Vinay Kumar's Hubli Tigers claim maiden KPL crown
Devdutt Padikkal and CM Gautam bring Bellary Tuskers close before they collapse
ESPNcricinfo staff
31-Aug-2019
BCCI
Hubli Tigers 152 for 6 (Somanna 47, Sisodia 29, Appanna 2-19) beat Bellary Tuskers 144 (Padikkal 68, Gautam 29, Abhilash Shetty 3-34, Somanna 3-24) by eight runs
Vinay Kumar may have moved on from Karnataka, but continued to make his presence felt as a leader, inspiring Hubli Tigers to their maiden Karnataka Premier League crown on Saturday. They beat Bellary Tuskers in the final by eight runs in Mysore.
Tuskers started poorly in their chase of 153 but recovered through 19-year-old Devdutt Padikkal (68) and CM Gautam (29), before the Tigers applied the choke through the pace duo of Abhilash Shetty (3 for 34) and Aditya Somanna (3 for 24).
Earlier in the evening, Vinay may have rued for a while his decision to bat as pacer Prasidh Krishna and KP Appanna, the left-arm spinner, left their mark with some exceptional bowling. Tigers were then powered by a 62-run stand between Somanna (47) and Luvnith Sisodia (29). The late lift was provided by Praveen Dubey (26*).
Tuskers lost three wickets inside the first four overs. Then, Padikkal and Gautam added 75 in just 66 balls to come within 53 runs of victory off the last five overs, before the stutter set in again. It proved to be costly, but Padikkal had some consolation as he walked away as the highest run-getter in the tournament with 310 runs.