Incessant rain has been playing a spoilsport, especially for Mysuru Warriors, in this year’s KPL. With two out of three matches being washed away and having lost the other match, the Mysuru franchise has a tough task ahead in order to qualify for the playoffs. Meanwhile, K.V. Siddharth justified Mysuru Warriors’ decision to bat first in the day’s second game with a blistering 49 not out to guide Amit Verma and Co to 82 for 1 in 11 overs against Belagavi Panthers before rain washed away their hopes of a maiden win. The teams ended with one point each.

Mysuru, who lost to Shivamogga Lions on Sunday, had witnessed an abandoned contest against Bengaluru Blasters in their opener. Having broken the trend of teams opting to bowl in the second game of the day due to rain, the Warriors got off to a flyer after losing D. Nischal early on. Zahoor Farooqui, the paceman, was the orchestrator of the first victim, but neither he nor the rest of the young bowling attack could do much against Siddharth under lights at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Having scored 77 in his previous stint with the bat against Shivamogga Lions on Sunday, Siddharth stamped his authority with some belligerent off-side play. Amit Verma, coming in at one-down, was equally brusque in his response to Panthers’ bowlers.

The duo added 65 runs for the second-wicket with Siddharth, a first-class regular for Karnataka, adding an unbeaten 49 and Amit Verma compiled 23 not out before rain forced the umpires, at 8.22 pm, to take the players off the field. As has been the case most evenings, rain failed to dissipate, and the match was called off.

In the earlier match, Devdutt Padikkal’s stock continued to rise as the stylish left-hander smashed a vibrant half-century to guide Ballari Tuskers to a comfortable win over Hubli Tigers.

Padikkal, who continued to elicit comparisons to Yuvraj Singh for his wristy play, called on shots with elegance to race to 70 from 56 balls in guiding Tuskers to 163 for 8 from 20 overs.

The Tigers, in response, got off the blocks precariously, losing Mohammad Taha in the opening over. M. Vishwanathan’s 30 raised the run-rate and hopes, but their run chase withered with the loss of regular wickets. Tigers finished their innings on 154 for 9 in 20 overs to suffer a 9-run loss, their second in as many games.

Brief Scores

Mysuru Warriors: 82 for 1 in 11 overs (K.V. Siddharth 49 not out, Amit Verma 23 not out) Vs Belagavi Panthers.

Ballari Tuskers: 163 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Reddy 24, Devdutt Padikkal 70, Zeeshan Ali Sayeed 25; Aditya Somanna 2-28, David Mathias 2-35, Mitrakant Yadav 2-6) beat Hubli Tigers: 154 for 9 in 20 overs (M. Vishwanathan 30, Luvnith Sisodia 22, K.L. Shrijith 22, Praveen Dubey 28, R. Vinay Kumar 37; C.A. Karthik 3-19, Abrar Kazi 2-17).