KPL 2018: Semifinals fixtures confirmed after Blasters remain unbeaten after group stage
In yet another low-scoring encounter in Mysuru, the Bengaluru Blasters saw off the Mysuru Warriors in their last group stage encounter to remain unbeaten and on top of the league. It was an extremely close fought encounter in the end thanks to some brave batting by the Warriors' lower order batsmen, namely Sharath and SP Manjunath. The match went down till the very last ball, but Anand Doddamani held his nerve to give his side the victory in the end.
With this win, it is now confirmed that the two sides will take on one another once again for in the semi-finals, since the Warriors finished 4th on the table. If they had won this match, they would have finished third and played against the Hubli Tigers instead.
Winning the toss and opting to field first, the Warriors got off to a good start with the wicket of Pawan in the first over. They continued to bowl well, picking up three quick wickets before the ship was steadied by Robin Uthappa and Pavan Deshpande, the latter who scored his first half-century of the season.
He remained unbeaten on 76 in just 54 deliveries - his highest ever score in the KPL. Vineet Yadav chipped in as well with a 30 run knock.
In response, the Warriors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and none of their batsmen were able to stick around at the crease for a long time. Their top four batsmen, who have been extremely consistent throughout the tournament, failed with the bat and were not able to save their side this time.
Suchith too, who has been performing well with the bat, was not able to do much.
The semifinals fixtures have been confirmed with this match. The Mysuru Warriors will take on the Bengaluru Blasters and the Bijapur Bulls will take on the Hubli Tigers.