It's time to conclude our coverage from the exciting game between Bengaluru Blasters and Shivamogga Lions. For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on the behalf of the esteemed scorers/analysts Chandan Kumar Singh and Ajay Ahire. GOOD NIGHT.
Mayank Agarwal(Bengaluru Blasters Captain): "It wasn't this great last year. We are playing very good cricket. Credit to the players.
Definitely Hardik played really well. I felt restricting them will be easier but he batted really well. The thought was that if we get in, we can go for it. We tried to chase it within 18 overs. We bowled in that wicket and we knew that once you settle here, you can go for it.
Our youngsters are batting well and we will give them the cushion. My personal hundred? Haha! It might happen in the future. I am happy with the way I'm batting. Bhuvan has worked really hard and he is getting the results."
Player of the Match: Bhuvan Raju
Trusted Player of the Match: Hardik Raj
Super Sixes of the Match: Hardik Raj
Catch of the Match: Shubhang Hegde
Time for the post-match presentations.
23:21 IST and Local Time | Bengaluru Blasters have registered yet another victory and this time it is by 7 wickets and with 16 balls to go. They have retained their spot in the top of the table.
Coming to bat first, Shivamogga Lions lost their opener Rohit K cheaply but Bharath Dhuri took the innings forward with a few fours and sixes. But in the final over of the powerplay, they lost Dhuri and skipper Nihal Ullal. Dhruv Prabhakar and Shivraj S were failure today. Eyes were on Abhinav Manohar, the star of the last game but he got out for mere 5.
But the young gun Hardik Raj went all guns blazing since the start of his innings. He added 52 with Avinash for the 6th wicket and that helped the Lions. Hardik hit 5 fours and an equal number of maximums to muster 33-ball 69 before getting dismissed. HS Sharath contributed with a valuable 15 from 10 balls to help his side reach 163 runs losing 9 wickets.
Shubhang Hegde and Lavish Kaushal took a couple of wickets. Aditya Goyal, MG Naveen, Kranthi Kumar and Mohsin Khan took one wicket each.
Chethan LR came as the impact sub and he started the innings with a bang. He scored 23 runs from 12 balls and catapulted the score to 48 after the first 5 overs. Mayank Agarwal shifted the gears after a shoddy start. Blasters' skipper scored 42 runs from 34 balls with 4 fours and a maximum. Bhuvan Raju, the in-form man came in and he got what he exactly wanted. He took is positive match-up on for boundaries and rotated the strike with Suraj Ahuja. They together registered 66 run partnership for 40 legal balls and that helped the blasters.
Ahuja got out after scoring 23 runs from 18 balls but Bhuvan finished the game in a fitting way. He remained unbeaten on 59 from 36 balls with 3 fours and 4 maximums.
For the Shivamogga Lions, Anand Doddamani took two wickets and Vasuki Koushik took one wicket.