Bhandara, Nov 6 (IANS): In a shocker, a youth allegedly clobbered his friend with a cricket bat after a fierce argument following a village cricket tourney in Maharashtra's Bhandara, officials said.

According to police, two teams were playing matches in a ground at Adyal village on Sunday in which Karan R. Bilavane, 21 allegedly killed his friend from the opposite side Nivruttinath G. Kawle, 24, with his bat.

The trigger for the ground-rage culminating in the murder was the purported refusal of Bilavane’s three-time winning team to play a fourth innings with Kawle’s side in the match.

There was a heated argument between Kawle who insisted on a fourth innings but Bilavani said since his team had already won thrice they were not keen for another game.

As the verbal altercation continued, Bilavane lost his cool and in a fit of anger, lifted his bat and battered Kawle brutally on the head, neck and limbs, as the latter fell unconscious there, bleeding profusely.

Some locals called up the Adyal Police which rushed a squad to the venue, but Kawle had succumbed on the spot leading to huge tensions among the people in the village.

Bilavane, who was present nearby, was arrested and will be produced before a court on Monday for remand, while Kawle’s body was sent for an autopsy.

Kawle hailed from a very poor family of daily-wage labourers, and was preparing to join the state police services in the ongoing rounds of recruitment.

As a tense atmosphere prevailed in the village, the police deployed tight security to prevent any untoward incident, and the situation was described as 'under control' on Monday.