Clinical Tuskers clinch maiden KPL title

As has been the case over the previous seasons, a new champion was crowned and this time it was Bellary Tuskers as they secured a 35-run win against Hubli Tigers in the final of Karbonn Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2016, powered by Cycle Pure Agarbathies, on Sunday (October 2).

Rohan Kadam (61 off 40) and Balachandra Akhil (50 off 24) slammed 13 fours and four sixes between them as they sent the Tigers bowlers on a leather hunt to help Tuskers post an imposing total of 189 for 5. Hubli Tigers began well in the chase, but disciplined bowling by Tuskers, led by Steve Lazarus (3-21), meant that the hosts ended up well short of the target.

Mohammad Taha had business written all over him as he set the tone of the chase by dispatching a Prasidh Krishna delivery over the extra-cover fence in the opening over before scoring two consecutive fours off Prateek Jain. Manjesh Reddy, however, couldn't emulate his opening partner, mistiming a lofted shot off Krishna to see Amit Verma take a fine catch. Taha too could have departed soon after but for a misjudgement from Kadam at deep mid-wicket which gave him a reprieve. The hard-hitting opener made full use of the lucky break by tearing into Jain in the fourth over to add a six and three fours to his boundaries' tally.

Kunal Kapoor was the ying to Taha's yang as the Hubli skipper ensured rotation of strike while he also made sure to punish the loose ones. Kapoor too received amnesty in the form of a dropped catch by Suneel Raju, much to the disappointment of left-arm spinner Anil IG, as the hosts moved to 47 for 1 at the end of the first six overs. The crowd, that was chanting in unison for more big hits from Taha, was silenced in the seventh over when he missed a heave and was bowled by Akhil. Stallin Hoover followed soon, trapped in front by an Anil delivery that kept a touch low, leaving Hubli in a spot of bother.

Kapoor and Dikshanshu Negi tried to resurrect the innings, but the former's dismissal, stumped off Verma, followed by KN Bharath, leg-before to Steve Lazarus, pegged Hubli further back. The onus was on Negi and Chethan William, the hero of Hubli's semi-final win, to get team back on track. However, there were no heroics from William this time as a leading edge off Lazarus was snapped up by Raju at point. The left-arm spinner bagged his third wicket a short while later when Negi's attempt to go over the top resulted in the ball travelling only as far as long-off where Kadam took a tumbling catch.

The procession of wickets continued when Kranthi Kumar failed in his attempt execute a big hit off Verma, getting a top-edge to Akhil at point. S Aravind and Sarfaraz Ashraf tried to wield the long handle, but it came a little too late, and the latter became the ninth to depart. A six for Shivil Kaushik in the final over helped Hubli past 150, but there were jubilant scenes in the Tuskers camp soon after.

For the full house that had gathered at the 20000-capacity Karnataka State Cricket Association stadium in Hubli, there was some delight in store straightaway after Tigers chose to bowl. While Kadam was allowed to get off the mark in the opening over due to a clumsy bit of fielding, they soon bagged the big fish as KB Pawan's out-stretched dive couldn't save him from being run out in the second over. Bellary though managed to get a move on as Kadam and Suneel Raju, promoted up the order, found the ropes on multiple occasions. They particularly targeted Kranthi Kumar, who went for 29 runs off his first three overs and was at the receiving end of the first six of the match by Raju, as the Tuskers moved to 53 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.

The 22-year-old Kadam, who was growing from strength to strength with every passing knock, extended the partnership past 50 when he went inside-out over extra cover, off the bowling of left-arm spinner Sarfaraz Ashraf before lifting Chethan William over long-off for his first six. Meanwhile, Raju seemed keen to prove a point having shown indifferent form during the season, as he too kept the big hits coming, and it was Ashraf who was at the receiving end. Kadam went on to bring up a 33-ball fifty, his fourth half-century this season, but saw Raju depart soon after as the right-hander hit a Shivil Kaushik delivery straight to Kunal Kapoor at extra cover.

Raju's exit did not have any bearing on scoring rate as the the experienced B Akhil was in a belligerent mood, while Kadam too scored at a good pace. Kadam had a lucky break when he was put down by Mohammad Taha off Dikshanshu Negi, but Kranthi Kumar made no such error, much to the delight of Kaushik, who gave the left-hander a send off after bagging his third wicket of the season, all coming in the knock-out games. Akhil, though, was in no mood to let go of the momentum as he struck two back-to-back sixes off a hapless Ashraf. Kranthi Kumar managed to keep things quiet for only over before Akhil and Amit Verma took the attack to William, taking 16 runs off the 16th over to power Bellary past 150.

Aravind managed to end Verma's stay as the Bellary skipper was caught by his counterpart when he miscued a big hit. But Hubli couldn't keep in check Akhil's blazing blade as he brought up a 23-ball fifty. However, Tigers heaved a sigh of relief as the 28-year-old departed soon after, edging a Stallin Hoover delivery to keeper KN Bharath. The highest total in a KPL final before this game was 174 by Mysuru Warriors during their chase in 2014, which Bellary managed to go past in the 19th over and eventually finished with the fifth highest total this season when they surpassed 188.

Brief scores: Bellary Tuskers 189/5 in 20 overs (Rohan Kadam 61, B Akhil 50; Shivil Kaushik 2-18) beat Hubli Tigers 154/9 in 20 overs (Dikshanshu Negi 39, Mohammad Taha 36; Steve Lazarus 3-21) by 35 runs.