Maharaja Trophy: Luvnith Sisodia keeps Hubli Tigers in the hunt

Wicketkeeper-batter Luvnith Sisodia finally lived up to the billing scoring a brilliant unbeaten knock of 96 runs off 55 deliveries to take his team Hubli Tigers to a 5-wicket win against Gulbarga Mystics in the Maharaja Trophy T20 cricket tournament here at the Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar ground on Monday.

Sisodia built his innings on some skilfully played shots which included 10 boundaries and four sixes.

After opening batsman Mohd. Taha fell cheaply at two runs, it was all-rounder Gneshwar Naveen, who supported Luvnith’s innings with a solid 17 runs off 10 balls, while Swapnil Yelave too played a good knock until Gulbarga Mystics captain Manish Pandey took a brilliant catch to end his batting at 16 runs.

Coming in at No. 6, Hubli Tigers’ captain Abhimanyu Mithun was in no mood to slow down the run rate. He struck away a couple of fours and sixes, scoring 28 off 16 balls to help his team race to the win and remain in the hunt.

Earlier in the match, Gulbarga Mystics posted a strong 177/4, after being asked to bat first, the organisers informed in a release on Monday.

Playing the last match in Mysuru, before the T20 party moves to Bengaluru’s iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium from Wednesday onwards, Jeswanth Acharya looked like a man on a mission as he scored a scintillating 89 runs off 58 deliveries. His fine innings studded with six boundaries and seven over it entertained the Mysuru crowds who turned up in large numbers to enjoy the game on India’s 75th Independence Day.

After having scored a big 191 on Sunday and yet losing to Mangalore United, Gulbarga Mystics batters looked for a big total with opening batsman Rohan Patil and Acharya giving a steady start.

Both put up 78 runs, before Patil, the tournament’s first century-getter, was sent back to the pavilion by Gneshwar Naveen, caught by T. Singh. Patil scored 28 off 28 balls after he was gifted a life by Zahoor Farroqui who dropped a catch near the boundary line.

Wicketkeeper-batter Krishnan Shrijith (5) was the second wicket to fall in the 13th over while Codanda Ajit Karthik (10) too fell soon after at 15.6 over with 130 on board.

Maharaja Trophy: Luvnith Sisodia keeps Hubli Tigers in the hunt

After Acharya was sent back by bowler Vasuki Koushik in the 16th over, the onus was on skipper Manish Pandey and Manoj Bhandage who stitched together a fine partnership with Pandey scoring 25 off 14 balls and Bhandage scoring 18 off 8 deliveries to set up a total of 177.

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Brief scores:

Hubli Tigers 178/5 in 19 overs (Luvnith Sisodia 96*, G. A. Mithun 28; V. Koushik 34/1, G. Naveen 32/2, D. Anand 25/1) beat Gulbarga Mystics 177/4 in 20 overs (Jeswanth Acharya 89, Rohan Patil 28, Manish Pandey 25*; V. Kaverappa 1/23, S Achar 1/36, C.A Karthik 1/31) by 5 wickets.