Chipli’s attractive 89 (51b, 11x4, 3x6) was the cornerstone of United’s formidable 160 for six after they elected to bat. Diamonds’ chase never got the desired ignition, ending up at 128. Chipli’s talent has never been in question, but the gap between good and bad days has been frustratingly long. He was in his elements on the night and the effect was breathtaking.
The stylish right-hander destroyed Diamonds like a flashflood and the only exception was their skipper Sunil Joshi, who bowled a superb spell including the KPL’s first maiden over. However Chipli, so close to a hundred, might have been kicking himself for playing a rash slash off left-arm spinner Syed Nooruddin for Sunil Raju to complete a simple catch in the deep. Vijay Chavan’s mighty blows helped them reach a competitive total after a mid-innings freeze.
Diamonds needed good partnerships to hunt down the total, but the early dismissals of CM Gautam, Srivats Puranik and Yere Goud found them reeling at 27 for three. A 54-run alliance for the fourth-wicket between Raju and Mayank Agarwal gave them fleeting hope, but the run out of the latter put paid to their ambitions.
Score board
MANGALORE UNITED: Karun Nair b Joshi 15, Bharath Chipli c Raju b Nooruddin 89, Udit Patel (run out) 2, Jonathan Rongsen b Patil 10, SN Ameet (run out) 2, Rohit Sabarwal (not out) 11, Vijay Chavan st Gautam b Joshi 27. Extras (W-3, NB-1) 4. Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 160.
Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-86, 3-116, 4-120, 5-120, 6-160.
Bowling: M Nagaraj 3-0-22-0, S Nooruddin 4-0-40-1, KS Srinivas 3-0-42-0, S Joshi 4-1-13-2, P Patil 4-0-23-1, S Raju 2-0-20-0.
SD DIAMONDS: M Agarwal (run out) 34, CM Gautam c Chavan b Kiran 11, Srivats Puranik c Sabarwal b Arvind 1, Yere Goud c Chipli b Moinuddin 0, Sunil Raju c Sabarwal b Patel 31, Prasanna Patil b Nair 1, M Nidish (not out) 22, S Joshi c Chipli b Qadir 3, S Nooruddin b Nair 13, M Nagaraj (not out) 0. Extras (B-1, LB-8, W-1, NB-1) 11. Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 128.
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-24, 3-27; 4-81, 5-81, 6-86, 7-99, 8-119.
Bowling: Kiran K 2-0-10-0, S Arvind 4-0-30-2, SK Moinuddin 3-0-26-1, U Patel 4-0-20-1, SA Qadir 4-0-33-1, Karun Nair 3-0-10-2.
