<p>Opener KL Rahul slammed a quickfire 91 (43b, 10x4, 4x6) to lead Hubli Tigers to their first win of the tournament as they thumped Bellary Tuskers by seven wickets in the Karnataka Premier League here on Wednesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>With their star batsman Robin Uthappa back in the playing eleven, the Tuskers put up a fighting total of 160 for eight in 20 overs. Riding on Rahul’s belligerent knock, the Tigers romped home in 16.3 overs losing just three wickets. <br /><br />The innings began on a positive note for the Tuskers when their openers -- Uthappa (48, 41b, 6x4) and Vishwanathan M, added 30 runs in just 3.3 overs. S Arvind (3/30), who was the pick of the bowlers for Tigers, removed Vishwanathan and left-arm spinner Anand Katti claimed the wicket of Abrar Kazi to reduce Tuskers to 46 for two in the sixth over. <br /><br />Statemate Mayank Aggarwal then joined hands with Uthappa to come up with a valuable 58-run stand, which was eventually broken when Arvind swung into action again to scalp Uthappa in the 14th over. Aggarwal followed Uthappa after two overs, after making 38 from 30 balls. <br /><br />In response, Tigers made a good start with their openers MD Taha and Rahul scoring at a brisk pace of ten runs per over. The solid opening partenrship (47) was broken when Taha fell to Anil IG, after having made 27 off 19 balls, striking six fours. The wicket did not do any damage to the Tigers’ run flow as Rahul was in a punishing mode, firing the Tuskers’ bowlers all around the park. <br /><br />The right-handed batsman missed a well-deserved century when he was dismissed for nine runs short. However, the Tigers crossed the line with ease. <br /><br />Warriors have it easy<br /><br />In the second match on Wednesday, Mysore Warriors eased past Rockstars by 10 wickets. Batting first, Rockstars, who suffered their fourth consecutive defeat, stumbled to a paltry 94 all out in 19.5 overs and the Warriors, who moved to third place with four points from three games, knocked off the runs with 10 overs to spare.<br /><br />Brief scores: Bellary Tuskers: 160/8 (Robin Uthappa 48, Mayank Aggarwal 38, M Vinod 38; S Arvind 3-30, M Kranthi Kumar 2-42) lt to Hubli Tigers: 161/3 (KL Rahul 91, MD Taha 27; Anil IG 2-39). <br /><br />Rockstars: 94 all out in 19.5 overs (Charan Teja 29; Vyshak VJ 4-21, J Suchith 2-5) lt to Mysore Warriors: 98 for no loss in 10 overs (KB Pawan 33 n.o., Shishir Bhavane 57 n.o.).</p>
<p>Opener KL Rahul slammed a quickfire 91 (43b, 10x4, 4x6) to lead Hubli Tigers to their first win of the tournament as they thumped Bellary Tuskers by seven wickets in the Karnataka Premier League here on Wednesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>With their star batsman Robin Uthappa back in the playing eleven, the Tuskers put up a fighting total of 160 for eight in 20 overs. Riding on Rahul’s belligerent knock, the Tigers romped home in 16.3 overs losing just three wickets. <br /><br />The innings began on a positive note for the Tuskers when their openers -- Uthappa (48, 41b, 6x4) and Vishwanathan M, added 30 runs in just 3.3 overs. S Arvind (3/30), who was the pick of the bowlers for Tigers, removed Vishwanathan and left-arm spinner Anand Katti claimed the wicket of Abrar Kazi to reduce Tuskers to 46 for two in the sixth over. <br /><br />Statemate Mayank Aggarwal then joined hands with Uthappa to come up with a valuable 58-run stand, which was eventually broken when Arvind swung into action again to scalp Uthappa in the 14th over. Aggarwal followed Uthappa after two overs, after making 38 from 30 balls. <br /><br />In response, Tigers made a good start with their openers MD Taha and Rahul scoring at a brisk pace of ten runs per over. The solid opening partenrship (47) was broken when Taha fell to Anil IG, after having made 27 off 19 balls, striking six fours. The wicket did not do any damage to the Tigers’ run flow as Rahul was in a punishing mode, firing the Tuskers’ bowlers all around the park. <br /><br />The right-handed batsman missed a well-deserved century when he was dismissed for nine runs short. However, the Tigers crossed the line with ease. <br /><br />Warriors have it easy<br /><br />In the second match on Wednesday, Mysore Warriors eased past Rockstars by 10 wickets. Batting first, Rockstars, who suffered their fourth consecutive defeat, stumbled to a paltry 94 all out in 19.5 overs and the Warriors, who moved to third place with four points from three games, knocked off the runs with 10 overs to spare.<br /><br />Brief scores: Bellary Tuskers: 160/8 (Robin Uthappa 48, Mayank Aggarwal 38, M Vinod 38; S Arvind 3-30, M Kranthi Kumar 2-42) lt to Hubli Tigers: 161/3 (KL Rahul 91, MD Taha 27; Anil IG 2-39). <br /><br />Rockstars: 94 all out in 19.5 overs (Charan Teja 29; Vyshak VJ 4-21, J Suchith 2-5) lt to Mysore Warriors: 98 for no loss in 10 overs (KB Pawan 33 n.o., Shishir Bhavane 57 n.o.).</p>
