In the fourth match of the GMR Andhra Premier League (APL) 2025 played at the ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada Sun Shiners defeated Kakinada Kings by 24 runs. This was the second consecutive win for the Sun Shiners in the GMR APL season 4 while the Kings were also handed their second straight defeat of the season. Shaik-Zaheer Abbas was awarded Player of the Match for his fiery knock of 57*(19) runs.
After the toss got delayed due to wet outfield, Kakinada Kings captain KS Bharat won the toss and invited Vijayawada Sun Shiners to bat first in the fourth game of GMR APL 2025. Sun Shiners lost their first wicket in the form of skipper Ashwin Hebbar who got after scoring just three runs off seven balls. Fast bowler Kodavandla Sudharsan cleared Hebbar’s stumps to give Kings the first breakthrough at the score of 11 runs in 2.1 overs. After a few overs, Midde Anjaneyulu struck for Kakinada Kings as spinner dismissed opener Mamidi Vamsi Krishna at the score of 41 runs in the second delivery of the sixth over. Krishna got out after scoring 19 runs off 15 balls hitting two fours and a six.
In the last ball of the 10th over, Munnangi Abhinav got out after scoring 26 runs off 25 balls as Midde Anjaneyulu took his second scalp of the match. Anjaneyulu struck again in the 12th over as Yadla Vasu also got out with just nine runs to his name after six deliveries. Vijayawada Sun Shines were reduced to 79/4 after 11.4 overs. After that, Dheeraj Kumar joined Garimella Teja at the crease as the duo added 49 runs before the fall of the fifth wicket.
Dheeraj Kumar got out after scoring a quickfire 23 runs off 13 balls with the help of three maximums. His wicket was taken by Kodavandla Sudharsan in the third ball of the 17th over who took his second scalp of the match. After the fall of the fifth wicket, Shaik-Zaheer Abbas joined Garimella Teja at the crease as the duo didn’t let any wicket fall for the rest of the innings.
S Zaheer Abbas and Garimella Teja put up an unbeaten partnership of 67* runs in just 21 deliveries as Vijayawada Sun Shines ended up posting 195 runs for the loss of five wickets in their 20 overs. Teja remained unbeaten on 46* runs off 38 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes. On the other hand, Zaheer Abbas went on to complete his half-century in just 17 balls and remained beaten on 57* runs off 19 deliveries hitting seven fours and four sixes. For Kakinada Kings, Midde Anjaneyulu registered figures of 4/17 in his spell of four overs while Kodavandla Sudharsan took two wickets conceding 27 runs in four overs.
Chasing a target of 196 runs, Kakinada Kings got a great start as captain KS Bharat and Pitta Arjun Tendulkar put up an opening partnership of 84 runs in 7.4 overs. Arjun was first to lose his wicket after scoring 48 runs off 27 balls (3 fours and 4 sixes) as Lalith Mohan struck for Vijayawada Sun Shiners. In the very next over, Bharat got out after scoring 34(21) runs after Dheeraj Kumar took a brilliant catch on Prithvi Raj Yarra’s delivery.
Prithvi struck again in the fourth ball of the 11th over as KP Sai Rahul got out after scoring 16 runs off 13 balls. Kakinada Kings went on to lose their fourth wicket in the 12th over as Manish Golamaru was dismissed by Thanneeru Bharath.
Thanneeru Bharath also struck twice in the same over taking wickets Mitta Lekhaz Reddy (3) and Sirli Srinivas (0) respectively in the 14th over. In the next over, Prithvi Raj scalped his third wicket as Pinninti Tapaswi got out after scoring 17 runs off 11 balls. Kakinada Kings were reduced to 128/7 after 14.1 overs. After that, Mopada Ravikiran took charge of the innings and added 34 runs along with SK Kamaruddin in just 15 deliveries.
SK Kamaruddin got out after scoring five runs off eight balls as Sai Venkata Sumith took his first wicket of the game. In the next over, Ravikiran also lost his wicket after a quickfire 31(12) runs hitting two fours and three sixes as KS Narasimha Raju gave Vijayawada Sun Shiners a big breakthrough. In the first ball of the 20th over, Narasimha Raju cleared Yarragunta Pramod’s stumps as Kakinada Kings were bowled out for 171 runs losing the game by 24 runs. For Vijayawada Sun Shiners, Prithvi Raj Yarra registered figures of 3/24 in his four overs, while Thanneeru Bharath also took three scalps conceding 43 runs in three overs. Apart from that, K S Narasimha Raju took two wickets while Sai Venkata Sumith and Lalith Mohan scalped a wicket each.
After match four of the GMR APL 2025, Vijayawada Sun Shiners now reached the first position in the points table with two wins in a row. On the other hand, Kakinada Kings are placed at the fifth spot after losing their first two matches consecutively.