Bengaluru, Aug 27 (IANS): Defending Champions Gulbarga Mystics made light work of their 145-run chase as they beat the Mangaluru Dragons by 8 wickets with 4.3 overs to spare in the Maharaj Trophy KSCA T20.

A magnificent 114-run opening stand between Gulbarga’s KV Aneesh (72* off 42 balls) and L.R Chethan (58 off 37 balls) after a clinical bowling performance in the first innings from their bowlers led by Abhilash Shetty (3/33) made them the third team to find a place in the semifinals.

After the Mangaluru Dragons were asked to bat first by the Gulbarga Mystics, BR Sharath (38) and Thippa Reddy (27) got them off to a great start scoring 51 runs off the first five overs despite a first-ball duck for Rohan Patil who was caught behind off Gulbarga skipper Vyshak Vijaykumar’s bowling in the second over.

The fall of BR Sharath in the sixth over led to a middle-order collapse with the Gulbarga Mystics bowlers continuously chipping away wickets. From a position of dominance at 56/1 in 5.3 overs, the Mangaluru Dragons slipped to 87/7 by the end of the 12th over.

Aniruddha Joshi (46) resurrected the innings, putting together a much-needed partnership of 52 runs from 38 balls with Impact Player Akshan Rao (12) before the former was dismissed by Abhilash Shetty in the 19th over.

Sankalp Shettennavar (3) and Akshan Rao were soon removed as the Mangaluru Dragons were bundled out for 144 in 19.1 overs with Abhilash Shetty (3/33) finishing as their best bowler.

The Gulbarga Mystics started their chase in grand fashion, scoring 59 runs in the powerplay without any casualties. Both K.V Aneesh and L.R Chethan scored runs at a brisk pace as they struck six fours and two sixes between them in the first six overs.

LR Chethan (58 off 37 balls) went on to bring up his half-century in 33 balls while KV Aneesh (72* off 42 balls) reached the same landmark in 30 balls as the team breached the 100-run mark in exactly ten overs.

Mangaluru skipper Krishnappa Gowtham picked up the wickets of L.R Chethan and Macneil Noronha (0) in the 12th over to give his team a glimmer of hope but Aneesh and R. Smaran (8*) ensured that there were no more setbacks in the chase as they went on to achieve the target in 15.3 overs with 8 wickets in hand.

Brief scores:

Mangaluru Dragons 144 all out in 19.1 overs (Aniruddha Joshi 46, BR Sharath 38, Thippa Reddy 27; Abhilash Shetty 3-33, Vyshak Vijaykumar 2-20, Hardik Raj 2-24) lost to Gulbarga Mystics 145/2 in 15.3 overs (KV Aneesh 72*, LR Chethan 58; Krishnappa Gowtham 2-21) by 8 wickets.