Bengaluru sports buzz

K’taka women’s woeful run continues
NT Correspondent

The Veda Krishnamurthyled Karnataka team suffered its third consecutive defeat in the BCCI Senior Women’s T20 Trophy on Thursday. At Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, the Namma team lost to Himachal Pradesh by seven wickets.

Sent into bat, Karnataka made a moderate 106 for 6 in 20 overs thanks to Shubha Satheesh (49) and Niki Prasad (29) as they gave something to their bowlers to challenge the HP’s batters. Karnataka stretched the game all the way to the final over to defend the below-par total.

However, Himachal Pradesh’s skipper and wicket-keeper Sushma Verma (52 not out) ensured that they achieve the target (109 for 3) with five balls to spare to win by seven wickets. Karnataka’s Parthyusha C bagged all the three wickets by giving away only 10 runs. Earlier, Karnataka lost opener Divya Gnanananda for a duck as she was caught by Nikita Chauhan off Ankita Ansari in the fourth ball of the very first over.

Then Vrinda Dinesh walked back after being stumped by wicket-keeper off Nikita Chauhan with the score reading 4 for 2. Skipper Veda Krishnamurthy (9) too did not last long as Neena Chaudhary took a well-judged catch off Sushmita Kumari.

However, a 66-run stand between Shubha Satheesh (49) and Niki Prasad (29) for the fourth wicket somewhat pushed up the total for Karnataka to make a fight of it. But once both of them were out, Karnataka did not have many balls to reach a big total as they set Himachal Pradesh a very modest target of 107 runs for victory.

In reply, Prathyusha’s brilliant reaction catch gave an early breakthrough as opener Harleen Deol (11) was out and Himachal Pradesh were 34 for 1. But Nikita Chauhan and Sushma Verma then carried on and took the total to 61 for 1 at the end of 11 overs.

Prathyusha struck again as she dismissed Nikita Chauhan (34), having her caught by Shubha Satheesh two runs later.

Himachal Pradesh needed 43 runs to win in the last six overs with eight wickets in hand. Sushma Verma and Neena Chaudhary took the score to 73 for 2 at the end of 15 overs still needing 34 runs in the final 30 deliveries.

It was 84 for 3 at the end of 17 overs as Prathyusha delivered again having Neena Chaudhary stumped by wicket-keeper Sanjana Batni as Karnataka fought back to remain in the match. Prathyusha has figures of 3 for 10 with 16 dot balls off her 24 deliveries.

Eight runs were needed in the final two overs as Sushma Verma brought it down to just two runs in the last over. Sushma struck Chandu for a boundary to complete her fifty and carried Himachal to a thumping 7-wicket victory.

Brief scores: Karnataka State Cricket Association: 106 for 6 in 20 overs [Shubha Satheesh 49 (52 balls, 5 X 4, 1 X 6), Niki Prasad 29 (38 balls, 3 X 4), Sonal S Thakur 2/26] lost to Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association: 109 for 3 in 19.1 overs [Nikita S Chauhan 34 (44 balls, 5X 4), Sushma B Verma 52* (45 balls, 5 X 4, 1 X 6), Prathyusha C 3/10] by 7 wickets.

Arya ousts top seed to enter finals
NT Correspondent

Arya Ganapathy Kallambella ousted top seed Mandeep Reddy Kudumala in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 win to make it to the finals in the boys category of the SAT Sports AITA CS7 U-18 tournament here on Thursday.

The 18-yearold Arya later joined hands with Kandhavel Ma of Tamil Nadu to win the doubles title beating the all-Telangana pair of Sree Sharan Kanugevi and Aryanth R Chintaralpalli 6-2, 7-6 (2). Both Arya and Kandhavel are in line for a grand double as they clash for the singles title on Friday.

Meanwhile, Meghana GD continued her march and entered the title round of the girls category with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Varunya Naveen. She will now clash with top seed Amodini V Naik in the finals. The latter won over Sushmitha Ravi 6-4, 6-3.

Semifinal results: (prefix denotes seedings, Karnataka unless mentioned): Boys U-18: Arya Ganapathy Kallambella bt 1-Mandeep Reddy Kudumala 6-4, 6-2; 2-Kandhavel Ma (TN) bt Aaradhaya Dwivedi 6-1, 6-3; Doubles fi nals: Arya Ganapathy Kallambella/ Kandhavel Ma (TN) bt Sree Sharan Kanugevi (TS)/Aryanth R Chintaralpalli (TS) 6-2, 7-6 (2). Girls U 18: 1-Amodini V Naik bt Sushmitha Ravi 6-4, 6-3; Meghana GD bt Varunya Naveen 6-0, 6-3; Doubles fi nals: 1-Jennifer Chacko (AS)/ Charmi Gopinath bt Disha Behera/Sushmitha Ravi 6-1, 2-6, 10-8.

Kannan FC ride on Ameen’s hat-trick
Ameen’s 29th-minute goal kick-started the proceedings for Thammarai Kannan FC as they defeated Bagalkunte FC 3-0 in the BDFA C Division football league clash here on Thursday. In the span of eight minutes, Ameen (14th, 24th, 66th) scored a hat-trick that took the game beyond Bagalkunte FC’