Aditya mani

Maharaja Trophy T20: An explosive 12-ball 35 by a knock from Mohd. Taha helped Hubli Tigers down Shivamogga Lions by eight wickets, to log their fourth consecutive victory in the Maharaja Trophy T20 league at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday. The Hubli Tigers overhauled the revised target of 51 runs in five overs. Earlier in the day, Hardik Raj (35) and S. Shivraj (24) shone with the bat, but the Shivamogga Lions could not recover from a slow start that only netted 15 runs in five overs.

Taha ignited Hubli's chase with an explosive start, launching two sixes off Vasuki Kaushik in the opening over. He followed up with a destructive display against Hardik Raj in the third over, smashing three consecutive sixes and a boundary, lifting Hubli to a strong 45/1 in three overs. Taha’s blitzkrieg ended when he became Pradeep’s second of the night in the fourth over. However, K.L Shrijith (8*) and Manish Pandey (4*) remained unbeaten as the Tigers cruised home with eight wickets and 10 balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, the Shivamogga Lions had a rough start, losing Bharath Dhuri early to Nischith Pai. Rohit K. (19) and Aadithya V.K (1) found it difficult to break free against Hubli's pace attack, leaving the Lions at a precarious 15/1 after five overs.