JOIN USUnited drub Brigadiers
On Thursday, defending a modest 135, the Mangalore side had pulled off a two-run win over Malnad Gladiators. On Saturday, after mustering an identical total – 135 for six on the back of Bharath Chipli’s 51-ball 57 (4x4, 3x6) – the United bowlers fought as if there was no tomorrow to shoot out an out-of-sorts Bangalore Brigadiers for 81 in 14.3 overs. The win ensured United stayed firmly in the hunt for a place in the semis while it was curtains for Brigadiers, yet to register a win after five matches.
Left-arm seamer S Arvind, exceptional with the ball and brilliant in the field, provided the perfect start for United and the rest of the attack maintained the hold throughout the innings. Each of the five bowlers got amongst the wickets, Udit Patel landing major spoils with figures of four for 31. The off-spinner, who had bagged a three-wicket haul against Gladiators, was declared the man of the match.
Barring Chipli’s half-century and Karun Nair’s run-a-ball 20, there was nothing much of note in the United innings. Opening the innings with captain Rohit Sabharwall, Chipli straight away began in fifth gear. Sabharwall promised much, picking up three neatly driven fours, but veteran TK Ananth put an end to his stay, having him stumped. Chipli, though, continued to bat in the same fashion, essaying one clean hit after another until Vinod (3/24 in three overs) broke through his defences. The bowling honours, however, were reserved for old fox Ananth, who produced a spell of 4-0-9-1.
The left-arm spinner was introduced in the second over and checked the flow of runs even as the United openers picked other bowlers for some special treatment. United’s charge lasted only till Chipli’s boisterous presence in the middle. Once he was back in the hut, their innings lost its direction. But their bowlers were up to the task once again.
Score Board
MANGALORE UNITED: Rohit Sabharwall st Kirmani b Ananth 14, Bharath Chipli b Vinod 57, N Nidhuvan c Abhinav b Kashyap 10, Karun Nair c Chougule b Vinod 20, Jonathan R b Faroqui 11, Udit Patel (not out) 7, Vijay Chavan c Rahul b Vinod 3, Azghar Pasha (not out) 10. Extras (W-3) 3. Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 135.
Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Sabharwall), 2-45 (Nidhuvan), 3-98 (Chipli), 4-107 (Nair), 5-117 (Jonathan), 6-122 (Chavan).
Bowling: Zahoor Faroqui 4-0-37-1 (w-1), TK Ananth 4-0-9-1 (w-1), M Vinod 4-0-24-3, Vinu Prasad Narayanan 2-0-22-0 (w-1), Nikhil Kashyap 4-0-28-1, David Mathias 2-0-15-0.
BANGALORE BRIGADIERS: Nishanth Singh Shekhawat c Arvind b Sequeria 9, KL Rahul (run out) 1, Abhinav Kumar (run out) 3, Deepak Chougule lbw Aleem 8, M Vinod c Arvind b Pasha 1, Sadiq Kirmani b Arvind 24, David Mathias c Jonathan b Patel 2, Nikhil Kashyap c Nair b Patel 16, Vinoo Prasad st Sabharwall b Patel 11, TK Ananth b Patel 3, Zahoor Faroqui (not out) 0. Extras (W-3) 3. Total (all out, 14.3 overs) 81.
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Rahul), 2-13 (Shekhawat), 3-14 (Abhinav), 4-17 (Vinod), 5-30 (Chougule), 6-33 (Mathias), 7-51 (Kashyap), 8-71 (Vinoo), 9-77 (Ananth).
Bowling: S Arvind 2.3-1-5-1, Azghar Pasha 3-0-15-1 (w-1), Daniel Sequeria 2-0-7-1, Udit Patel 4-0-31-4 (w-1), Mohammad Aleem 3-0-23-1 (w-1).