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Panthers rides on Sampath's shoulders

Special Correspondent

— Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

SMART APPROACH:Suraj Sampath guided Panthers to victory with some sensible batting.

BANGALORE: The hard-hitting openers — skipper J. Arun Kumar and Shyam Ponnappa — hardly impressed, but last year's runner-up Belagavi Panthers had enough aggression in its ranks as Suraj Sampath (60 n.o.) anchored and then accelerated the chase with superb shots.

Panthers rode on Sampath's knock to defeat Malnad Gladiators by eight wickets in the inaugural match of the Mantri Karnataka Premier League's second edition which commenced at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday. The skies remained clear while the stands had vast vacant spaces.

Fitting end

Chasing Gladiators' 110 for six in 20 overs, Panthers reached 116 for two in 18.4 overs. Quite fittingly, Sampath made the winning shot, a massive six over long-on off K. Gautham.

A delighted Sampath embraced his partner S. Vinodh (29 n.o.) after the duo's unbeaten 59-run third-wicket partnership sealed the match in their side's favour. The pursuit of victory though was not easy as Arun failed to get past gully and a lumbering Shyam tamely cut Ryan Ninan straight to the fielder placed at short third-man.

However, further shocks were avoided as Sampath drove Ninan and Vinodh too kept the scoreboard ticking over at a steady trot. The required run-rate never went beyond six per over. Sampath secured the Man-Of-the-Match award for his match-winning knock.

Earlier, Gladiators, which finished at the bottom last year, saw its top-order fritter away the starts.

Captain Ganesh Satish, who opened the batting, played some rousing shots on the off-side and also enjoyed a reprieve as wicket-keeper Vinay Uthappa failed to grasp a snick off Dhananjaya. Uthappa, however, made amends when he stumped Satish as Ramling Patel slipped one past the bat.

Losing its way

Prior to Satish's dismissal, Ronit More castled Sanjay Kumar and the batting woes aggravated as Kunal Kapoor and Raju Bhatkal found their feet and the fence with regularity before holing out in the deep. From 53 for two in 10 overs, Gladiators failed to increase its tempo in the final stretch.

The remaining batsmen flailed around but with the pink ball not travelling at the same pace as the white one, boundaries were hard to come by against the spinners. Gladiators eventually finished with a total that proved inadequate for the prowling Panthers.

The scores: Malnad Gladiators 110 for six in 20 overs (Raju Bhatkal 27, Ganesh Satish 25) lost to Belagavi Panthers 116 for two in 18.4 overs (Suraj Sampath 60 n.o., S. Vinodh 29 n.o.) .

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