Match No 7 : Malnad Gladiators and Mysore Maharaajas at Bangalore on 19.09.10 : Malnad Gladiators won by seven wickets

Put into bat after losing the toss, Mysore Maharaajas put up a decent total of 133 for 7 in its 20 overs. Opener KB Pawan {27}, C Raghu {25} and Skipper CJ William {22 not out} were the main contributors to the total. It was a sedate display by Mysore team against a disciplined bowling by Malnad team. Malnad bowlers posed all sorts of troubles for the Mysore batsmen and had them reeling at 101 for 6. A brilliant throw by R Ninan to the wicket keeper KC Avinash caught C Raghu short of his crease and he was run out for 25 {7 for 123 at 19.3 overs}. Lusty hitting by Skipper CJ William who scored ten runs of the last three deliveries saw Mysore team reach 133.

SL Akshay {2 for 40}, K Gowtham {2 for 22} and SK Moinuddin {2 for 16} shared the six wickets that fell in Mysore’s innings. There was one run out. SL Akshay conceded 40 runs and was the most expensive bowler while SK Moinuddin was the most effective bowler – both in terms of wickets captured and runs conceded – with his figures of 2 for 16

Malnad’s fielding was excellent as they took six catches with SL Akshay taking two of them. Their ground fielding was also good as they deprived the batsmen many runs.

Ganesh Satish led from the front in Malnad’s chase. Known for his perseverance to stay at the crease and also building up of partnerships, he remained not out on 58 and steered his team to a facile seven wickets victory. He stayed at the crease for 85 minutes and faced 55 deliveries. His essay contained four fours and a six. It was a perfect finish for Ganesh Satish as winning runs came of his bat.

He forged useful partnerships in this game – added 29 runs for the first wicket with Shashindra, 15 runs for the second wicket with Sanjay Kumar, 61 runs for the third wicket with Kunal Kapoor and 30 runs in an unfinished stand for the fourth wicket with Ryan Ninan

His 61 runs partnership with Kunal Kapoor for the third wicket shut Mysore team out of the race. Both the batsmen picked up the gaps well for their singles and twos, waited for the loose deliveries and punished them for boundaries and sixes. Kunal Kapoor scored 28 runs in a stay of 42 minutes in 32 deliveries and hit a four and a six. More importantly, Ganesh Satish and Kunal Kapoor showed the willingness to stay at the wicket and raised the third wicket stand which was worth 61 runs.

Kunal Kapoor departed at 105 and in came Ryan Ninan – known for his lusty hits. He did not disappoint his captain who was batting at the other end. Ninan scored 15 runs of the 13 deliveries he faced and hit a six.

For the losers, AB Sagar {1 for 27}, CJ William {1 for 11} and CS Raghavendra {1 for 22} shared the three wickets that fell in the victor’s innings