B’luru Blasters fall to Manvanth’s guile

Bengaluru: Young all-rounder Manvanth Kumar (4/15 & 28) sent Bengaluru Blasters crashing to their third consecutive defeat as Hubli Tigers prevailed by five wickets in the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20 tournament at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday.Invited to bat, Blasters’ horror show with the willow continued with just three batters — Bhuvan Raju (11), skipper Mayank Agarwal (50) and Suraj Ahuja (14) managing double-digit scores. They were bowled out for a paltry 105 in 18.4 overs with spinner Pravin Dubey returning 2 for 22.In reply, the Tigers’ were off to a good start, but allowed Blasters some hope of a comeback when they lost four wickets for the addition of 11 runs. But captain Manish Pandey (23 n.o) and Manvanth put the team back on track. Opener Luvnith Sisodia top-scored with a 17-ball 33.WARRIORS WINAfter two consecutive losses, Mysuru Warriors found their rhythm with a 54- run win over Gulbarga Mystics. Young all-rounder Manoj Bhandage did the star turn for the Mysuru outfit backing his unbeaten 15-ball 32 (2x4; 2x6) with bowling figures of 4 for 19.Earlier, R Samarth (48) and skipper Karun Nair (57) helped Mysuru post 198/5. After a blazing start, Mystics were bowled out for 144 in 19 overs with opener LR Chethan (44) being the only batter to put up a fight.Brief scores: Bengaluru Blasters: 105 all out in 18.4 overs (Mayank Agarwal 50; Pravin Dubey 2-22, Manvanth Kumar 4-15) lost to Hubli Tigers: 111/5 in 13.3 overs (Luvnith Sisodia 33, Manvanth Kumar 28; Sarfaraz Ashraf 2-22). Mysuru Warriors: 198/5 in 20 overs (R Samarth 48, Karun Nair 57, Manoj Bhandage 32 n.o; Abhilash Shetty 3-49) bt Gulbarga Mystics: 144 all out in 19 overs (LR Chethan 44; Manoj Bhandage 4-19).