William heroics power Hubli Tigers to successive KPL final
Chethan William's heroics with the bat helped Hubli Tigers register a four-wicket win against Belagavi Panthers in the first semifinal of Karbonn Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2016, powered by Cycle Pure Agarbathies on Saturday (October 1). Reduced to 101 for 6 in the 16th over, in a chase of 154, William scripted a remarkable turnaround as he blasted an unbeaten 39 off only 13 deliveries, with the help of five sixes, and put on an undefeated 55-run stand for the seventh wicket with KN Bharath (27*) off only 17 deliveries to help Hubli Tiger enter the KPL final for a second year in succession.
After a tight opening over from Vinay Kumar, the unorthodox yet effective Mohammad Taha got going with a flurry of boundaries. However, his stay turned out to be only for 11 deliveries as he found Pradeep T while trying to slice a Vinay delivery. Manjesh Reddy and Kunal Kapoor hit a couple of lusty blows to set the tone to the chase, which had started on a sombre note. However, the partnership was short-lived as Kapoor's indecisive running between the wickets cost him dear. At the end of the powerplay, the Tigers could only manage 37 runs for two wickets.
Manjesh and Dikshanshu Negi tried to build a partnership, but Belagavi bowlers tied them down with some accurate bowling, not letting the batsmen get away. Manjesh eventually departed for a 22-ball 14, failing to clear Pradeep T at long-off when he tried to hit Satish Bharadwaj past the ropes. Bharadwaj could have picked up another wicket but Pradeep T, despite a valiant dive, could not prevent the ball from going over the fence.
The onus was on Negi, who was at the receiving end of the reprieve, to revive the chase. But Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sakuja's combined efforts resulted in the run-out of Negi for a 28-ball 30. Kranthi Kumar decided to shoulder the responsibility of keeping Hubli's hopes alive when he went on the aggressive in the 15th over, hitting a four and two sixes off Praveen Dubey to bring down the equation to 56 off 30. Kranthi, however, was cleaned up by Sakuja in the following over and the left-arm spinner also sent back Stallin Hoover to take the game further away from the Tigers' grasp.
However, there was to be a twist in the tale, which was provided by William and Bharath, who brought it down to 16 off 12. While Bharath sent a Vinay delivery straight down the ground for a maximum, William was belligerence personified when he belted three maximums off Bharadwaj in the 18th over, which yielded 23 runs and tilted the balance in favour of the home team. Another six came off William's bat when he dispatched a short ball from Pradeep over the fence before Hubli got four bonus runs in leg byes. William finished it off in style hitting a full toss for his fifth six to help Hubli win with 1.2 overs to spare.
Earlier, the in-form Agarwal got into the act straightaway after the Panthers were asked to bat, dispatching a half-volley through cover and placing one delightfully to third man for two boundaries in the opening over off Hoover. In the process, the 25-year-old became the first to aggregate in excess of 400 runs in a single season of the KPL. Fellow opener Anurag Bajpai wasn't to be left behind as he took the attack to S Aravind, going over sweeper cover for a four before hitting one straight into the sight-screen for the first six of the match.
While Bajpai survived a close stumping chance, Hubli Tigers' excitement could not be contained when Agarwal, trying to hit William over the top, did not get the timing right and saw Mohammad Taha run in from long on and hold on to a fine catch. An economical over from Aravind followed, but Bajpai made up for that by scoring four fours in a row off William - the off-side field being his preferred region - to take the Panthers to 62 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.
Bajpai, who was looking good for a half-century, fell five short of the mark when he became Shivil Kaushik's maiden KPL 2016 scalp in the eighth over. The right-handed opener miscued a big hit and handed Taha a simple catch at long on. Mir Kaunan Abbas, the No. 4 bat, kept himself busy with singles and twos before managing to clear the fence with a slog-sweep. However, his outing came to an end when a quick throw from Taha helped keeper Bharath remove the bails before Abbas could make it to the crease at the striker's end.
Although the Panthers had maintained a healthy run-rate, wickets weren't helping their cause with Shoaib Manager becoming the next to depart when he got a faint nick to the keeper off Kranthi Kumar. Hubli managed to put the brakes on Belagavi with some tight overs and the Panthers had to do without a boundary for a long part of the second half of their innings.
Praveen Dubey, in an attempt to up the ante, gave Aravind his first wicket. The Panthers, who had failed to find the ropes for more than eight overs, managed to break the shackles when skipper Vinay scored a couple of fours off Aravind in the penultimate over. Akshay CK hit a six off William in the final over, but Hubli came back strongly by picking up three wickets off consecutive deliveries, with the last being a run out, to restrict the Panthers below 160.
