Agarawal and Taha tame Mystics bowlers
Hubli Tigers beat Gulbarga Mystics by 10 wickets
HUBBALLI : Hubli Tigers bounced back in style following back-to-back losses in the DACSS Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20, comprehensively beating Gulbarga Mystics by 10 wickets on Monday.
In a match reduced to 15-overs a side due to rain, the Tigers first restricted the Mystics to 139 in 15 overs, thanks to some fabulous left-arm swing bowling by young Vaibhav Sharma (3-9).
In reply, the Tigers, true to their name, pounced on every bad delivery to score big and eventually made very short work of the 140-run target. Openers Mayank Agarawal and the consistent Mohammed Taha both completed aggressive and unbeaten half centuries to finish the job reaching 143 for no loss in 12.1 overs.
The 35-year-old veteran star Agarawal, in particular, was at his fluent best and provided glimpses of his greatness with an attacking unbeaten 81 off 38 balls, studded with eight fours and five sixes. Taha was equally opportunistic and continued his good run with another half century despite a wrist injury (57 not out, 35 balls, 4 fours, 4 sixes)
Earlier, the 19-year-old Vaibhav Sharma did all the damage claiming the top three Mystics’ batters with only 28 runs on the board. He dismissed the Mystics opener B R Sharath (2) of his first ball and then did even better catching and bowling the other opener Lochan Gowda (6) a ball later.
The youngster got rid of Prakhar Chaturvedi off the first ball of his second over to complete a match-winning spell. The mystics did not recover from there though Thippa Reddy (51, 34 balls, 6 fours, 2 six) and Macneil Noronha (10) added a 31-ball 30 for the fourth wicket.
Captain Manish Pandey (35 not out, 20 balls, 3 sixes) played another inspired knock to shore the innings to 139 adding a 24-ball 44 for the fifth wicket.But in the end it proved too little too late.
For Hubli Tigers it was their second victory in five matches and they moved to fourth position on five points.Though the Mystics suffered their third loss, they stay third with six points.
Brief scores:
Gulbarga Mystics 139-6 in 15 overs (Thippa Reddy 51, Manish Pandey 35 not out; Vaibhav Sharma 3-9) lost to Hubli Tigers by 10 wickets (Mayank Agarawal 81 not out, Mohammed Taha not out 57)
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