Provident crowned champions

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/26994/provident-crowned-champions.html


 it was the hour to imprison nerves and seize glory.

Got You!: Bangalore Provident’s NC Aiyappa (fourth from left) celebrates J Arun Kumar’s dismissal. DH photo/ Srikanta Sharma RProvident Bangalore mastered that art, often called the big match temperament, to clinch the inaugural Mantri Karnataka Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Wednesday.

Their five-wicket victory over Belagavi Panthers carried the quintessence of their approach all along the tournament – professional and unflappable. The Panthers have one of the most explosive batting line-ups in the KPL, and restricting them to as small a total as 122 for seven told a lot about the confidence Provident carried into the summit clash. Sometimes, chasing such low totals can be a tricky task, but Provident displayed their customary coolness here as well, hunting down the target without even a hint of panic. The contest did not produce the thrills that the 15,000-strong crowd might have expected as it turned out to be a battle of attrition.

There was a touch of calmness even when VS Thilak Naidu (33, 24b, 6x4) and MK Manjunath dismantled the Panthers attack. Delicate steers and well-timed square cuts supplanted risky shots. Their 48-run opening wicket alliance, snapped when Naidu edged leggie Ramling Patil to Vinayak Uthappa behind the stumps, provided Provident with a perfect launching pad.

Panthers’ bowlers, especially their spinners and the ever resilient pacer R Vinay Kumar, tried their best to choke the subsequent batsmen. They succeeded in their venture to a certain extent on a sluggish pitch, but in the end the total proved too small to defend as Aniruddha Joshi fetched the winning runs with a boundary off Zeeshan Sayed.

Earlier, skipper/coach J Arun Kumar and Vinay Kumar, promoted as opener, were expected to provide one of those flashy starts after Panthers stuck to their policy of batting first. But the expectations were never met as they struggled against the Provident bowlers.

Arun, seemingly disturbed by constant movement near the sight screen, soon played a horrendous cross-bat swipe and Aiyappa’s delivery re-arranged his furniture. In walked Manish Pandey carrying loads of responsibilities on his shoulder, but the youngster failed this time.

Manjunath gobbled up Pandey’s ugly hoick off left-arm spinner Anand Katti at mid-on, and with that dismissal Panthers’ hopes of reaching a total beyond the grasps of Provident too evaporated.

The presence of Vinay might have prompted Panthers to think of crossing the 150-run mark at least, but those ambitions too were soon wiped out when Amit Verma jettisoned Vinay. At 4 for 65 into the 13th over, Panthers were so close to a total collapse, but they managed to reach a reasonable score courtesy Uthappa (45, 30b, 2x4, 2x6). But it proved too inadequate to thwart Provident’s march to the title.

Score Board
BELAGAVI PANTHERS: J Arun Kumar b Aiyappa 6, R Vinay Kumar c Manjunath b Amit 34, Manish Pandey c Manjunath b Katti 4, Shyam Ponnappa b Amit 9, Vinayak Uthappa c Katti b Akhil 45, Suraj Sampath c Amit b Aiyappa 14, Ramling Patil c Aiyappa b Katti 2, P Yogesh (not out) 4, Z Syed (not out) 1. Extras (LB-1, W-2) 3. Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 122.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-32, 3-46, 4-64, 5-95, 6-105, 7-118.
Bowling: NC Aiyappa 4-0-27-2, DH Sunil Kumar 2-0-15-0, Anand Katti 4-0-26-2, Syed Ashraf 4-0-23-0, Amit Verma 4-1-12-2, B Akhil 2-0-18-1.

PROVIDENT BANGALORE:  MK Manjunath St Uthappa b Zeeshan 23, VS Thilak Naidu c Uthappa b Patil 33, Amit Verma (run out) 11, Sunil Kumar Jain (not out) 28, B Akhil b R Vinay 12, Rahul Bhatkal b R Vinay 1, Aniruddha Joshi (not out) 8. Extras (B-8, LB-1) 9. Total (for 5 wkts, 19.2 overs) 125.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-66, 3-78, 4-101, 5-115.
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 4-0-14-2, David Johnson 2-0-16-0, R Madhusudan 2-0-17-0, Ramling Patil 4-0-23-1, Zeeshan Syed 3.2-0-23-1, Shyam Ponnappa 1-0-7-0, P Yogesh 3-0-16-0.

