Bengaluru Blasters and Shivamogga Lions locked horns with each other in the 9th match of Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2019 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Tuesday (August 20).

After being put into bat, Blasters rode on opener BR Sharath’s 23-ball 42 to post 114/3 in 16 overs. Rohan Kadam (25) and Nikin Jose (23) were other notable contributors with the bat in a rain-marred affair.

Pavan Deshpande, who bowls occasional off-breaks, was the pick of the bowlers for Lions, claiming 2 wickets for 12 runs in his 3 overs.

Chasing the revised target of 106 in 12 overs, Shivamogga Lions got off to a flying start as Arjun Hoysala (16) and Nihal Ullal (33) added 50 runs for the opening wicket in just 4.2 overs. Anand Doddamani brought the Blasters back in the contest by dismissing both the openers in a span of three deliveries.

Bharath Devaraj got rid of Pavan Deshpande (3) cheaply to reduce the Lions to 57/3. Afterwards, captain Abhimanyu Mithun changed the course of the match with his blazing batting.

Mithun blasted 34* off just 13 balls and shared an unbeaten partnership of 50 in 25 deliveries along with M Nidhish (17) to guide his team over the line with 7 wickets and 11 balls to spare.

Brief Scores

Bengaluru Blasters – 114/3 in 16 overs (BR Sharath 42; Pavan Deshpande 2/12) lost to Shivamogga Lions – 107/3 in 10.1 overs (Abhimanyu Mithun 34*; Anand Doddamani 2/20) by 7 wickets.