CCL 2024: Karnataka Bulldozers book finale spot after yet another win over the Bengal Tigers; keep hopes of a third title alive

The second match on March 15 was the first qualifier between the top two teams of CCL 2024’s group stage - the Karnataka Bulldozers and Bengal Tigers. For one team, this would mean direct entry into the final, while the other would get another shot at it, by taking on the winners of today’s eliminator match, the Mumbai Heroes. Obviously, a win is what both were eyeing, but this battle could go only one way and today, it went in favour of two-time champions Karnataka Bulldozers, who secured a 7th finale spot and a shot at a potential third trophy win.

Birthday boy Jisshu Senguptha won the toss and elected to bat, noting that the wicket has been slow and getting slower. He reckoned that a run chase could get difficult for the Bulldozers, even with the good line-up that they have, including Darling Krishna, Pradeep, J Karthik, Rajeev Hanu, Pratap Narayan, etc. What Jisshu didn’t reckon that although his side lost only three wickets in the first innings, but for Jammy Banerjee, there weren’t many significant batting contributions. Aided by Jammy’s half century off 30 balls, they crawled to 86 runs in 10 overs.

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After the trouncing that the Bulldozers got at the hands of the Telugu Warriors in their last group stage match, they were in no mood for a repeat and wanted to also maintain their unbeaten track record against the Tigers. So, they made quick work of the first innings target and went on to post 114 for the loss of 4 wickets, which gave them a 28-run lead.

When you concede a formidable lead and then have to post a target for that team to chase, that can be a tough task. But the Tigers took it in their stride and put on a much better batting display than their first innings, scoring 127 for 6 and setting the Bulldozers a target of 100 for the win. At an asking rate of 10 per over from the word go, the Bulldozers did not go out all guns blazing and instead played intelligent cricket, stealing the easy singles and twos, while also occasionally clearing the boundary. They lost only 2 wickets during their chase, with each batsman, right from opener J Karthik to Pratap and Rajeev Hanu, all doing their bit as the Bulldozers clinched victory with one over to spare.

On March 17, the Bulldozers will meet the winners of the second qualifier in the final. Tomorrow, the Bengal Tigers will get one more shot at a spot in the final, when they play the Mumbai Heroes.