Diamonds sparkle in huge chase

Chasing the Bulls’ 174 for six, the Diamonds rode on Mayank Agarwal (29, 15b, 3x4, 2x6) and Pavan Deshpande (52, 32b, 5x4, 1x6) at the top and some hard hitting by Bharath Kumar (40, 29b, 3x4, 3x6) ro reach 175 for six and become the first team to qualify for the semifinals of KPL II.

In a match where fortunes swung back and forth, the Diamonds batsmen held their nerve to carve out a nail-biting win. A hat-trick by Diamonds’ DC Rajesh, two quick-fire half-centuries, a series of cameos and a sensational catch by Stuart Binny on the line provided wholesome entertainment for the holiday crowd.

Diamonds, who maintained a rate of 10 an over for most of their chase, needed 19 off 12 balls, which became nine off the last over after Bharath slammed a six off the fifth ball of the 19th over. CM Gautam failed to score off the first two balls off Binny and scrambled a single off the next. M Nidhish pulled Binny over mid-wicket for a six before completing the formalities.

Put in by Sunil Joshi, Bulls motored along on the back of a series of cameos. Ravi Khande (25, 24b, 4x4) and Mithun Beerala (36, 28b, 6x4) started firing away right from the word go. Beerala batted as if he had a point to prove. The right-hander began by cutting paceman BN Bharath to the fence and then turned his ire on P Magizhendan, who went for 18 in his only over. Bulls had raced to 59 in 44 balls when Beerala fell to Goud.

Khande and Devraj Patil (27, 16b, 3x4, 1x6) kept the momentum going, adding 23 runs in 14 balls. But once again, it was Jayaprakash Shetty who took the batting honours, slamming a 29-ball 51, his second fifty in as many matches, though this came in a losing cause.

SCOREBOARD
BIJAPUR BULLS: R Khande c Bharath K b Goud 25, M Beerala c Joshi b Goud 36, D Patil c Nidhish b Bharath BN 27, S Binny c Bharath BN b Patil 13, JP Shetty c Patil b Rajesh 51, DV Anish (run out) 4, N Mulki b Rajesh 2, S Shinde (not out) 0, B Rajashekar c & b Rajesh 0, R Shanbal (not out) 2.  Extras (B-1, W-13) 14. Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 174.

Fall of wickets: 1-59, 2-82, 3-109, 4-134, 5-159, 6-172, 7-172, 8-172.

Bowling: Sunil Joshi 4-0-24-0, BN Bharath 4-0-33-1 (w-2), DC Rajesh 4-0-37-3 (w-1), P Magizhendan 1-0-18-0 (w-5), Prasanna Patil 4-0-31-1, Yere Goud 3-0-30-2 (w-5).

SHAMANUR DAVANGERE DIAMONDS: Mayank Agarwal lbw Mulki 29, Pavan Deshpande c Anish b Mulki 52, Yere Goud b Binny 14, Bharath BN c Beerala b Binny 0, Bharath Kumar (run out) 40, CM Gautam (not out) 17, Sunil Joshi c Binny b Shetty 0, M Nidhish (not out) 7. Extras (B-2, LB-4, NB-4, W-6) 16.

Total (for 6 wkts, 19.4 overs) 175.

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-98, 3-98, 4-110, 5-166, 6-166.

Bowling: Nitin Mulki 4-0-29-2 (w-4), B Rajashekar 3-0-26-0, DV Anish 4-0-36-0, Jayaprakash Shetty 4-0-32-1 (nb-4), Pranesh Desai 1-0-17-0, Stuart Binny 3.4-0-29-2 (w-2).