Hubballi, July 3 (IANS) Ritesh Bhatkal’s unbeaten 75 in 42 balls was the highlight of Mysore Warriors' three-wicket victory over Gulbarga Mystics in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 in Hubballi on Friday. It was another thriller with Bhatkal holding things together to steer the Warriors home in 19.3 overs.

Chasing 197, the 33-year-old dug deep into his reserves, pulled the team back from early hiccups (2/39) and remained unconquered with four fours and five sixes. He was aided by Manoj Bhandage (24 off 15) as the pair combined for 37 runs in 23 balls to seize control despite a strong showing from the Mystics' attack led by Nathan D'Mello (3-38), Paras Gurbax Arya (2-24), and Ronit More (2-41)

The Warriors moved up out of the bottom berth with their third victory from eight matches and sit in fourth position on seven points, while the Mystics are now below them on six points after their fifth loss.

The Mystics, put into bat, relied on disciplined batting before seamlessly shifting gears to steady the ship from 2-24 in 2.4 overs to a more manageable 147-5 in 16 overs. Young all-around No. 4 Dhruv Prabhakar and attacking No.5 Thippa Reddy batted with composure and added a 29-ball 56 for the fourth wicket to pull up the Gulbarga Mystics before Manish Pandey unleashed a late assault of 41 runs in only 19 deliveries with six fours and a six.

The Raichur-born Thippa Reddy (51 off 26) slammed his second successive half-century studded with five fours and three sixes, while the 21-year-old Dhruv also made the most of his promotion, making a fluent 51 in 35 balls with six fours and a six.

For the Warriors, Arbind Rai and Lavish Kaushal were the most successful bowlers with 3-31 and 3-25, respectively.

Brief scores:

Gulbarga Mystics 196/7 in 20 overs (Macneil Noronha 27, Dhruv Prabhakar 51, Thippa Reddy 51, Manish Pandey 41 not out; Arbind Rai 3-31, Lavish Kaushal 3-25) lost to Mysore Warriors 197/7 (L R Chethan 23, Ritesh Bhatkal 75 not out, Lankesh KP 29, Manoj Bhandage 24; Nathan D’Mello 3-38, Paras Gurbax Arya 2-24, Ronit More 2-41

--IANS

bsk/