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MW won by 6 wickets

4:26 PM IST and Local Time: Mysore Warriors needed a victory to ensure the qualification for the playoff in their final game and they got that with utter dominance. Firstly, a combined team effort in the bowling bundled out the Shivamogga Yodhas to just 66. Chasing the runs, Mysore Warriors got the start but stuttered later. Eventually they got the victory with exactly 10 overs to spare.

Shivamogga Yodhas were asked to bat first after they lost the toss. Luvnith Sisodia led the team in absence of the regular skipper Smaran Ravichandran. Sisodia and MG Naveen got the starts but were dismissed for an identical score of 12. Tushar Singh and Harshil Dharmani then took the charge. Yodhas were going really well as they got 52 in the board in just 4.3 overs but the downfall started then.

Arbind Kumar Rai removed Harshil Dharmani and in his next over, he removed Sujay Sater. Vyshak Vijaykumar decided to hold himself back and bowl four straight overs with Arbind and the latter finished with 3/28. The balls were gripping and turning and spinners got some advantage. Madhav Bajaj removed Tushar (15), impact substitute Aadarsh Prajwal (2) and Yadugiri Yadav (0) to finish with 3/9 in his 3 overs. Vyshak Vijaykumar's job was to wrap up the innings by derailing the tail of Yodhas. Aneesh KV was the only batter fighting out for the Yodhas when the score was 66/8 after 10 overs. Vyshak's nip backer rattled Aneesh's (11) middle stump and a couple of balls later, a short ball outdid Dhanush Gowda and the Shivamogga Yodhas were bundled out for just 66. Vyshak conceded just 1 run in his 1.5 overs taking 3 wickets. 

Mysore Warriors knew that there was no hurry for them. A victory will confirm a play-off spot and hence they went sedately. Chethan LR and SU Karthik came to open the innings and the former took the attack on Shivamogga bowlers. Abhilash Shetty was the stand out bowler but Chethan hit the others to score 26 off 13. The trouble started when Abhilash dismissed SU Karthik. Chethan LR gave a simple catch to the Shivamogga skipper and departed. Abhilash later got the better of KP Karthikeya as the latter edged to Sujay Sater. Dhanush Gowda cut Ritesh Bhatkal's stay short.

At the powerplay, Mysore Warriors were 50/3 but took 4 overs to get the remaining 17 runs. The Yodhas pacers slowed the game up and bowled 27 boundaryless balls before Yadugiri Yadav conceded one in the final ball of the 9th over. Rohan Revankar remained unbeaten on 12 off 16 and Yuvraj Arora remained unbeaten on 3 off 9 to seal the deal for the Warriors. Abhilash Shetty picked up 3 wickets in his 4 overs conceding 15 runs but that did not help Shivamogga Yodhas as they had only 66 runs to defend.

Luvnith Sisodia (Shivamogga Yodhas Captain): "[On the collapse with the bat] I mean cricket is a funny game. You are bound to have a bad day, and this one was for us. The wicket was doing a bit, but we did not execute well at all.

[Was there ever a talk of digging it out in the middle to a safe score?] Yes, that was the discussion in the middle. The chat was about getting somewhere around 140 or 150 and give our bowlers a great chance to defend. However, as I said we just did not execute well enough.

[On Abhilash Shetty's spell] He has been our prime bowler all through the tournament. He delivered well for us today as well.

[On Abhilash Shetty clocking the fastest ball of the tournament] I am not surprised at all. He puts in a lot of effort every time he comes on to bowl.

I would like to add that with us getting bowled out for 66, we still made them struggle to get to the target. We picked up 4 wickets and 40-50 runs more from our side would have made the game interesting.

[Their chances for a top 2 finish are in jeopardy] Yes, for sure. Not ideal at all. We now need to depend on another team losing or winning for us to get in the top 2 spots. We'll hope for the best too."

Vyshak Vijaykumar (Mysore Warriors Captain): "(Your thoughts on the pitch) Not really anything special. The way they started I thought 170 was on. But I think the way we pulled things back in the powerplay was good. Ritesh came and picked up that crucial wicket and it went well for us.

(Did you say anything special to the team ahead of the do-or-die game?) I mean they are playing really well. There are a lot of youngsters and they knew that we had to win. Probably one win and we would play another game. 

(On Arbind, Madhav and somebody who got 3 for 1) Last few games did not go my way but that's how cricket is. You come back, do your work and hit the gym when you are supposed to. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not but I am happy for it.

(On the stutter during the chase) I mean look we wanted to finish off quickly and that is why three wickets fell but I think the powerplay went well. It happens when you chase 67. When your youngsters bat, in their first game, there has to be some nerves. They knew we had to win to qualify. Just wanted to get those two points.

(On Abhilash Shetty cranking it up with 145 kmph) I must be 150 then (chuckles)."

Right then. We have all four playoff spots confirmed. Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters firmly sit at the helm of the points table. As of now, Shivamogga Yodhas are at the second position with 11 points and a NRR of -0.050. Coastal Kings Mangaluru are at the third position with 9 points and their NRR is +1.170. Today, with this victory, Mysore Warriors have booked the fourth spot as they finish with 9 points from their 10 games.

In the evening, we have the final league game of this edition's Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 lined up. Coastal Kings Mangaluru will lock horns with Gulbarga Mystics. A victory in this game will seal the second position of the points table for the Coastal Kings as they will topple the Shivamogga Yodhas in terms of NRR despite having identical points. Gulbarga Mystics will be playing for pride only. Do join us for the live coverage of that game.

For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Manan Mehta and the scorer/analyst of this game Yogesh Kumar.