Chambal Ghariyals are currently top of the points table
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) new recruit for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Aniket Verma was in fine touch as the scored quickfire 32 off 14 balls to contribute in Bhopal Leopard’s thumping 98-run win over Bundelkhand Bulls on Sunday.
Verma, who made his debut this year, scored 236 runs from 14 matches for SRH at an average of 26.22 and a strike rate of 166.
Before Verma’s brief cameo lit up the scoreboard, Bhopal captain Arshad Khan won the toss and elected to bat on the flat deck at the Madhavrao Scindia Stadium in Gwalior.
Madhya Pradesh red-ball regular and Ranji Trophy winner Yash Dubey opened the innings with Shivang Kumar as the pair put on superb 140-run partnership in just 12.3 overs as Bhopal looked set to go past 200-plus score.
Left-arm spinner Divyanshu Yadav brought an end to the rollicking start by dismissing Dubey for 47 off 37 balls. Shivang Kumar, meanwhile, was on a rampage of his own as he clobbered six sixes and nine fours on his way to a 42-ball 91.
ALSO READ:
Shivang was dismissed soon enough in the 15th over as Aniket scored two sixes and three boundaries in brief stay at the crease.
Besides skipper Arshad’s 13 and Harsh Dixit’s 18, rest of Bhopal batters were unable to score big. However, that was enough for them to post a total of 228/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, Bulls barely got a lift off as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals to all out for 130.
Opener Karan Tahliyani tried his best with 34 off 16 balls while captain Harsh Gawali scored 40 off 31 balls which helped them to a score of 90 by the 11th over. However, they lost four wickets by that time and never looked like recovering.
Spin trio of Goutam Raghuwanshi (2-7), Aayush Mankar (2-26) and Himanshu Shinde (2-2) were pick of the Bhopal Leopards’ bowlers while Player of the Match Shivang Kumar also claimed a wicket from his four overs by conceding 28 runs.
As a result, Bundelkhand’s innings was wrapped by the 17th over. The big win also boosted Bhopal’s Net Run Rate to +4.900. They are currently third in the table behind Chambal Ghariyals and Rewa Jaguars. Bundelkhand Bulls are the bottom of the table after losing both their games so far.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
