KCC 2023 finale: Suresh Raina-Darling Krishna lead Dhananjaya’s Ganga Warriors to victory

Real Star Upendra may not have taken the field on February 25, but his team, the Vijayanagara Patriots, led by Pradeep Bogadi, had a very busy day, playing two qualifying matches, and then the finale too. Pradeep had got his boys to successfully chase and win earlier today, but were then unable to set an imposing target for J Karthik’s Rashtrakuta Panthers. Interestingly, though, the rules of the game were such that even though the Patriots failed to defend their total of 99, by way of having a better run rate, they qualified to play the finale against Daali Dhananjaya’s Ganga Warriors. The Darling Krishna led side are the only team to have won both their qualifying matches in this edition of the tournament.

Taking the field to set a target, the Vijayanagara Patriots struggled from the word go, as the Ganga Warriors unleashed some great bowling and fielding to restrict the former to only 81 runs in 10 overs, making the finale the lowest scoring match of the tournament. The Patriots now hold the distinction of setting the two lowest scores today. They didn’t defend the first one, but can they change that in the finale?

Suresh Raina, who bowled one over, took two wickets, and was instrumental in two other dismissals in the Patriots innings, opened the chase journey along with skipper Darling Krishna. Raina began with four back-to-back boundaries off Pradeep Bogadi’s bowling, determined to finish the game quickly. Krishna was in no mood to be left behind, even though he came with a runner, and took 11 runs in the first three balls he faced. The partnership was broken in the fourth over, when Krishna was bowled and the score was 42. But that didn’t deter Raina from continuing to lead the charge. Aided ably by Karan Aaryan (13 of 9), Raina scored 54 to give the Ganga Warriors a well-deserved victory.