Shivamogga Lions vs Bellary Tuskers,15th Match Prediction 23 Aug 2019

KPL2019 follows the playoff format from this year where the top two teams get two chances to qualify for the finals. Shivamogga Lions and Bellary Tuskers are having a good tournament so far and are in top two positions currently. A win in this match would qualify them for the playoffs and almost seal a top-two finish. 

Shivamogga Lions have won all their three matches played so far and are yet to be defeated. Their batting unit has come up with impressive performances in the all the three matches played so far. They chased down the target of 107 runs in just 10 overs the last match. Nihal Ullal and Pawan Deshpande lead the batting charts and have scored fifties already to lead their team to victories. Skipper Abhimanyu Mithun played a blinder of 34 runs off 13 balls with 4 maximums to end the stiff chase. Earlier he bowled an economical spell of 2-1-10-0 to contain the opposition in a rain truncated match. Their bowling unit has bowled exceptionally well as a group with different bowlers in the wickets charts in every match. Pradeep T, Sharath Hs, Rishabh Singh, Pawan Deshpande, and Prithviraj Shekaweat have taken wickets consistently. They have bowled out the opposition in both the completed matches so far. 

Bellary Tuskers winning streak ended in their last match against Bengaluru Blasters. They were unlucky as the match ended abruptly and they were behind in VJD method by just one run. Their top order of Devdutt Bhatkal, Abhishek Reddy, and Karthik CA have done the bulk of scoring so far. Their middle order is yet to be tested big way and they failed miserably in a low scoring affair in the last match when the top order did not score. Krishnappa Gowtham and Prasidh Krishna lead the bowling for their team. Prasidh Krishna has impressed everyone with his pace and ability to swing with the new ball.  Abrar Kazi bowled a brilliant spell of 2-0-15-3 against the Bengaluru Blasters to restrict them to just 93 runs in 16 overs. KP Appana and Bhavesh Gulecha took have bowled some vital spells and helped their team with wickets in the crunch moments. They have a well-rounded bowling attack that is capable of performing well in all conditions. 

Last two matches played were low scoring affairs and teams failed to breach the 120-run mark in all the four innings. The rain made its appearance in both the matches played yesterday. We expect scattered thunderstorms on the match day and VJD equation to play a role in match result.

Three out of last 4 matches have been won by teams batting second and we hope the trend to continue in this match too. Rain interruption may further tilt the match in the favor of chasing team.