Bengaluru, Aug 23 (IANS): In a thrilling battle at the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 the Mangaluru Dragons fell agonizingly short in their chase of 145 against the Bengaluru Blasters, here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.

Despite Nikin Jose's (55) gritty half-century and a crucial partnership with Lochan Gowda (8), the Mangaluru Dragons ultimately fell short by six runs. Earlier in the day, Abhilash Shetty's (4/9) remarkable spell had put the Bengaluru Blasters on the back foot, reducing them to 38/4. However, it was Kranthi Kumar's match-winning all-round performance that turned the tide—scoring a vital 39 and delivering with the ball (2/25) to guide Bengaluru to a competitive total of 144/10, which proved just enough to secure their fourth win.

Chasing 145, the Mangaluru Dragons lost Noronha (0) on the first ball of the innings, followed by Rohan Patil (5) in the third over. Both openers were dismissed by Santok Singh (2/11) with the Dragons finishing the powerplay at 34/2.

While Nikin Jose (61) dropped anchor, KV Siddharth (13) and Shreyas Gopal (9) fell quickly, ousted by Shubhang Hegde and Kranthi Kumar respectively. At the 12-over mark, the Mangaluru Dragons had fallen behind the equation at 72/4.

Supported by Lochan Gowda (28) at the other end, Jose smashed two sixes against Kranthi Kumar to pull the momentum back towards the Dragons, bringing up his 49-ball half-century in the process.

With Mangaluru Dragons needing 25 runs in 18 deliveries, the 50-run alliance between Lochan Gowda and Nikin Jose was broken by Lavish Kaushal in the 18th over that only gained six runs.

Lankesh KS (2) was dismissed in the 19th over by Naveen Mg, while Kranthi Kumar picked up Lochan Gowda in the final over to ensure the Mangaluru Dragons would fall short by 6 runs.

Earlier in the match, Abhilash Shetty bewitched Bengaluru Blasters’ top order. In a sizzling spell of four overs that only conceded nine runs, Shetty bagged Mayank Agarwal (0), Bhuvan Raju (2), Naveen MG (0) and Chethan LR (30), who had managed to work five boundaries and a maximum in the powerplay. As a result, the Bengaluru Blasters limped their way to 38/4 in seven overs.

Suraj Ahuja (38) and Shubhang Hegde (13) looked to mend the innings as they put on 40 runs. However, Shubhang Hegde who never got going, was cleaned up by Macneil Noronha. Meanwhile, Ahuja perished after striking two sixes and two fours en route to an essential contribution, removed by Darhan MB. Anirudha Joshi launched a maximum over mid-wicket before he would become Darshan MB’s second wicket of the over. At the 15-over mark, Bengaluru Blasters were 97/7.

While Bengaluru’s prospects looked bleak, Kranthi Kumar (39) took apart Noronha in the 16th, working two boundaries on the offside, he then smashed two more sixes of Paras Gurbax Arya to drive Bengaluru to a fighting total of 144/10 in 20 overs. Darshan MB picked up two more wickets through Rakshit S and Lavish Kaushal to finish with figures of 4/31.

Brief scores: Bengaluru Blasters 144/10 in 20 overs (Chethan LR 30 runs, Suraj Ahuja 38, Kranthi Kumar 39; Abhilash Shetty 4/9, Darshan MB 4/31) beat Mangaluru Dragons 138/7 in 20 overs (Nikin Jose 61, Lochan Gowda 28 runs; Santok Singh 2/11, Kranthi Kumar 2/39) by six runs.