kapoor was run out in the second over, but S Sanjay Kumar batted with refreshing freedom on his way to a 39-ball 47 (5x4, 2x6). The Gladiators paced their innings well, keeping wickets in hand for a final assault that came through skipper Ganesh Satish (34, 27b, 4x4, 1x6) and Rajoo Bhatkal, who displayed excellent power-hitting while remaining unbeaten on 26 (12b, 4x4, 1x6).<br /><br />The last five overs yielded 57 but that counted for little in the final analysis.<br /><br />MALNAD GLADIATORS: Kunal Kapoor (run out) 3, S Sanjay Kumar c Aiyappa b Shetty 47, KC Avinash st Naidu b Joshi 21, Ganesh Satish c Ashraf b Akhil 34, K Gowtham st Naidu b Shetty 18, Rajoo Bhatkal (not out) 26, Nishanth Hegde (not out) 0. Extras (LB-5, W-3) 8. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 157.<br /><br />Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Kapoor), 2-73 (Sanjay), 3-88 (Avinash), 5-125 (Gowtham), 5-153 (Satish).<br /><br />Bowling: NC Aiyappa 3-0-30-0 (w-1), Anand Katti 3-0-22-0, B Akhil 4-0-33-1 (w-1), Sarfaraz Ashraf 4-0-25-0 (w-1), Aniruddha Joshi 2-0-24-1.<br /><br />PROVIDENT BANGALORE: MK Manjunath c Kapoor b Bhatkal 30, Thilak Naidu (run out) 44, Amit Verma b Moinuddin 13, B Akhil (not out) 45, Aniruddha Joshi c & b Gowtham 17, Sunil Kumar Jain (not out) 4. Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-3) 5. Total (for 4 wkts, 17.2 overs) 158.<br />Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Manjunath), 2-81 (Naidu), 3-97 (Verma), 4-144 (Joshi).<br /><br />Bowling: S Sanjay Kumar 3-0-11-0 (w-2), KP Rohan 2.2-0-19-0, K Gowtham 3-0-42-1 (w-1), SK Moinuddin 4-0-38-1, Rajoo Bhatkal 4-0-37-1, Sandesh Satish 1-0-9-0.</p>
