Powered by a sparkling 22-ball unbeaten 69 that was studded with six sixes and as many fours by skipper B Akhil, Bijapur Bulls humbled Rockstars by 97 runs to become the second team to be assured of a place in the play-offs of the Karbonn Smart KPL IV.
The huge total -- 197/5 -- that the Bulls’ posted after being out into bat, enabled them to top the points table with a superior net run-rate.
The Rockstars found the Bulls too tough to handle. If the top-order batsmen did their bit to keep the Rockstars busy on the field, Akhil sent them on a leather hunt.
Chasing the Bulls’ huge target of 198, the Rockstars found the going difficult from the beginning and lost wickets at regular intervals. All the six bowlers used by Akhil got amongst wickets and the Rockstars managed to score an exact 100 in reply.
All the top four of Bijapur Bulls’ batsmen got amongst runs with M Nidesh scoring a pleasing 56 with the help of four fours and two sixes that set the base for his team’s big total.
Once Akhil took guard, the Bulls’ innings went into overdrive as the tall right-hander hammered the Rockstars’ bowlers at will.
“This was a very important game. In this game our focus was on increasing our net run rate and win with 10 wickets in hand. We also wanted to promote a few players and try out different combinations before the qualifiers,” said Akhil.
The Bulls’ total is the second highest total behind Panthers’ 210 in this edition of the league.
Score board
BIJAPUR BULLS: R Samarth b R Raghu 17, M Nidesh c Mohan b C Raghu 57, Robin Uthappa c sub b C Raghu 24 Suneel Raju c Charan b Dhruv Sharma 20, Rajoo Bhatkal lbw Joshi 1, B Akhil (not out) 69, A Mithun (not out) 0. Extras (W-6, NB-3) 9. Total (For 5 wkts, 20 overs) 197.
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-104, 3-104, 4-106, 5-173.
Bowling: R Raghu 4-0-32-1, Sunil Joshi 4-0-28-1, C Raghu 4-0-23-2, Charan Teja 4-0-48-0, Dhruv Sharma 4-0-66-1.
ROCKSTARS: Raju Gowda b Appanna 26, Raahul RK c Raju b Somanna 4, Madan Mohan c Uthappa b Raju 5, Kiccha Sudeep c Uthappa b S Raju 3, C Raghu lbw Cariappa 13, Dhruv Sharma c Uthappa b Mithun 2, Sunil Joshi c Akhil b Chougule 7, S Keerthiraj c Somanna b Cariappa 3, Pratap Narayan (not out) 8; Charan Teja c Cariappa b Appanna 24, Raghunath (not out) 0. Extras (B-1, LB-2, W-1, NB-1) 5. Total (For 9 wkts, 20 overs) 100.
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-30, 3-38, 4-42, 5-58, 6-58, 7-64, 8-69, 9-100.
Bowling: Aditya Somanna 4-0-29-1, KP Appanna 4-0-18-2, Abhimanyu Mithun 2-0-8-1, Suneel Raju 4-0-20-2, KC Cariappa 4-0-8-2, Deepak Chougle 2-0-14-1.
