Maharaja Trophy: Sharath, Gowtham help Shivamogga Strikers beat Mysuru Warriors by 13 runs

Mysore, Aug 14 (IANS) An entertaining half-century from Sharath BR, followed by some fine bowling performances helped Shivamogga Strikers beat Mysuru Warriors by 13 runs in a Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2022 match, here on Sunday.

Asked to bat first, the Shivamogga Strikers, who were eyeing a return to winning ways, made a solid start with openers Rohan Kadam and Sharath BR putting on a half-century stand to begin.

While Rohan found it tough to get the momentum going, Sharath was in fine touch and found the gaps with ease which helped improve the scoring rate.

Just before the powerplay ended, Rohan (18) was dismissed and Vinay Sagar (1) followed in the same over. But Sharath continued to entertain the fans on the long weekend, getting to his fifty in the 10th over, before being dismissed for 53, having smashed six fours and two sixes.

In the middle order, Siddharth (36), Stallin Hoover (16) and Avinash D (25) made very useful contributions. Captain K Gowtham got 6 while MB Darshan added 10 as an entertaining innings of Shivamogga Strikers came to an end with the score at 174/8 in 20 overs.

In response, Karun Nair was dismissed for a first ball duck before Nihal Ullal (13) also departed in the fourth over, leaving the Warriors in a spot of bother. But Pavan Deshpande then came to the rescue of his side.

Deshpande kept chipping away even though GS Chiranjeevi (0), Shreyas Gopal (7) and Shubhang Hegde (13) all departed rather quickly. While all of them allowed Deshpande to score freely, the fall of wickets kept the pressure on the batters.

Shivraj S (19) and Deshpande put on 36 runs for the sixth wicket before the former was dismissed, allowing the Strikers to tighten the noose a little bit more. K Gowtham and Uttam Aiyappa were the wreckers in chief up until then picking two wickets each to peg back the Warriors.

The fall of wickets slowed Deshpande further and he eventually was also dismissed for a fighting 64 in the 18th over. Lochan Appanna and Vidyadhar Patil added a few lusty blows in the end but the Warriors fell short by 13 runs.

On India's Independence Day, Mangalore United will take on Bengaluru Blasters while the Gulbarga Mystics play Hubli Tigers, both in Mysore. These are the final two games in Mysore before the tournament moves to Bangalore.

Brief Score: Shivamogga Strikers 174/8 in 20 overs (Sharath BR 53 off 35 balls, Siddharth 36 off 30 balls, Avinash D 25 off 17 balls; Vidyadhar Patil 3/39, Shubhang Hegde 2/19, Aditya Goyal - 2/38) beat Mysuru Warriors 161/8 in 20 overs (Pavan Deshpande 64 off 47 balls, Lochan Appanna 27 off 14 balls, Shivraj S 19 off 12 balls; K Gowtham 2/22, Uttam Aiyappa - 2/35) by 13 runs