The third game of the ongoing Maharaja Trophy T20 ended after a brutal encounter between Hubli Tigers (HT) and Shivamogga Lions (SL). Proving most of the predictions right, Hubli Tigers won the high-scoring match. They won the game by 29 runs, thanks to Mohammed Taha’s stellar performance by scoring the first century of the 2025 Maharaj Trophy T20. Because of his 101-run innings, Hubli, batting first, registered a mammoth total of 216, which proved enough to defeat their opponent, the Shivamogga Lions.
Recap of Hubli Tigers vs Shivamogga Lions match:
Toss
Shivamogga Lions won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadeyar Ground, Mysore.
First Innings
Sending HT to bat first proved a wrong decision by the SL skipper Nihal Umesh Ullal, as Taha was in full swing from the beginning of the first innings. Shivamogga dispatched Prakhar Chaturvedi early, but that was only to allow Taha to make a terrific partnership with the skipper, Devdutt Padikkal. Like Taha, Padikkal also was in a mood to thrash the opposition bowlers. From 11/1 to 111/2, Taha-Padikkal bond added 100 runs on the scoreboard. By then the slightly rusty and inexperienced bowling line-up of SL was exposed, and Lions batters were scoring runs for fun. Mohammed Taha scored 101 off 53 with the support of ten 4s and six 6s. Hubli Tigers, batting first, scored 216/4 in their 20-over limit.
Second Innings
Shivamogga Lions did not have the exceptional batting firepower Hubli Tigers showed. Despite multiple early setbacks, the SL middle order hinted at making a stunning fightback. Aneeshwar Gautam, Aniruddha Joshi, and Avinash D contributed some valuable runs while chasing the big target. Joshi remained unbeaten for 79 off 42; the other two notable batters, Gautam and Avinash, went for 32 and 22, respectively. Shivamogga Lions was able to score 187 in their 20-over quota in reply to Tigers’ 216.
The experienced bowler of Hubli Tigers KC Cariappa turned out to be the most successful bowler of the evening. He not only claimed a brace in the form of Aneeshwar Gautam and Rohit Kumar K, but he also did not allow the batters to rotate the run wheel swiftly. In his 4-over spell, Cariappa took 2 wickets against 28 runs at an economy rate of 7.00.
First XIs of both teams:
Hubli Tigers (HT): KL Shrijith (wk), Mohammed Taha (wk), Devdutt Padikkal (c), Abhinav Manohar, Prakhar Chaturvedi, Manvanth Kumar, KP Karthikeya, Rithesh Bhatkal, KC Cariappa, Nischith Pai, Sankalp.
Shivamogga Lions (SL): Nihal Umesh Ullal (c) (wk), Aneeshwar Gautam, Aniruddha Joshi, Dhruv Prabhakar, Bharath Dhuri, Vidhwath Kaverappa, V Kaushik, Hardik Raj, Anand Doddamani, D Avinash, Deepak Devadiga.
