Palamuru Strikers Beat Medak Falcons by Five Wickets at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium

Palamuru Strikers registered their first win of the Sreenidhi University TG20 season with a five-wicket victory over Medak Falcons at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Chasing a target of 165 runs, the Strikers finished on 165/5 in 17.5 overs, guided by an unbeaten half-century from Rohit Rayudu and a quickfire innings from Vignesh Reddy.

Earlier in the match, Medak Falcons were restricted to 164/9 in their 20 overs. Rishab Baslas and Ravi Kiran led the bowling attack for the Strikers, taking 2/33 and 2/34 respectively.

The Falcons faced early setbacks, losing wickets to find themselves at 77/5. Ahwinan Ram retired out for 12, while captain Ravi Teja made a brisk 13 off seven balls before edging behind to wicketkeeper Pragnay Reddy off Rohit Rayudu's bowling. Shrunjith Reddy was clean-bowled by Rathan Teja for 19.

Varun Yerram and Vikram Naik revived the Falcons' innings with a 64-run partnership. Both batsmen scored 36 runs, with Yerram facing 23 deliveries and Naik facing 33. Baslas broke the resistance with a double strike, and Naik was dismissed in the final over.

In response, the Strikers faced early pressure as Varun Yerram struck twice in his opening spells. He dismissed opener Karan Yadav for a duck and later removed Pragnay Reddy for 15.

Vignesh Reddy then joined Rohit Rayudu, and the duo added 59 runs off 36 balls to regain control. Vignesh hit 39 off 22 balls before Syed Ghazi Abbas dismissed him. Shrunjith Reddy then clean-bowled Shadab Ahmed for 3.

Rohit Rayudu anchored the rest of the chase, scoring an unbeaten 54 off 42 balls. He reached his maiden half-century of the season with a six off Shrunjith Reddy in the 18th over. Rathan Teja contributed 23 runs before being bowled by Ravi Teja, and Pratheek Pawar hit consecutive boundaries to seal the victory with 13 balls to spare.