Bijapur Bulls defend modest total against Bellary Tuskers

That small totals are a challenge to chase was underlined in the third match of the Karbonn Smart KPL 2015 tie between Bellary Tuskers and Bijapur Bulls at the Rajnagar Stadium on Friday. Chasing Bijapur Bulls' 125, Bellary Tuskers made heavy weather of the target, finally succumbing to be all out for 109 to hand Bulls a 16-run victory in the two teams' opening game.

The chase itself began on the wrong note when Bharat Chipli was run out off the seventh ball. The Tuskers did not recover after that, though left-hander Amit Verma (26)and Aniruddha Joshi (30) made decent contributions to ensure the team got past the hundred mark. The Bulls' spinners were the star performers with KC Cariappa and KP Appanna claiming three wickets apiece.

Man of the Match Cariappa felt that they entire team played as a unit. He said, "Defending a low score I thought that we bowled very well and in tandem with one another. We didn't give away too many boundaries either."

Put into bat, Bijapur Bulls had themselves to blame for the plight they got into. There were no devils on the pitch nor were there bowlers to harry them. Yet, they squandered their chances. Just three batsmen managed to cross 20 runs including the openers. Indiscreet shots cost them dear and were it not for skipper B Akhil and speedster A Mithun, who stitched together the team's highest partnership; 27runs for the eighth wicket, things could have been more different for the team. Prasidh Krishna managed to claim three for 24 from his five overs and Prasanna Patil managed to share five wickets amongst themselves.

Brief Scores: Bijapur Bulls 125/8 (Balachandra Akhil 25, Raju Bhatkal 21; Prasidh 3/24) beat Bellary Tuskers 109 all-out (Aniruddha Joshi 30, Amit Verma 26; Kishan Cariappa 3/14) by 16 runs.