Manish Pandey led Gulbarga Mystics crowned as Champions of Maharaja Trophy 2022

A magnificent half-century by Devdutt Padikkal, a late bombardment by skipper Manish Pandey, and some precise bowling led by Manoj Bhandage enabled the Gulbarga Mystics win the inaugural edition of the Maharaja Trophy. 

Batting first, Mystics got off to a flying start, with the in-form Jeswath Acharya and Rohan Patil hitting on all points in the powerplay, dealing with boundaries. They kept the run-rate 10 runs per over and put 60-run stand until Patil exit for 38. Acharya was partnered by the Match winner Devdutt Padikkal, and the tempo was maintained. Acharya walked back for 39 in the seventh over.

Padikkal took over from there, playing some stunning strokes and seems to continue his master-class from the last match. Krishnan Shrijith added a quickfire 38. Manish Pandey and Padikkal took command in the last phase, the Mystics were on track to score more than 200. Padikkal reaches his fifty in the 18th over and skipper Manish went through the gears at lightning speed at the other end. Manish hammered a hat-trick of sixes in the 19th over, pushing the score above 200, and the Mystics concluded with mammoth 220 runs on the board.

Chasing 221 at Finals, Mayank Agarwal and LR Chethan appeared to be in good shape at first but Blasters were unable to take off. Before the captain was castled, the openers could only put 20-run stand. That opened up the floodgates as the middle-order collapsed with Kush Marathe (1), Shivkumar Rakshith (0) and Aniruddha Joshi (7) being the next three to fall as the Blasters huffed and puffed their way to 46/4 by the end of the powerplay. Chethan meanwhile was backing at one end. J Suchith was dismissed for 5 while Chethan at the other end had got to his half-century in 21 balls.   Meanwhile, Chethan was supporting one end. J Suchith was dismissed for 5, while Chethan reached his fifty in 21 balls.

The Blasters, on the other hand, were losing wickets and needed 139 runs from 11 overs with 5 wickets in hand. The Blasters' counter-attacking via Chethan, who had solid company in Kranthi has changed the character of the game from that point.

Chethan was moving fast, dealing with large hits as he moving towards his century, barely holding his team in the hunt. The Blasters needed 74 runs from the final 6 overs. Chethan's powerful knock ended as he scored 91 runs with 8 sixes and 6 fours. The opener's dismissal effectively ended the Blasters' run for the trophy. However, it was a bridge too far for the Blasters, who lost the final by 11 runs.

Closing ceremony Awards: 

The Vimal Fairplay Award for the Series was presented to Bengaluru Blasters

The Cycle Pure Agarbatti Trusted Player of the Series was presented to LR Chethan (Bengaluru Blasters)

The Canara Bank Bankable Player of the Series was presented to Pavan Deshpande (Mysuru Warriors)

The Eat Fit Best Fielder and Fittest Player award went to Gulbarga Mystics’ captain Manish Pandey

The Nippon Paint Bowler of the Series was conferred to Vidyadhar Patil (Mysuru Warriors)

The Nippon Paint Batter of the Series were presented to Mayank Agarwal (Bengaluru Blasters captain) 

The Shriram Man of the Series was presented to Rohan Patil from the Gulbarga Mystics

The Runners-Up of the Shriram Maharaja Trophy were the Bengaluru Blasters