Belgaum Panthers loses again

Source: Deccan Herald

Instead of the anticipated run fest, the match between Provident Bangalore and Belagavi Panthers turned out to be a lop-sided contest in which the former emerged a five-wicket winner at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Thursday.



CAPTAIN'S KNOCK: B Akhil’s 34 took Provident home on Thursday. dh photo/ srikanta sharma RPanthers did not change the custom of batting first after winning the toss, but they could not capitalise on the right call, ending up at a below par 116 for six. Provident never looked in serious trouble as they scaled down the target with comfort.

There were expectations of J Arun Kumar and Manish Pandey unleashing the mayhem when Panthers’ openers came out to bat. But the hard-hitting duo could not repeat its marauding ways against the disciplined Provident new-ball bowlers, NC Aiyappa and BH Sunil Kumar.

Aiyappa might have his wicket coloumn empty, but the Coorg pace bowler produced an excellent spell (4-0-17-0), never allowing the Panthers’ openers to break free.

Once deprived of freebies, frustration crept into the minds of Arun and Pandey evidenced by the extra risky shots they played in search of runs. Sunil Kumar fetched the first breakthrough when he managed to induce an edge from Arun for stumper VS Thilak Naidu to complete a good effort.

The dismissal of their captain/coach spoiled their ambitions of getting to a rousing start, but more alarmingly it also pushed the other Panthers’ batsmen into a siege mentality. Choked by their own fears and spot-on bowling, particularly from Sarfarz Ashraf (3-22), Belagavi batsmen found the going tough, never quite managing to up the ante.

It just needed some sensible batting from Provident to hunt down the target and they did just that with man of the match B Akhil leading from the front.

However, their beginning too did not have a rosy touch to it, losing openers Ashraf and Thilak Naidu, with just 20 runs on the board.

After managing to dismiss in-form Naidu, caught by Arun off David Johnson, Panthers might have envisaged to make some more inroads into the Provident line-up. But Amit Verma and Akhil thwarted their designs during their third-wicket alliance, blending aggression and defence to nicety. They milked 57 runs off 40 balls to turbocharge Provident’s march.

Verma was serene in his ways, and it was Akhil who donned the role of enforcer. His 34 (23b, 5x4, 1x6) was the fuel that ignited Provident’s chase and his huge six off AR Mahesh was an ample evidence of his intentions.

The departure of Akhil and Amit did not change the course of the proceedings as Provident eased past the target.

SCORE BOARD

BELAGAVI PANTHERS: J Arun Kumar c Naidu b Sunil Kumar 19; Manish Pandey c Bhatkal b Ashraf 19; Vinay Uthappa c Bhatkal b Ashraf 12; Shyam Ponnappa c A Joshi b Akhil 34; R Vinay Kumar c A Joshi b Ashraf 4; David Johnson c Sunil Jain b Sunil Kumar 5; Suraj Sampath (not out) 17; AR Mahesh (not out) 2; Extras (B-2, W-2) 4; Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 116

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-49, 3-54, 4-72, 5-87, 6-106

Bowling: NC Aiyappa 4-0-17-0, Sunil Kumar 4-0-28-2, B Akhil 4-0-29-1, Anand Katti 4-0-18-0, Sarfraz Ashraf 4-0-22-3.

PROVIDENT BANGALORE: Sarfraz Ashraf c Samapth b Madhusudan 9; VS Thilak Naidu c Arun b Johnson 10; Amit Verma b Arun 31; B Akhil c Mahesh b Sayed 34; Sunil Kumar Jain (not out) 12; Aniruddha Joshi (run out) 17; NC Aiyappa (not out) 1; Extras (LB-1, W-5) 6; Total (for 5 wkts, 18.4 overs) 120

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-20, 3-77, 4-89, 5-109.

Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 3.4-0-23-0, David Johnson 3-0-21-0, R Madhusudan 4-0-20-1, AR Mahesh 2-0-20-0, Ramling Patil 1-0-7-0, J Arun Kumar 3-0-12-1, Zeeshan Ali Sayed 2-0-16-1.