Match No 2 : Bijapur Bulls vs Bangalore Provident {Rural} at Bangalore on 16.09.10 : Bijapur Bulls won by five wickets under VJD Method

A contrived match due to rain saw the defending champions Bangalore Provident {Rural} go down to Bijapur Bulls by five wickets.

Batting first the defending champions put a decent total of 123 for 4 in 17.0 overs when rain gods opened up. The total was largely responsible to the contributions from the opening batsman MK Manjunath {47} and Rahul Bhatkal {39 not out} and their stand for the 67 runs for the third wicket. MK Manjunath was the best batsman on the show and was in his element right from the word go. The opening stand with another veteran VS Thilak Naidu was worth 41 runs in 34 deliveries. MK Manjunath added 67 runs in 28 minutes and 43 deliveries in the company of Rahul Bhatkal which was the substance of Provident’s innings. Manjunath’s innings of 47 contained five boundaries which came in 42 deliveries in a stay of 66 minutes at the crease. Rahul Bhatkal was equally efficient in the company of Manjunath and hit two fours and two sixes and his 39 came in 28 deliveries and he was at the crease for 36 minutes. Devaraj Patil excelled behind the wicket by effecting three dismissals – two caught and one stumped.

Stuart Binny {1 for 33}, DV Anish {2 for 22} and B Rajashekhar {1 for 24} shared the four wickets that fell in Provident’s innings.

Set a revised target of 75 runs of nine overs for a win, Bijapur Bulls batsmen were right on their knees from the start. Former Karnataka and Rajasthan batsman, Mithun Beerla and Gaurav Dhiman gave a brisk start to their innings by posting 42 for the first wicket in 5.3 overs. Mithun, the eldest son of the former Mysore/Karnataka opening batsman B Raghunath, was one of the leading scorers in the first edition, showed the willingness to stay at the crease, to rise the tempo according to the situation and took the challenge into enemy’s camp thus taking his team to a facile win. He was the first to leave – stumped by wicket keeper of Anand Katti for 26. His innings contained three boundaries and a six in a stay of 25 minutes at the crease. His 26 runs came of 21 deliveries.

There was a minor scare for Bijapur Bulls as they lost three wickets at the score of 67 in the eighth over of the innings. Gauran Dhiman {17}, Devraj Patil {23} and Sudhindra Shinde {Zero} were the batsmen dismissed of the third, fourth and fifth deliveries of the eighth over. NC Aiyappa, the former Karnataka Ranji pace bowler, earning a Hattrick in this game. But his effort came a bit too late for Provident. Added to the misery of losing three-in-three, Bulls lost a wicket through a run out {Nitin Mulky for 01} of the last ball of the eighth over. The strong foundation laid by Bulls’ openers sustained the loss the four wickets in four balls and romped home by five wickets with three balls to spare.

For the losers NC Aiyappa was the pick of the bowlers by capturing 3 wickets conceding eight runs which included a Hattrick. Devaraj Patil was adjudged “Man of the Match” for his all round display – 23 runs with the willow and three dismissals with the glove