PremiumCCL 2024: Darling Krishna powers the Karnataka Bulldozers to victory over the Bengal Tigers
The Karnataka Bulldozers maintain their unbeaten record against the Bengal Tigers in match 8 of CCL 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Last Updated: 08.35 PM, Mar 02, 2024
Darling Krishna is in immaculate form, one must say. The actor, who ensured the Karnataka Bulldozers trumped the Mumbai Heroes in their first match, was at it again. Playing the Bengal Tigers in what was the second match for both sides, Krishna scored half centuries in both innings to help the Bulldozers score 100+ scores. The Bengal Tigers were not intimidated by those targets and got very close to levelling it in the first innings, but in the end, the Bulldozers were just too good for them, as Kiccha Sudeep’s side secured their second win.
Leading the side in the absence of Pradeep Bogadi, who’s had to return home following the demise of his father-in-law, Kiccha Sudeep won the toss and decided to send bat first. The tournament so far has been favourable for teams who bat first, but for last night’s Telugu Warriors vs Punjab De Sher match. An experienced cricketer that he is, Kiccha saw something in the wicket and the team did not disappoint him.
Opening the innings, Darling Krishna and Pratap pretty much made up the team’s score, scoring 72 and 29 respectively. Krishna’s knock, of course, came in less than half the number of balls, and included many shots to the boundary and beyond, which has become his trademark. The Bulldozers wound up their first set of 10 overs with 117 runs on the board.
Chasing this, the Tigers lost two wickets early on, but then the ever-dependable Jammy Bannerjee and captain Jisshu Senguptha ensured there were no more hiccups and set their sight firmly on chasing down the total. The Tigers came tantalizingly close and ended their innings at 109 runs for the loss of 2 wickets only, trailing by 8 runs only.
With CCL rules preventing the opening batsmen of the first innings to come out in the first three spots in the second innings, it took the Bulldozers the loss of a couple of wickets to unleash their special weapon – Darling Krishna – yet again. This time, he took all of 21 balls to get to a score of 54 and remained unbeaten till the very end, as the team got to a final score of 130 runs, aided along by Karan’s knock of 49 as well.
139 runs in 10 overs at a staggering 14 runs per over asking rate from the start was going to be a big ask, but the Tigers seemed to be up for the challenge and began making decent progress, but then they lost too many wickets along the way, which slowed them down and eventually left them 30 runs short and handing the Karnataka Bulldozers their second win in the tournament.
Up next, defending champions Telugu Warriors take on the Kerala Strikers. The Warriors have won both their encounters so far while the Strikers have lost 2 games. A win is imperative for the Strikers to see if they still stand a chance in the tournament. The matches are being live streamed on JioCinema, where you can also find separate links to each of the matches so far.