Warriors ride on Karthik’s show

Bengaluru: Last season’s runners-up Bengaluru Blasters stared at an early exit from the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20 tournament, crashing to their fifth consecutive defeat at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Saturday.In a rain-interrupted match, Mysuru Warriors got past Mayank Agarwal & Co by 23 runs via the VJD method. In-form opener CA Karthik anchored Warriors’ innings with a 43-ball 62 (7x4; 2x6) after a top-order collapse. In the latter half of the innings, Manoj Bhandage (28; 12b; 3x6) and J Suchith (31; 14b; 1x4; 3x6) accelerated the run rate. Spinner Shubhang Hegde returned 4 for 23 for the Blasters.Blasters were off to a disastrous start, losing openers D Nishal and Agarwal early. Karthik (2/16) and Shuchith (2/8) struck in tandem to peg them back further. Blasters were well short of the target of 115 projected by the VJD method after the downpour, having reached 81-5 in 11.1 overs.HUBLI STAY UNBEATENHubli Tigers registered their fifth straight victory, beating Shivamogga Lions by eight wickets. Manvanth Kumar restricted Lions to 138/8 with a three-wicket haul before the Tigers reached the target in the 17th over. The opening-wicket stand of 85 runs between Luvnith Sisodia (69) and Mohammed Taha (37) laid the foundation for the victory.Brief scores: Mysuru Warriors: 185/7 in 20 overs (CA Karthik 62, Manoj Bhandage 28, J Suchith 31 n.o; Shubhang Hegde 4-23, Rishi Bopanna 2-19) bt Bengaluru Blasters: 81/5 in 11.1 overs (Suraj Ahuja 31; CA Karthik 2-16, J Suchith 2-8) via the VJD method. Shivamogga Lions: 138/8 in 20 overs (Pranav Bhatia 46 n.o; Manvanth Kumar 3-23, Praveen Dubey 2-15) lost to Hubli Tigers: 139/2 in 16.4 overs (Luvnith Sisodia 69, Mohammed Taha 37).