Time to conclude our coverage of the match between Hubli Tigers and Gulbarga Mystics. Now it's time to shift our attention to the second match of today's double-header.
For now, this is Arjun Bhallasigning off on behalf of my co-commentators, Deepak Prakash & Mohammad Anab, and the scorer/analyst Asraj Khan.
Devdutt Padikkal (Hubli Tigers Captain): "Batting has been under fire a bit in this year's tournament but glad that we were able to make it and successfully chase down the total.
It's important to have a solid partnership while chasing. I had a chat with Karthikeya that we shouldn't lose a wicket from here and glad we took our team through.
As far as my performance is concerned, I am always happy when we are on the winning side."
Man of the Match: Karthikeya KP
Trusted Player of the Match: Devdutt Padikkal
Super Sixes of the Match: Smaran Ravichandran
Catch of the Match: Manvanth Kumar
6:48 PM IST and Local Time: After bagging two back-to-back defeats, the Hubli Tigers have beaten a team who were on a four-game winning streak. A brilliant partnership of 144 runs between Captain Devdutt Padikkal and Karthikeya KP has taken them home by eight wickets with 10 balls to spare!
Chasing 173 runs, the Tigers decided to opt for a new opening pair of DDP and Mohammed Taha. The latter smoked a couple of boundaries in his short stay, but was undone by Praveen Dubey in the third over. However, it was the only thing that went Gurbarga's way in the chase.
DDP and Karthikeya joined hands and never looked back. The Captain was the one who attacked the Mystics' bowlers first and scored a 32-ball fifty. But soon after DDP's fifty, KP took matters into his own hands. He accelerated for Hubli's good and overshowed his skipper in the process.
DDP fell on 69 when the Tigers were seven runs away from the target, but Karthikeya KP, using Abhinav Manohar's help, took HT over the line. The Hubli no.3 stayed unbeaten 81 off 48 balls.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Hubli spinners dominated the first half of the first innings, with Yash Punja taking 2 for 25. Shreesha Achar and Ritesh Bhatkal were equally impressive during their spells. But then came a storm named Smaran Ravichandran, who took the Mystics to 172/7 with his sublime 84 not out. Although it wasn't meant to be his day.