ABOUT THE MATCH
Hubli Tigers and Shivamogga Lions face each other in the Karnataka Premier League 2019 eliminator play-off, having arrived at the play-offs in vastly contrasting form. This match will take place at Mysore on August 29.
The Tigers come into the game with some real momentum behind – their Vinay Kumar-inspired, seven-wicket victory over the Bengaluru Blasters was their third win in four games and ensured they finished the group stage in the final play-off place.
The Lions, on the other hand, went from early pace-setters to losing three games in a row. They suffered some heavy defeats in that time too and know they must arrest their slide inform if they are to advance. They did beat Hubli in their first group game, however – chasing 155 to win by six wickets.
TOSS PREDICTION
Hubli Tigers won the toss and elected to bat first when these teams met in Bangalore. Mysore is very much a batting wicket too, and the Tigers – should they win the toss again – will be likely to adopt the same tactic.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
There are more scattered thunderstorms forecast earlier in the day, but they should have cleared by the time this match starts in the evening. By then it is forecast to be cloudy, with temperatures lower in the 20s.
With some big chases already in Mysore, the pitch is clearly well-suited to the batsmen despite the fact it usually offers some assistance to both spinners and seamers too.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Hubli Tigers
Mohammed Taha, Luvnith Sisodia, Vinay Kumar, KB Pawan, Krishnan Shrijith, Shreyas Gopal, Praveen Dubey, Aditya Somanna, David Mathias, Mitrakanth Yadav, Abhilash Shetty
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Shivamogga Lions
Arjun Hoysala, Nihal Ullal, Akshay Ballal, Pavan Deshpande, Mohanram Nidesh, Abhimanyu Mithun, HS Sharath, Manjunath, Prithviraj Shekhawat, Rishabh Singh, T Pradeep
MATCH PREVIEW
Hubli Tigers
- Hubli Tigers had Shreyas Gopal available for the final group game and the starting XI for this eliminator could well be the same as the team that beat Bengaluru Blasters.
- So convincingly. KB Pawan also returned last time out, for Vishwanathan, with Luvnith Sisodia taking over as wicket-keeper.
- Hubli Tigers won three of their last four games to recover from a poor start and reach the play-offs in this KPL 2019 season.
- A nine-wicket defeat to Mysuru Warriors in their penultimate game had left them needed a win against Bengaluru Blasters to go through.
- Win they did, however – Shreyas Gopal took 1-14 and David Mathias picked up four wickets as the Blasters posted 158/9. Captain Vinay Kumar led the reply – his unbeaten 81 helping to seal a seven-wicket win with 2.2 overs to spare.
Shivamogga Lions
- Rishabh Singh was in good form as he returned to the team last time out, but S Prashanth bowled two expensive overs on his first appearance and may not be retained.
- Manjunath and Sujith Gowda have been the two to make way and the former may return as he at least picked up wickets.
- Shivamogga Lions limped into the play-offs in poor form after having won their first three games.
- They were all out for 133 chasings 204 to beat Bellary Tuskers in the final game in Bangalore and then lost the first match in Mysore by nine wickets despite posting 175/4 against Belagavi Panthers.
- Their final group game was a dead rubber, but they lost that too – scoring 178/5 thanks to Arjun Hoysala’s 69 but falling short of the 196 they needed to beat Bijapur Bulls.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
Hubli Tigers finished the group stage in much better form than Shivamogga Lions and having Shreyas Gopal available is only going to boost them further in the play-offs. The Tigers should have the quality to advance to the next qualifier.
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