Krishnappa Gowtham lit up the Karnataka Premier League 2019 on August 23 with a scintillating performance with both the bat and the ball, as Bellary Tuskers handed a big defeat to Shivamogga Lions in the 15th match of the T20 league.
The match will always be remembered for Gowtham’s brutal batting as Tuskers took the field first and smashed 203/3 in 20 overs, with the all-rounder remaining unbeaten on 134 off 56 balls with 13 sixes to his name, with the ton coming off just 39 balls. His amazing effort was the highest score in the history of the tournament.
Shivamogga team had a tough task on their hands, but apart from Akshay Ballal (40) and Pavan Deshpande (46), none of the other batsmen did much as Gowtham struck an unforgettable record with the ball, picking 8/15 in four overs. Shivamogga team was bundled out for 133 in the 17th over and Bellary side won by 70 runs by VJD method.
Krishnappa Gowtham was named the Man of the Match for his amazing performance, which unfortunately won’t be counted amongst official T20 records, as these matches are not considered official T20 matches.
In the after-match presentation, Gowtham said, "This was a once-in-a-lifetime match. I don't think I did (expect the eight-for); nor did anyone else." Asked if he enjoyed his century or his eight-for more, Gowtham quipped: "I enjoyed my girlfriend smiling."
The all-rounder raised his half-century off 24 balls. From there, he needed only 15 more deliveries to storm to his hundred. S.P. Manjunath bore the brunt of that fury as Gowtham smashed four consecutive sixes off him in the 12th over.
Bellary captain CM Gautam was elated after the performance and said, “Fantastic win, I'm really speechless. After what happened yesterday, we wanted to come back harder and put up a good show today. No words on him, you guys must have spoken enough about him in the comm box. Long way to go but he has been amazing for us.”
(Cricbuzz.com inputs)
