Hubli Tigers skipper R Vinay Kumar en route to his crucial 28 against Bengaluru Blasters. DH Photo
Hubli Tigers almost made a mess of a gettable target before prevailing by two wickets against Bengaluru Blasters in their Karnataka Premier League tie at the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar stadium on Wednsday.
A clinical bowling effort, led by Abhishek Sakuja (3/20) saw Hubli restrict Bengaluru to a modest 102/8 in 20 overs.
However, the Blasters fought back through Abhishek Bhat to take the game down to the wire. The right-arm medium pacer, who finished with figures of 5/20, rattled the Hubli top order to leave them struggling at 34/5 by the sixth over.
However, skipper R Vinay Kumar (28), known to have a calm head in pressure situations, stitched a crucial partnership of 45 runs with Praveen Dubey (32 not out) to take Hubli out of danger.
Hubli thus registered their second straight victory to be at the second spot in the table with four points. The Mysuru Warriors lead the table with four points from two games. On Thursday, Bijapur Bulls will face Namma Shivamogga.
Earlier, the Blasters lost opener Rajoo Bhatkal in the third ball of the match when Vinay had the right-hander caught behind. Wickets kept tumbling as the Blasters produced yet another shoddy display with the bat following their first defeat at home to the Warriors last week.
The Blasters would have found it tough to cross the three-figure mark of not for the 31-run stand between Pavan Deshpande (28) and M V Manjesh Reddy (30). But Sakuja kept the Tigers on top of the game by dismissing both the batsmen.