Krishnappa Gowtham produced the perfect all-round show at Karnataka Premier League on Friday. He singlehandedly took charge of all the departments to register a 70-run victory for his team in a rain-curtailed match.
The fastest century
Krishnappa Gowtham walked in when the Tuskers were struggling with 20/1 on board in the third over. He built the innings and then smashed the fastest hundred of KPL with 7 fours and 13 sixes. His brilliant knock of unbeaten 134 off just 56 deliveries with a strike rate of 239.28 helped the Tuskers to put a total of 203/3 from 20/1 team in 17 overs. It was not easy to take the team score to such level after losing two openers within the 8th over of the innings.
The best bowling
When fans applauded Gowtham for his fastest ton at Bangalore, nobody knew what the guy was gearing up for. Shivamogga Lions did not have a good start as they lost their first wicket in the first over. Nihal Ullal was dismissed by Prasidh Krishna. Next over saw the all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham picking up the second wicket of the Lions. Then what followed was a show of sheer brilliance. Once he began to scalp wickets then there was no stopping. He kept on Akshay Ballal, K Rohit, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pavan Deshpande, Manjunath, Mohanram Nidesh, and HS Sharath. Eventually, he ended with eight wickets for just 15 runs in his four overs. Shivamogga Lions were soon bundled out for just 133 runs and the Tuskers won the match by 70 runs with three balls remaining.
A record (?)
Earlier this month, Colin Ackermann had become the first bowler to take seven wickets in a Twenty20 match. His 7/18 in four overs for Leicestershire against Birmingham Bears in Vitality Blast 2019 was the best bowling figure of T20 cricket history. Now Gowtham is, in all probability the unofficial holder of the same record.
