Manish Pandey and Ajit power Mystics to a three-wicket win over Strikers
Manish Pandey has so far been brilliant in the competition
A sensational display of hitting from Ajith Karthik and Manish Pandey helped Gulbarga Mystics outfox Shivamogga Strikers in the fifth match of the Maharaja T20 Trophy 2022 at Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar Ground, Mysore on Tuesday, August 9.
Chasing a target of 176 for victory, Mystics got a steady start with openers Jeswath Acharya (30) and Devdutt Padikkal (9) sharing a 33-run stand before the latter of two was cleaned up by Avinash D.
The right-arm spinner then followed it up by removing well-settled Acharya in his next over. Rohan Patil and skipper Manish Pandey, however then joined forces in the middle and the right-hand-left-hand belted the opposition batters all around the park to take steps toward the victory line.
While Patil sliced up 28 off 20 balls, Manish Pandey went on to clobber a half-century off just 36 balls. His blitzkrieg knock was studded with two boundaries and three towering sixes.
Ajit Karthik whacked 22 runs off just nine deliveries at the backend as his late blitz finally took the Gulbarga Mystics home in 19.1 overs with three wickets in hand and five balls remaining.
For the Strikers, Avinash Das starred with the ball, having picked up five wickets in his quota of four overs. However, the right-arm spinner came out pretty expensive with his spell, conceding runs at an economy of 10.
Rohan Kadam & K Siddharth's fifties helped Shivamogga post 175/8
Manish Pandey | Source: Twitter
Earlier, a couple of scintillating half-centuries by Rohan Kadam (41-ball 53) and K Siddharth (51-ball 53) helped Shivamogga Strikers graft their way to a competitive total.
After putting to bat first, the Strikers rocked with an early blow, having lost opener Stalin Hoover for a golden duck in the first over, but then Kadam and K Siddharth partnered to steady the innings.
The late fireworks by Avinash D (9-ball 19) and Krishnappa Gowtham (6-ball 23) further propelled them to a big total of 175 runs.
On the bowling front, C Ajit Karthik and Vidhwath Kaverappa were the picks of the bowlers for the Mystics, having snared three and two wickets respectively.
It was the first victory for Manish Pandey-led Gulbarga Mystics in two matches. With two points in their account, they currently occupy the fourth spot in the points ranking.
Shivamogga Strikers, on the other hand, succumbed to their second consecutive defeat of the season. Winless so far, they are currently reeling at the bottom of the points table.
Brief Score:
Shivamogga Strikers: 175/8 (20 Overs)
Rohan Kadam 53 (41), Krishnamurthy Siddharth 53 (51); C Ajit Karthik 3-29 (4), Vidhwath Kaverappa 2-48 (4)
Gulbarga Mystics: 177/7 (19.1 Overs)
Manish Pandey 50 (36), C Ajit Karthik 22 (9), D Avinash 5-40 (4)
Gulbarga Mystics won by three wickets.
 "Shivani Shukla")
