Match No 8 : Bijapur Bulls vs Mangalore United at Bangalore on 19.08.10. Bijapur Bulls won by eight wickets

Opting to bat after winning the toss, Mangalore United put up a total of 142 for 7 in its twenty overs. It lost the opening batsman Bharat Chipli for zero of the second ball of the match {1 for 2}. K Nair and Niduvan repaired the damage by forging a 44 runs partnership for the second wicket. Accurate bowling by N Mulky saw Mangalore team lose two more wickets with the score board reading 4 for 54. Then ensued a face saving partnership of 75 runs for the fifth wicket between K Nair and D Sequiria. K Nair departed at 127 at 18,1 overs {score 7 for 127}. Mangalore United added 16 more runs in 11 deliveries and in the process lost two more wickets at 140 and 142.

K Nair held the centre stage with a well compiled half century. He scored 63 runs in 84 minutes and faced 52 deliveries. His innings contained four fours and a six. Nidhuvan scored 28 of 22 deliveries and hit 3 fours and a six. D Sequiria grafted his 35 runs in a stay of 39 minutes. His innings contained a six and no fours.

N Mulky {4 for 15} and S Jayaprakash {2 for 28} shared the six of the seven wickets that fell in Mangalore’s innings while one batsman was run out. N Mulky was the most successful bowler on the scene. He contained the Mangalore batsmen effectively as he bowled 12 dot balls of his 24 balls quota – a noteworthy effort from a right arm medium fast bowler.

Bijapur Bulls too started shakily by losing inform MR Beerala for 2 and the score board read 1 for 7. G Dhiman and Jayaprakash added 54 runs for the second wicket. G Dhiman departed at the score of 61 and Jayaprakash followed him at 62. One more wicket – that of DT Patil – fell at 64. Captain S Shinde departed at 76. Bijapur Bulls had lost four wickets for 15 runs in a space of 18 deliveries and were in a spot of bother. But the experienced ST Binny had the other ideas and thwarted the Mangalore team’s plans. He played with a lot of composure and assurance and added 44 runs for the sixth wicket in the company of N Mulky.

Though Bijapur Bulls lost two more wickets at 135, victory was always on the cards with experienced ST Binny holding the forte at the other end. He saw his team to a two wickets win. His contribution to the team’s win was invaluable. He came to the crease when his team was tottering at 5 for 76. He held one end firmly secure and top scored the innings with a well complied 47 not out. He stayed at the crease for 50 minutes and faced 32 deliveries. He hit three four and a six.

G Dhiman scored 34 runs of 27 balls with five fours, while Jayaprakash’s 24 came of 22 balls and contained 2 fours and a six.

Captain RK Sabhawal who kept the wickets had a field day behind the wicket as he effected three stumping dismissals – all of left arm spinner D Sequeria

Aleem {2 for 24}, S Arvind {1 for 24}, D Sequeria {3 for 31} and Azghar Pasha {1 for 29} were the bowlers who picked up the eight wickets that fell in Mangalore’s innings