Ullal sets up Lions’ easy win

Shivamogga Lions broke their jinx in the Karnataka Premier League, comfortably beating Hubli Tigers by six wickets here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

The Lions, who hadn’t notched a single victory all of last season, rode on an impressive batting display from Nihal Ullal and an important performance from left-arm spinner Rishabh Singh to start this season on a different and positive note.

Chasing Hubli’s 154 all out, they reached the target with 12 balls to spare. Ullal was the cornerstone in Lions’ victory, scoring an unbeaten 88 runs from 60 balls with 11 fours and three sixes. Rishabh picked up three wickets for 19 runs.

The day’s first encounter began with R Vinay Kumar, the Tigers’ skipper, opting to bat after winning the toss. The pitch, still damp from overnight rain, was difficult to get runs on.

The nature of the wicket gave Abhimanyu Mithun, the Lions skipper, the freedom to use three of his spinners even before the Power Play began.

The Tigers were stuttering at 53 for three by the ninth over until KB Pawan came up with a fluent 53 from 37 balls. That, coupled with KL Shrijith’s attacking 33, set them up for a big score.

But Rishabh, the left-arm spinner, picked up three wickets in the 19th over to end their innings abruptly. Right-arm medium pacer T Pradeep, too, finished with three wickets but unlike Rishabh, he was expensive, giving away 47 runs.

Lions’ response was one of haste as Ullal and left-hander Arjun Hoysala (13) got going. Hoysala and Sujith N Gowda (1) got out in quick succession but Ullal kept going.

The diminutive batsman slayed the bowlers with a firm head on his shoulders. Tigers dismissed Pavan Deshpande (20) when Aditya Somanna scalped the southpaw, but they were out of the contest by then.

Brief scores: Hubli Tigers 154 all out

in 20 overs (KB Pawan 53, KL Shrijith 33; T Pradeep 3-47, HS Sharath 2-30, Rishabh Singh 3-19) lt to Shivamogga Lions: 155/4 in 18 overs (Nihal Ullal 88; Mitrakant Yadav 2-26).

Tuskers score

In the day’s second game, Ballari Tuskers used as many as six bowlers to exploit a slow strip to edge out Belagavi Panthers by five runs.

Despite Devdutt Padikkal’s half-century and a couple of crucial cameos from Abhishek Reddy and CM Gautam, the Tuskers, who were put into bat, compiled only 144 for five in 20 overs.

Panthers would have fancied their chances, but a sticky wicket restricted Mir Kaunian Abbas’ men to 138/8 in 20 overs. K Gowtham, Prasidh Krishna and Bhavesh Gulecha bagged two wickets apiece.

But Panthers didn’t go down without a fight, one which was inspired by Abhinav Manohar (26), Ritesh Bhatkal (27) and Shubhang Hedge (14).

Brief scores: Ballari Tuskers: 143/4 in 20 overs (Abhishek Reddy 35, Devdutt Padikkal 54, CM Gautam 27; Zahoor Farooqui 2-28) bt Belagavi Panthers: 138/8 in 20 overs (Abhinav Manohar 26, Ritesh Bhatkal 27; Prasiddh Krishna 2-26, K Gowtham 2-32, Bhavesh Gulecha 2-15).