Birthday boy Shreyas Gopal spins Bengaluru into the final
It was a paradise for spinners in Mysuru during the first semifinal encounter between the Bengaluru Blasters and Mysuru Warriors, which saw the Blasters come out victorious and qualify for the final.
The rain Gods were not too kind as we witnesses a heavy bout of rain which lasted for almost an hour. However, once it stopped, the groundsmen were up to the task and did their job brilliantly, getting the ground ready for a 19:55 IST start. Since there is no reserve day, there was a one hour buffer keeping in mind the rain, hence, no overs were lost.
After being put in to bat first, the Blasters lost the wicket of KB Pawan after a decent start. Robin Uthappa and Mitrakant Yadav carried on from there but weren't able to build a big parntership.
The Mysuru spinners were the top performers as they made good use of the pitch, picking up wickets at regular intervals and not conceding many runs. In total, the spinners bowled 12 overs, conceded 65 runs and picked up six wickets. Suchith picked up 2 wickets for 12 runs and Kushal Wadhwani picked up three wickets while Amit Verma picked up one.
In the end, thanks to Manoj Bhandage's onslaught towards the end, the Blasters ended up 138 runs in their 20 overs.
In response, the Mysuru openers got off to a perfect start, scoring 47 runs in the Powerplay - 37 off those runs coming from the bat of Arjun Hoysala. However, once the spinners were introduced, there was no turning back for the Blasters.
Arshdeep Singh Brar, Anand Doddamani, and birthday boy Shreyas Gopal ran riot and ripped through the Warriors' batting line-up. Gopal was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets to his name,
In the end, the Warriors fell way short of the target as they managed to score just 118 in their 20 overs - their lowest ever score in the KPL.
The Bengaluru Blasters will now await the winner of Bijapur Bulls and Hubli Tigers in the final which will be played on September 6.