Bava is Champion: Mangalore United maul Karkala Gladiators to clinch MPL trophy

Mangaluru, Apr 2: Bowlers of Mangalore United ruled the roost as they unnerved Karkala Gladiators batsmen in an one-sided final match at Dr B R Ambedkar Stadium on the outskirts of the city to clinch the Mangalore Premier League-2018 trophy last night.

The fourth edition of the MPL was jointly organized by the Brand Vision Events, Mangalore Occasionals and Sea Bird Cricket Academy with the approval and guidance of Karnataka State Cricket Association. A total of 12 teams had participated in the tourney which commenced on March 20.

Akshay Ballal-led Mangalore United had entered the summit round with a great strain as they had to go through a Super Over to defeat T4 Super Kings in a nail-biting seminal on Saturday. In the finale, however, the situation was quite different as it seemed that the Gladiators had poised to surrender themselves halfway through by laying down the weapons in the battlefield.

After turning in a command bowling performance to skittle Suhel Semitha –led team for a mere 72 in 16.1 overs, the explosive Mangalore United batting line-up secured the team's triumph over Karkala Gladiators with almost eleven more overs to spare in the T20 match.

Gladiators never recovered from an early triple strike as eight of their eleven players returned to the dugout even before making a double-digit score. Only Nithin Mulky (29 off 25 balls), Suhel Semitha (11 off 12 balls) and Afwan Karkala (10 off 15 balls) reached double figures.

Aggressive all-rounder Ballal, who claimed 3 wickets for 18 runs in four overs, proved deadly for Gladiators in batting too. He smashed a blistering 48 off 30 balls comprising nine authoritative fours to emerge as the man of the match. In the first ball of the 10th over, Mangalore United crossed the Gladiators’ target and scored 74 runs after losing two wickets.

Incidentally, Mangalore United is owned by B A Mohiuddin Bava, the MLA of Mangaluru City North and a local patron of cricket, whose team with the same name had in the past emerged champions in Karnataka Premiere League (KPL) too.

Brief Score

KARKALA GLADIATORS: 72 / 10 (16.1 Overs)

Suhel Semitha 11 (12); Nithin Mulky 29 (25); Afwan Karkala

10 (15)

Naga Barath 3.1-10-3; Akshay Ballal 4-18-3; Lokesh Gowda 3-13-2

MANGALORE UNITED

Akshay Ballal 48* (30); Chiranjeevi G S 4*(1); Roshan Shetty 17 (19)