CCL 2025: Match 2 Karnataka Bulldozers register stupendous victory against the Telugu Warriors

Heading into their first match in the 11th Season of the Celebrity Cricket League, Karnataka Bulldozers skipper Kiccha Sudeep had predicted a tough game, given that they were playing the Telugu Warriors, a side that has won the tournament 4 times. A high-scoring and high-octane match is what the two sides gave spectators, with the Bulldozers proving that they can set a target and successfully defend it too; trouncing the Warriors by 46 runs.

Also read: CCL 2025: Kiccha Sudeep says first match against Telugu Warriors will be a tough one 

Karnataka Bulldozers set formidable first innings target

Winning the toss, the Telugu Warriors decided to send the Karnataka Bulldozers in to bat. Smart choice, given that the home side has a solid batting line up and a history of chasing down targets well. So, out came Darling Krishna, one of CCL 2024’s top scorers and Rajeev Hanu, but the first three overs of Power Play weren’t great for the team, who lost Rajeev, and then J Karthik. Just when Krishna started getting into groove in the company of Manjunath, the latter departed, bringing Karan Arya to the crease. The score 41-3 in 5 overs.

But then Krishna decided to shift gears and go into overdrive, pummelling the Warriors’ bowlers for multiple shots for the maximum, getting the team to 100 in 9 overs, a score that, at one point, seemed unlikely. Karan provided him just the right support, ensuring that there was stability in the middle. 113 was the final score, with both Krishna and Karan remaining unbeaten. If the first 5 overs belonged to the Warriors, the second set was firmly with the Bulldozers.

Also read: CCL 2025: Match 1 Bengal Tigers trounce Chennai Rhinos in season opener match

Telugu Warriors chase well, then stumble

Chasing the total set by the Bulldozers, the Warriors began cautiously and even lost big hitter Ashwin Babu early on. But with the Bulldozers missing precious chances of grabbing a few more wickets, skipper Akhil Akkineni and Adarsh found their stride and slowly began chipping away at that score. The Bulldozers finally found a breakthrough in the 8th over when skipper Kiccha Sudeep engineered an excellent stumping effort and sent Adarsh back to the dug-out. But Akhil was far from done and still intent on getting his team closer to 113, if not more.

Akhil got a well-played half century along the way, but then mistimed the next shot and offered a catch to Suneel Raoh. With the target not far off, the Warriors still seemed quite in control, but then they lost 2 more wickets, which brought yet another solid player to the crease – Thaman. Can the star composer get his team across the first hurdle? Well, seeking 2 runs when only 1 was on offer, his partner Samrat was run out by bowler Chandan. And even though Sachiin Joshi joined Thaman in the middle, Chandan maintained a tight line of bowling, restricting the Warriors to a final score of 99 for 5, giving the Bulldozers a 14-run leading into the second innings.

Krishna, who was struggling with what appeared to be a hamstring niggle, which kept him away from fielding against the Warriors, managed to get some runs on board, but failed to fire a second time for his team. Sudeep retired hurt, which brought Rajeev and Karan together. The duo then slowly began building on the foundation that had been set and worked on ensuring another 3-digit target. After 8 overs, they had a 100-run lead, including the margin from the first innings. One over later, they’d made it to 103-3 and a 117-run lead. Thaman’s last over gave the Bulldozers another 20 runs, ending at 123-3 and an overall lead of 137 runs.

Dubbed the Warriors’ Arjuna Ranatunga, Thaman, sporting a jersey with Puneeth emblazoned on it (a tribute to the late Puneeth Rajkumar), opened along with Samrat and then put on quite a show, belting the Bulldozers’ bowlers all across the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In only 3 overs, he took his team to 45 for no loss. After Rajeev conceded 30 runs, Sudeep called in Chandan to get the breakthrough, which he did, but not at the end they’d wanted; he got rid off Samrat. But then Chandan got the wicket they wanted only 2 balls later, sending Thaman packing.

Chasing 137 was always going to be a tall order and pressure mounts when wickets fall and that’s what happened to the Warriors, who lost both Sachiin Joshi and Akhil Akkineni in the 5th over bowled by Anup Bhandari. But the fight was far from over, with Ashwin Babu and Samba still holding fort. Samba fell to Anup, then Ashwin and Adarsh to Ganesh as the Warriors struggled at 80-7 and a run rate that was steadily climbing. The Bulldozers, it seemed, were looking at wrapping up this party fast and how! And while they could not bowl out the Warriors, the winning margin was quite comprehensive – 46 runs. Ganesh managed a 5 wicket-haul, as the Warriors folded for 91-9.

Day 2 of CCL 2025 will move to Delhi, with 2 matches on February 9 - the Bengal Tigers will play Punjab De Sher at 2 pm; followed by Mumbai Heroes vs Bhojpuri Dabanggs at 6.30 pm.

All the matches can be watched live on Sony Sports Ten 3 and Disney+ Hotstar.