202/4 (20.0)
CR : 10.10
201/5 (20.0)
CR : 10.05
Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters won by 6 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Shubhang Hegde
2/4436(26)*
Manish Pandey and Kranthi Kumar are chatting. Gulbarga Mystics fielders are close in. A silly mid-off fielder, short cover, short third man- all are there.
19.6
1
Kranthi Kumar to Praveen Dubey
OH! The single is taken and Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters prevail in the first game of the season. It was a humdinger of an encounter to say the least. Kranthi bowls it short at the fifth stump. Praveen goes for a pull but gets the inside edge to his body and it falls to his right. It goes back and Lochan Gowda, the keeper comes to pick it up. But the batters quickly cross the ends and the Blasters have won it by 6 wickets.
Over 20
Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters 202/4
Shubhang Hegde36(26)
Praveen Dubey32(17)
Kranthi Kumar0-37(3.0)
BLB won by 6 wickets
6:06 PM IST and Local Time: PHEW! What a start we have had for the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2026! It was a nail-biting thriller between Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters and Gulbarga Mystics. The game went down the wire and the former prevailed only in the final ball of the game. Blasters won it by 6 wickets.
Bengaluru Blasters won the toss and sent the Mystics to bat first. Prakhar Chaturvedi and Lochan Gowda opened the batting. They both played some good shots but Gowda was dismissed by Samit Dravid early in the game. But that did not trouble the Mystics as Chaturvedi and Aarav Mahesh took the game forward. They together hit some big shots to add 110 runs on the board. Prakhar top scored for the Mystics with 64 runs from 38 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes. His dismissal was followed by the perishing of Macneil Noronha.
But Aarav Mahesh was joined by Manish Pandey after that and they rebuilt the innings. Mahesh impressed on his debut and scored 63 from 41 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. After that the Bengaluru Blasters bowlers pulled things back. Manish got 19 beside his name. Thippa Reddy remained unbeaten on 20 off 12 balls to take the score over 200.
For the Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters, Shubhang Hegde and Shreevathsa Acharya took a couple of wickets. Samit Dravid picked up a wicket.
Coming to the run chase, Bhuvan M Raju and Rohan Patil showed no mercy to the Gulbarga Mystics bowlers. They took the score to 43 after the first 3 overs and eventually they put up 82 runs inside the powerplay. The run rate was curtailed only after Manish Pandey introduced his spinners and the boundaries came to a halt in the middle overs. Paras Gurbax Arya dismissed Rohan Patil for 31. The opening partnership of 93 runs came to an end but Bhuvan Raju was still there.
Raju added 32 runs for the second wicket with Krishnan Shrijith. Shrijith looked good in his 22-run innings but he was dismissed by Dhruv Prabhakar. Bhuvan Raju got to his fifty in a quick time in 23 balls. But he was dismissed by Paras Arya on 56 off 29 balls. Then the onus was down to skipper Shubhang Hegde.
Hegde took his time but Samit Dravid was struggling. Junior Dravid departed for 11 and that paved the way for Praveen Dubey to come in. Praveen and Hegde got to a situation when they needed around 50 from the final 4 overs. They took 18 from the final over of Arya and brought the equation to 35 off 3. They together took 24 from the next two overs and it was down to 11 required from the last over. Kranthi Kumar did well but the pair of Praveen and Shubhang ran brilliantly to sneak a few extra runs and won the game in the final ball.
For the Gulbarga Mystics, Paras Gurbax Arya took two wickets. Dhruv Parashar and Macneil Noronha picked up a wicket each.
Bengaluru Blasters won the toss and sent the Mystics to bat first. Prakhar Chaturvedi and Lochan Gowda opened the batting. They both played some good shots but Gowda was dismissed by Samit Dravid early in the game. But that did not trouble the Mystics as Chaturvedi and Aarav Mahesh took the game forward. They together hit some big shots to add 110 runs on the board. Prakhar top scored for the Mystics with 64 runs from 38 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes. His dismissal was followed by the perishing of Macneil Noronha.
But Aarav Mahesh was joined by Manish Pandey after that and they rebuilt the innings. Mahesh impressed on his debut and scored 63 from 41 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. After that the Bengaluru Blasters bowlers pulled things back. Manish got 19 beside his name. Thippa Reddy remained unbeaten on 20 off 12 balls to take the score over 200.
For the Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters, Shubhang Hegde and Shreevathsa Acharya took a couple of wickets. Samit Dravid picked up a wicket.
Coming to the run chase, Bhuvan M Raju and Rohan Patil showed no mercy to the Gulbarga Mystics bowlers. They took the score to 43 after the first 3 overs and eventually they put up 82 runs inside the powerplay. The run rate was curtailed only after Manish Pandey introduced his spinners and the boundaries came to a halt in the middle overs. Paras Gurbax Arya dismissed Rohan Patil for 31. The opening partnership of 93 runs came to an end but Bhuvan Raju was still there.
Raju added 32 runs for the second wicket with Krishnan Shrijith. Shrijith looked good in his 22-run innings but he was dismissed by Dhruv Prabhakar. Bhuvan Raju got to his fifty in a quick time in 23 balls. But he was dismissed by Paras Arya on 56 off 29 balls. Then the onus was down to skipper Shubhang Hegde.
Hegde took his time but Samit Dravid was struggling. Junior Dravid departed for 11 and that paved the way for Praveen Dubey to come in. Praveen and Hegde got to a situation when they needed around 50 from the final 4 overs. They took 18 from the final over of Arya and brought the equation to 35 off 3. They together took 24 from the next two overs and it was down to 11 required from the last over. Kranthi Kumar did well but the pair of Praveen and Shubhang ran brilliantly to sneak a few extra runs and won the game in the final ball.
For the Gulbarga Mystics, Paras Gurbax Arya took two wickets. Dhruv Parashar and Macneil Noronha picked up a wicket each.
Player of the Match: Shubhang Hegde
Shubhang Hegde (Player of the Match and Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters Captain): "(They got off to a good start despite the early wicket) I think we were a bit sloppy. Couple of catches missed and that would have been a different story.
(Anything over 215 would have been difficult) I think Shreevathsa did really well. Dubey was unlucky with the number of catches going down. Overall it is a good day.
(On the youngsters stepping up) I think Bhuvan was outstanding with the bat with the way he started. All of us are young. The way the team played today, a lot of credit goes to us.
(Nerves are still jangling as I (Charu Sharma) can see) Yes I had these kind of partnerships with Praveen for Karnataka. It feels good to do it here.
(On the wicket) Very good wicket. The good point is that the outfield is nice and big. It is good for the bowlers."
(Anything over 215 would have been difficult) I think Shreevathsa did really well. Dubey was unlucky with the number of catches going down. Overall it is a good day.
(On the youngsters stepping up) I think Bhuvan was outstanding with the bat with the way he started. All of us are young. The way the team played today, a lot of credit goes to us.
(Nerves are still jangling as I (Charu Sharma) can see) Yes I had these kind of partnerships with Praveen for Karnataka. It feels good to do it here.
(On the wicket) Very good wicket. The good point is that the outfield is nice and big. It is good for the bowlers."
That marks the end of our coverage from the inaugural match of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2026. It had all the elements to ensure the tournament is going to be an exciting one. In the end, after a nail-biting thriller, Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters got the winning run in the last ball of the match and toppled the Gulbarga Mystics.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of the scorer/analyst of this game Ghanendra Singh Thakur. There's another game lined up. Do join us for that.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of the scorer/analyst of this game Ghanendra Singh Thakur. There's another game lined up. Do join us for that.