Yaduvanshi XI in 16 overs (Bhimji Ahir 108, Hitesh Boricha 36, Mangesh 1/17) defeated Krishna Super Kings 119/10 in 15.2 overs (Ahir Kanudo 31, Govinda 27, Durgesh 3/26) by 46 runs
Yaduvanshi XI crushed Krishna Super Kings in a one-sided game here at the BPL-19 finals. Bhimji took the game away from Krishna XI single-handedly with his inning of 108 which included 12 fours and 7 massive sixes.
The BPL 2019 season was contested between 7 teams who went head to head in a league cum knockout format where each team played six games in the league phase. The top four made it to the semifinals. Yaduvanshi XI had a tournament that you can’t list under either too good or too bad. They lost three of their six games at the league stage and finished fourth on the table. On the other hand, Krishna Super Kings finished third with 8 points.
Yaduvanshi XI got their steam as the tournament progressed and it was evident by their performance against the table-toppers Spartan Spirit XI in the semifinals. Although they defeated them back in the league phase too, the defeat of semifinal was disastrous to Spartan Spirit XI. Their spirits were crushed with a defeat of 78 runs.
On the other hand, Krishna Super Kings too had a walk in the park job as a finalist. Despite finishing third in the points table, they were always in the tournament. The toss landed in their favor on the morning of the final and their skipper invited Yaduvanshi XI to bat first. Back on 28th July, Krishna Super Kings got their campaign off to a great start against this same opposition by chasing the target and that must have been there in the back of their minds.
Batting first, Yaduvanshi XI found themselves in immediate trouble as they lost their top three batsmen with just 16 on board. KSK were booming with confidence and this is where Bhimji happened. The next 75 minutes felt like 7500 years for the KSK bowlers. The sound of timber that was heard after the dismissal of Durgesh felt like it happened in dreams. At least that is how the Super Kings bowlers can describe the experience.
The pair of Bhimji and Hitesh added 149 off just 77 balls and threw the opposition out of the game. While Hitesh rotated the strike from one end, Bhimji destroyed the bowlers on the other. Bhimji targeted the point and mid-off boundary. 44% of his runs came in that area. The kind of form he was in can be guessed from the fact that none of his runs came behind the wickets. This shows his domination upon the bowlers too. He almost toyed with the bowlers.
The bowling side which dominated the first three overs, had their shoulders down after most of their bowlers finished with an economy rate of over 10. Down on spirit, the Super Kings got their chase off to a decent start but that was restricted only to the first 11 balls. Although Kanudo and Govind managed to pull out a partnership of 40 for the fourth wicket, that was nowhere close to the effort that was required. The innings of Govind (27 off 17) and Kanudo (31 off 20) were good enough to spread some smiles in the KSK dressing room but surely it was not good enough to gun down the highest score of the tournament.
Durgesh finished with 3 for 26 for Yaduvanshi XI in the second inning while Bhimji and Hitesh shared two wickets each. Bhimji was awarded the man of the match award, but all he cared about was a selfie with the winner’s trophy.