New Delhi:
The M Chinnaswamy stadium witnessed one of the dream all-round performances in a Twenty20 match in recent times. In a Karnataka Premier League Twenty20 game between Bellary Tuskers and Shimoga Lions, Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham blasted an unbeaten 134* and contributed 66 percent of Bellary's total of 203/3. Gowtham came back and decimated the Shimoga batting line-up to take 8/15 in four overs to help Bellary Tuskers beat Shimoga Lions by 70 runs courtesy the VJD method.
Gowtham's all-round show was simply sensational and it broke plenty of world records. In a match reduced to 17 overs due to rain, Bellary Tuskers chose to bat but they lost CM Gautam cheaply for 13. However, Gowtham started with a bang by blasting two sixes off HS Sarath. Abhishek Reddy struck some big blows and raced to 34 off 16 before he was stumped by Manjunath. That set the stage for Gowtham to explode.
Gowtham blasted two sixes and a four off Prithviraj Shekhawat and he notched up his fifty off 24 balls by launching Manjunath for yet another six. After reaching his fifty, Gowtham tore into the spinner by launching him for four consecutive sixes in the 12th over. Gowtham did not spare Abhimanyu Mithun by launching him for a six and a four and he notched up his century off just 39 balls as he blasted a six and a four off Sharath.
Gowtham regularly found the boundary in the death overs and his knock of 134* ended with seven fours and 13 sixes as Bellary Tuskers reached 203/3 in 17 overs. In response, Akshay Ballal and Pavan Deshpande, who was picked in the Royal Challengers Bangalore side, stitched a 99-run stand for the third wicket.
However, Gowtham, who had taken the wicke of Arjun Hoysala in the beginning, came back and took 8/15 as Shimoga lost seven wickets for 25 runs to lose by 70 runs. The exploits of Gowtham made him a big trend on social media, with former Australian batsman Dean Jones hailing his all-round exploits. Gowtham's brilliance has put him in several records books and it will be tough for any player to replicate this feat in Twenty20s in the near future.
