Controversial first win for Gladiators

Chasing Gladiators’ competitive total of 149 for eight, Diamonds were 113 for five after 16 overs when the heavens opened up, bringing an end to the innings.
After applying the VJD method for rain-affected matches, Gladiators emerged victors by a mere two runs. Interestingly, had Joshi -- clearly unhappy with the caught-behind decision handed down against him by umpire SM Yusuf -- remained unbeaten, Diamonds would have won the match by one run. The veteran batsman suggested the ball went off his helmet, though replays remained inconclusive.

Diamonds, however, have themselves to blame for the situation they got in to. Openers Mayank Agarwal (56, 35b, 2x4, 4x6) and CM Gautam (33, 36b, 4x4) gave the Davangere side a flying start, raising 89 runs in just 64 balls. Though both Agarwal, reprieved twice during his breezing knock, and Gautam got out in the space of 11 runs, the duo had done enough for the following batsmen to take the team home without much trouble. Instead they contrived to embrace defeat, losing two wickets in the 16th over which turned out to be the final over of their innings. SL Akshay, who bowled that over, was declared the man of the match.   ?
         
Earlier, put in to bat for the second time in succession, Gladiators went in with a changed opening pair but there was no change in their fortunes. Both skipper Ganesh Satish and K Shashindra departed in the second over bowled by paceman BN Bharath. Though Kunal Kapoor (43, 34b, 5x4, 1x6) held firm, his partners were in a great hurry to return to the dug-out.

Skipper Joshi was miserly, conceding just 18 runs in his four overs, but it was his fellow left-arm spinner Prasanna Patil who struck jackpot with his nagging line, returning impressive figures of three for 24. His send-off gestures, however, may invite the match referee’s wrath. In fact, Patil wasn’t the only culprit. Bharath and fellow paceman P Magizhendan too pointed to the dug-out each time they earned a wicket.

Bharath, who too bagged three wickets, eventually was silenced by an aggressive Ryan Ninan. The right-hander struck the bowler for two huge sixes and a four as the final over leaked 21 runs, helping Gladiators reach a total good enough for them to register their first win of the tournament.

SCORE BOARD
MALNAD GLADIATORS: Ganesh Satish c Joshi b Bharath 6, K Shashindra c Gautam b Bharath 5, Kunal Kapoor b Patil 43, Rajoo Bhatkal c Gautam b Magizhendan 15, Sanjay Kumar b Patil 7, Nishant Hegde c Agarwal b Patil 13, KC Avinash (run out) 10, Ryan Ninan (not out) 32, K Gowtham b Bharath 2, SL Akshay (not out) 6. Extras (LB-1, W-9) 10. Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 149.
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Ganesh), 2-13 (Shashindra), 3-42 (Bhatkal), 4-51 (Sanjay), 5-84 (Hegde), 6-95 (Kapoor), 7-102 (Avinash), 8-115 (Gowtham).
Bowling: Dominick Fernandez 3-0-22-0 (w-1), BN Bharath 4-0-44-3 (w-1), P Magizhendan 4-0-29-1 (w-7), Sunil Joshi 4-0-18-0, Prasanna Patil 4-0-24-3, Sunil Raju 1-0-11-0.
SHAMANUR DAVANGERE DIAMONDS: Mayank Agarwal c Kapoor b Gautam 56, CM Gautam c Avinash b Ninan 33, M Nidhish b Akshay 7, Sunil Raju (run out) 2, Yere Goud (not out) 3, Sunil Joshi c Avinash b Akshay 2, BN Bharath (not out) 0 (1b). Extras (LB-4, W-3, NB-3) 10. Total (for 5 wkts, 16 overs) 113.
Fall of wickets: 1-89 (Gautam), 2-100 (Agarwal), 3-105 (Raju), 4-111 (Nidhish), 5-113 (Joshi).
Bowling: SL Akshay 3-0-21-2 (w-1, nb-1), Rajoo Bhatkal 3-0-24-0 (w-2, nb-2), K Gowtham 3-0-23-1, Ryan Ninan 3-0-18-1, SK Moinuddin 4-0-23-0.