Hubli Tigers 152 for 6 in 20 overs (Aditya Somanna 47, Luvnith Sisodia 29, KP Appanna 2-19) beat Ballari Tuskers 144 all out in 20 overs (CM Gautam 29, Devdutt Padikkal 68; Abhilash Shetty 3-34, Aditya Somanna 3-24) by 8 runs.
Vinay Kumar may have moved on from Karnataka, but continued to make his presence felt as a leader, inspiring Hubli Tigers to their maiden IPL crown on Saturday. They beat Ballari Tuskers in the finale by eight runs in Mysore.
Tuskers started poorly in their chase of 153 but recovered through 19-year old Devdutt Padikkal (68) and CM Gautam (29), before the Tigers applied the choke through the pace duo of Abhilash Shetty (3 for 34) and Aditya Somanna (3 for 24).
Earlier in the evening, Vinay may have rued for a while his decision to bat as Prasidh Krishna and KP Appanna, the left-arm spinner, left their mark with some exceptional bowling. Tigers were then powered by a 62-run stand between Somanna (47) and Luvnith Sisodia (29). The late lift was provided by Praveen Dubey (26*) and Shreyas Gopal (14*).
Tuskers lost three wickets inside the first four overs. Then, Padikkal and Gautam added 75 in just 66 balls to come within 53 runs of victory off the last five overs, before stuttering again by losing the set pair. It proved to be costly, but Padikkal had some consolation as he walked away as the highest run-getter in the tournament with 310 runs.