Brief scores: Belagavi Panthers 153/8 in 20 overs (Anurag Bajpai 44, Vinay Kumar 33; Chetan William 3-41) lost to Hubli Tigers 156/6 in 18.4 overs (Chetan William 39*, Dikshanshu Negi 30; Abhishek Sakuja 2-25) by four wickets
After a tight opening over from Vinay Kumar, the unorthodox yet effective Mohammad Taha got going with a flurry of boundaries. However, his stay turned out to be only for 11 deliveries as he found Pradeep T while trying to slice a Vinay delivery. Manjesh Reddy and Kunal Kapoor hit a couple of lusty blows to set the tone to the chase, which had started on a sombre note. However, the partnership was short-lived as Kapoor's indecisive running between the wickets cost him dear. At the end of the powerplay, the Tigers could only manage 37 runs for two wickets.
Manjesh and Dikshanshu Negi tried to build a partnership, but Belagavi bowlers tied them down with some accurate bowling, not letting the batsmen get away. Manjesh eventually departed for a 22-ball 14, failing to clear Pradeep T at long-off when he tried to hit Satish Bharadwaj past the ropes. Bharadwaj could have picked up another wicket but Pradeep T, despite a valiant dive, could not prevent the ball from going over the fence.
The onus was on Negi, who was at the receiving end of the reprieve, to revive the chase. But Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sakuja's combined efforts resulted in the run-out of Negi for a 28-ball 30. Kranthi Kumar decided to shoulder the responsibility of keeping Hubli's hopes alive when he went on the aggressive in the 15th over, hitting a four and two sixes off Praveen Dubey to bring down the equation to 56 off 30. Kranthi, however, was cleaned up by Sakuja in the following over and the left-arm spinner also sent back Stallin Hoover to take the game further away from the Tigers' grasp.
However, there was to be a twist in the tale, which was provided by William and Bharath, who brought it down to 16 off 12. While Bharath sent a Vinay delivery straight down the ground for a maximum, William was belligerence personified when he belted three maximums off Bharadwaj in the 18th over, which yielded 23 runs and tilted the balance in favour of the home team. Another six came off William's bat when he dispatched a short ball from Pradeep over the fence before Hubli got four bonus runs in leg byes. William finished it off in style hitting a full toss for his fifth six to help Hubli win with 1.2 overs to spare.
Earlier, the in-form Agarwal got into the act straightaway after the Panthers were asked to bat, dispatching a half-volley through cover and placing one delightfully to third man for two boundaries in the opening over off Hoover. In the process, the 25-year-old became the first to aggregate in excess of 400 runs in a single season of the KPL. Fellow opener Anurag Bajpai wasn't to be left behind as he took the attack to S Aravind, going over sweeper cover for a four before hitting one straight into the sight-screen for the first six of the match.
While Bajpai survived a close stumping chance, Hubli Tigers' excitement could not be contained when Agarwal, trying to hit William over the top, did not get the timing right and saw Mohammad Taha run in from long on and hold on to a fine catch. An economical over from Aravind followed, but Bajpai made up for that by scoring four fours in a row off William - the off-side field being his preferred region - to take the Panthers to 62 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.
Bajpai, who was looking good for a half-century, fell five short of the mark when he became Shivil Kaushik's maiden KPL 2016 scalp in the eighth over. The right-handed opener miscued a big hit and handed Taha a simple catch at long on. Mir Kaunan Abbas, the No. 4 bat, kept himself busy with singles and twos before managing to clear the fence with a slog-sweep. However, his outing came to an end when a quick throw from Taha helped keeper Bharath remove the bails before Abbas could make it to the crease at the striker's end.
Although the Panthers had maintained a healthy run-rate, wickets weren't helping their cause with Shoaib Manager becoming the next to depart when he got a faint nick to the keeper off Kranthi Kumar. Hubli managed to put the brakes on Belagavi with some tight overs and the Panthers had to do without a boundary for a long part of the second half of their innings.
Praveen Dubey, in an attempt to up the ante, gave Aravind his first wicket. The Panthers, who had failed to find the ropes for more than eight overs, managed to break the shackles when skipper Vinay scored a couple of fours off Aravind in the penultimate over. Akshay CK hit a six off William in the final over, but Hubli came back strongly by picking up three wickets off consecutive deliveries, with the last being a run out, to restrict the Panthers below 160.
Brief scores: Belagavi Panthers 153/8 in 20 overs (Anurag Bajpai 44, Vinay Kumar 33; Chetan William 3-41) lost to Hubli Tigers 156/6 in 18.4 overs (Chetan William 39*, Dikshanshu Negi 30; Abhishek Sakuja 2-25) by four wickets
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