J Arun Kumar’s fifty (51, 40b, 5x4, 3x6) along with useful cameos from Manish Pandey and Shyam Ponnappa spurred Panthers to a competitive 152 after electing to bat. Gladiator lads mounted a challenge only to fall short by just six runs.
Panthers made a strong start to their innings with skipper/coach Arun Kumar, who was later adjudged man of the match, and Shyam Ponnappa adding 77 runs for the opening wicket.
Arun went through a lot in the initial phase of his innings. But once settled, he played some thunderous shots and paceman SL Akshay bore the brunt of Arun’s fury.
Gladiators skipper Ryan Ninan ended Arun’s blitz, castling him. But Panthers had gained momentum by then and Manish Pandey maintained it playing a little blinder.
The dashing right-hander’s approach was clear, hit the ball clear long and high over ropes and the method fetched good results. Gladiators tried gamely with Raju Bhatkal and SL Akshay leading their charge. Bhatkal (35, 23b, 6x4) and Akshay (42, 27b, 4x4, 1x6) seemed to take Gladiators to another improbable victory, but the Shimoga outfit lost both of them at wrong junctures, pushing them to second best.
SCORE BOARD
BELAGAVI PANTHERS:
J Arun Kumar b Ryan 51;
Shyam Ponappa c Rohan b Ninan 34;
Manish Pandey b Ryan 39;
R Vinay Kumar lbw Appanna 4;
Suraj Sampath (run out) 9;
Vinay Uthappa (run out) 1;
ZA Sayed (run out) 0;
P Yogesh (not out) 0;
David Johnson (not out) 2;
Extras (B-3, LB-1, W-9) 12;
Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 152.
Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-93, 3-135, 4-144, 5-146, 6-150, 7-150.
Bowling: A Mithun 4-0-20-0, KP Rohan 3-0-14-0, SL Akshay 3-0-30-0, KP Appanna 4-0-32-1, K Gowtham 3-0-25-0, Ryan Ninan 3-0-27-3.
M GLADIATORS:
K Gowtham c Pandey b Johnson 1;
Nishanth Hegde c Arun b Vadeyaraj 21;
SL Akshay c V Uthappa b G Vinay 42;
Ganesh Satish c Pandey b Vadeyaraj 12;
Raju Bhatkal b Johnson 35;
Kunal Kapoor b Vinay 10;
R Ninan c G Vinay b Johnson 4;
R Shanbal b Vinay 2;
A Mithun (run out) 12;
KP Appanna c Pandey b Johnson 0;
KP Rohan (not out) 0;
Extras (NB-1, W-6) 7; Total (all out in 20 overs) 146.
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-61, 3-71, 4-92, 5-119, 6-127, 7-130, 8-145, 9-146.
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 4-0-20-2, David Johnson 4-0-30-4, G Vinay 4-0-38-1, Santosh Vadeyaraj 4-0-33-2, P Yogesh 2-0-15-0, Shyam Ponnappa 1-0-8-0, ZA Sayed 1-0-2-0.
