Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2022: Really happy with the way the boys have played – Manish Pandey

Gulbarga Mystics captain Manish Pandey was delighted after they defeated Bengaluru Blasters by 11 runs in the final of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2022 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. Gulbarga Mystics posted an above-par score of 220 runs after Mayank Agarwal won the toss and decided to bowl first.

Rohan Patil and Jeswath Acharya gave a blistering start to their team as they scored 60 runs in 5.2 overs. Acharya smashed 39 off just 17 balls while Patil continued his dream form to score 21-ball 38.

Devdutt Padikkal continued his good form as he scored 56 runs off just 42 balls while Manish Pandey added the finishing touches with a quickfire knock of 41 runs off just 17 balls.

On the other hand, Bengaluru Blasters found themselves on the ropes at 63-5 in the run-chase. However, LR Chethan and Kranthi Kumar added 98 runs for the sixth wicket to get the Blasters back in the contest.

Chethan scored 91 runs off just 40 balls while Kumar added 47 off 21 balls. However, the lower middle order could not add the finishing touches for Bengaluru Blasters.

Manoj Bhandage scalped three wickets for Gulbarga Mystics while Ritesh Bhatkal and Pranav Bhatia took two wickets each.

Manish Pandey said in the post-match presentation, “We were outplayed the last time we played this team and we wanted to play the finals against the second-best team in the tournament. It was a handsome score for us to defend. Anything over 200 was what we were looking at because the wicket was playing beautifully. We wanted this kind of an innings from our openers. We wanted to play the powerplay well. Very proud of the boys. The new ball holds a bit with the spinners and luckily it paid off. I did it in the last game as well. Both Bhandage and Padikkal have done well for us through the season. Love to have people like that in my team. [On his batting] That was all I could do then. I had one signal and went after it and got good runs at the end of it.”

He concluded, “Really happy with the fans and the owners. Really happy with the way the boys have played. The kind of attitude the guys had was unbelievable. Hopefully, we play as a team next year. Everybody has learned a lot and achieved a lot. As a captain, I want the whole XI to perform all the time. We always play to win. We want to put up a good fight on the field and I did think of getting here and winning the trophy. The sponsors, the coaching staff and everyone have worked around to make this tournament a great one.”