Mysore/Mysuru: Bengaluru Blasters notched up a comfortable 7-wicket victory over Shivamogga Lions to register back-to-back wins in the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20 Tournament being held at SDNR Wadiyar Stadium here yesterday.

 Electing to bowl first, the Blasters restricted the Lions to 111/9 in 20 overs, with Madhav P. Bajaj (4/12) and M.G. Naveen (3/30) doing the bulk of the damage. In reply, Rohan A. Patil smashed an unbeaten 74 off 45 balls to seal the chase with 32 balls to spare. The Lions’ innings never got going after P. Dhruv (0) and C. Sanjay Ashwin (1) fell inside two overs to Hegde and Naveen. Skipper Nihal Ullal (14) and Aneeshwar Gautam (23) tried to stabilise, but the scoreboard read only 25 at the end of the powerplay. Aneeshwar briefly lifted the scoring with four boundaries before holing out in the eighth over, while Ullal departed soon after, leaving the Lions at 44 for 3 after 10 overs. Hardik Raj (13) was next to fall as Bajaj struck again, before Anirudha A. Joshi (19) hit the first six of the innings in the 16th over.

Any hopes of revival ended when Bajaj removed Joshi and D. Ashok (0) off consecutive balls. Naveen returned to pick up D. Avinash (12) and Vasuki Kaushik (1), leaving only Dhuri’s 18 off 12 to push the Lions to 111 for 9.

It was a tentative start to the Blasters’ innings with Mayank Aggarwal (0) losing his wicket to V. Koushik in the first over, followed by L.R. Chethan (1) falling to P. Dhruv in the next over.

However, A. Rohan (74) kept the runs flowing for the Blasters with occasional boundaries. His seven fours and three sixes acted as an anchor, propelling the Blasters’ tally to 48 runs at the end of the powerplay and giving them some room to breathe. Despite Bhuvan M. Raju’s (14) best efforts he was unable to get going on the day and form a partnership with Rohan, losing his wicket to D. Avinash in the 10th over. Rohan found his rhythm and brought up his half century in 31 balls. Suraj Ahuja (20) joined him on the pitch and contributed with a boundary of his own. Blasters, who were well in control of the game cruised to a seven-wicket victory with 32 deliveries to spare.

Brief Score: Shivamogga Lions 111/9 in 20 overs (Aneeshwar Gautam 23, Aniruddha Joshi 19, Bharath Dhuri 18 not out, M.G. Naveen 3/30, Madhav P. Bajaj 4/12, Shubhang Hegde 1/9) lost to Bengaluru Blasters 117/3 in 14.4 overs (Rohan Patil 74 not out, Suraj Ahuja 20).

Today’s Matches (Aug. 22)

Hubli Tigers Vs Gulbarga Mystics                                   3.15 pm

Namma Shivamogga Vs Mangaluru Dragons                 7.15 pm

Venue: SDNR Wadiyar Stadium, Manasagangothri

Catch the live action on Star Sports 1 (English) and Star Sports 1 (Kannada) and FanCode