KPL 2018: Bijapur Bulls look forward to change in fortunes against Bellary Tuskers

08/26/2018

It’s been a tournament to forget for the last year’s Karnataka Premier League (KPL) runners-up Bijapur Bulls as they lost their first game while rain played spoilsport in the next two. Now, the venue has changed to Mysore and the Bulls will expect a change in fortunes in a new city against Bellary.

Bijapur Bulls are yet to win a game in this season of KPL and the same is for the Bellary Tuskers. The Bulls lost their opening game against Hubli Tigers by four wickets while their rest two matches were abandoned due to incessant rain at Hubli. On the other hand, Bellary Tuskers were defeated by Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Belagavi and their game against Hubli was abandoned. Bijapur lies ahead of Bellary as per the points table with two from three games.

Players to watch out for:

The only match that the Bulls have played so far saw skipper Bharath Chipli getting a good start against Hubli Tigers, the responsibility of scoring quick runs in powerplays will again be on his able shoulders. Chipli scored a sensible 29 off 25 deliveries in the first game. In the lower-order, the onus will be on Naveen MG whose quick-fire unbeaten knock of 44 runs towards the end in their only game was a major boost for the side.

Spin twin KP Apanna and KC Cariappa are expected to perform well in Mysore and lead the bowling department for the Bulls. Cariappa proved to be economical in the first game and picked up a wicket as well while Apanna went for 20 runs in two overs that he bowled in the first game.

The Tuskers will be depending on their opener Rohan Kadam to do exactly what Chipli is expected to do for the Bulls. Kadam has already got a fifty to his name in this edition of KPL and is expected to carry his form into the next game. Coming out to bat at number 3, Devdutt Padikkal has got a score of 60 to his name against Mysuru Warriors and he is expected to deliver in the middle order along with Abhinav Manohar who stole the show against Bengaluru Blasters with a quick-fire knock of 61 from only 28 balls.

Slow left-armer Abrar Kazi will shoulder the responsibility of the bowling department. He has picked up four wickets so far and has got an impressive economy rate as well which is essential in the shortest format of the game. He will be looking forward to good support from others in the team like medium-pacer T Pradeep who has claimed five wickets this season.

Behaviour of the pitch in Mysore

After rain played spoilsport in almost all the games at Hubli, KPL caravan has now reached Mysore. With two matches have been played already, it appears to be a track where a team batting first would manage something around 150. The pitch at Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar Ground, Mysore is expected not to produce high-scoring matches and remain conducive for the bowlers.

Weather

There is a prediction of scattered thunderstorms in Mysore tomorrow and both the skippers will keep the rain factor in mind. Duckworth-Lewis (DL) method might come into the picture in such crucial tie where both the sides will want a win and not a sharing of points.

Predicted XIs:

Bijapur Bulls: Bharath Chipli (c), KP Appanna, Ronit More, Suneel Raju, Shishir Bhavane, KC Cariappa, Naveen MG, KN Bharath, Mir Kaunain Abbas, Zahoor Farooqui, Anurag Bajpai (wk)

Bellary Tuskers: CM Gautam (c & wk), Abrar Kazi, Rohan Kadam, Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinav Manohar, Karthik CA, Ritesh Bhatkal, Dega Nischal, Manjesh Reddy, Santhebennur Akshay, Pradeep T