The 14th match of GMR Andhra Premier League (APL) 2025 fell in Capital Amaravathi Royals’ favour as they thrashed Simhadri Vizag Lions by seven wickets at the ACA VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Hanuma Vihari, who led Royals from the front, became the recipient of the player of the match (POTM) award. In his team’s sensational win, Vihari contributed with two wickets and an unbeaten 62 off 41.
Earlier, Capital Amaravathi Royals skipper Vihari emerged victorious against his counterpart Ricky Bhui and elected to field first. In the second over, captain Hanuma, who bowls off-spin, delivered the first breakthrough to his side as he got Abhishek M Reddy caught at the hands of G Mallikarjuna. P Roshan Pavan Kumar looked in brilliant touch but he lost his battle to Bandaru Ayyappa after scoring a brisk 30 off 14.
In the powerplay stage, Simhadri lost their two top-order batters but amassed 52 runs. Skipper Bhui was the next to return to the pavilion as he became the second victim of Vihari. Bhui could score only five off 12. KH Veera Reddy stood in the middle and scored 41 off 34. Y Sandeep picked up the crucial scalp of the opener.
Following Veera Reddy’s departure, Vizag kept on losing wickets in regular intervals and posted only 139/9 after their 20 overs. Y Sandeep was the most effective bowler for Simhadri as he took 3/11 figures in his three-over spell. B Santosh Kumar, Vihari, and Ayyappa got two wickets each after bowling their four overs respectively.
Chasing the 140-run target, Royals got a blistering start from their openers Vihari and Manyala Pranith. Both stitched a solid 61-run stand off just 33 deliveries. Pranith came heavily on bowlers and accumulated a quick 44 from 21. His innings was studded with seven boundaries (three fours and four maximums). Tripurana Vijay got rid of Pranith, who was looking to play a big shot against the off-spinner.
In his next over, Tripurana hunted SV Rahul’s scalp with the endeavour to keep Vizag’s hopes alive in the contest. J Durga Kumar got rid of K Karan Shinde but Vihari was unstoppable as the latter batted with discipline and built an unbroken 38-run stand with SDNV Prasad off just 23 deliveries.
Vihari stood at the crease until the end and helped his side chase down the total comfortably with five overs to spare. Prasad also scored an unbeaten 21 off 14. Tripurana Vijay strove to put up a fighting effort for Simhadri but he also failed to counter Vihari, who was looking extraordinary in all departments of the game.
With this humiliating defeat, Vizag are languishing in the sixth spot on the GMR APL 2025 points table while Amaravathi, who have been unbeaten thus far after four games, are in first place in the tally with eight points. Simhadri Vizag Lions, who lost their third match in the tournament, will next face Bhimavaram Bulls on August 17, while Capital Amaravathi Royals’ next clash is against Royals of Rayalaseema on August 18.