In the match 19th of the GMR Andhra Premier League (APL) 2025, played at the ACA VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Capital Amaravathi Royals defeated Royals of Rayalaseema comprehensively by seven wickets, to secure top spot in the points table with five wins in five matches. K Karan Shinde was given the player of the match award for his impressive fifty in the run chase, playing a key role for his team in hunting down the 162-run target with 15 balls to spare.
Earlier, Hanuma Vihari, the captain of Capital Amaravathi Royals, won the toss and decided to bowl first in overcast conditions with threat of rain around in Visakhapatnam. His decision paid dividends for Amaravathi big time with three of the top four batters of Royals of Rayalaseema, namely N Manoj Kumar, Vinukonda Venu, and S Dhruva Kumar losing their wickets cheaply within the first three overs as G Mallikarjuna sent two of them back into the pavilion and Vihari chipped-in with one dismissal as well.
Following that, Rayalaseema captain Shaik Rasheed took control of his team’s innings, building a valuable partnership of 77 runs for the fourth wicket with Harsha Vardhan Maddila, to bring his team right back into the contest. Maddila put together an impressive innings of 42 off 30 with three fours and two sixes before he was run out courtesy of a double team effort from K Karan Shinde and Y Sandeep.
In the last six overs of the Rayalaseema innings, Rasheed did bulk of the scoring, to end up with 96* off 62 with eight fours and five sixes to his name, which helped his team reach a decent total of 161/5 in 20 overs. For Amaravathi, C Mallikarjuna registered figures of 2/13 in his three-over spell, while Hanuma Vihari bowled his full quota of overs, giving away just 22 runs for a wicket.
The pursuit of the 162-run target didn’t begin well for Capital Amaravathi Royals as they lost the wickets of Manyala Pranith and SV Rahul for 10 runs each within the powerplay with Vinukonda Venu sending both of them back into the pavilion. It led to captain Vihari taking control of Amaravathi’s innings, sharing a third wicket stand of 89 runs with K Karan Shinde, to put his team in a strong position in the run chase before getting dismissed on 47 off 39 with four fours and one six on the bowling of J Saketh Ram.
From this point onwards, Karan Shinde batted through the innings for Amaravathi Royals, scoring an unbeaten 56 off 34 with three fours and four sixes, to take them over the finishing line for their fifth consecutive win in the tournament. He was ably supported by Y Sandeep with a breezy 23 off 11, an innings which included one four and two fours, to help make light work of the target set by Rayalaseema, who had only Vinukonda Venu delivering a spell of some quality, conceding 27 runs in four overs for his two wickets.
With yet another win in the GMR APL 2025, Capital Amaravathi Royals have confirmed top spot in the standings after accumulating 10 points from five matches while Royals of Rayalaseema ended the tournament on a tough note, finishing in seventh and last place with just three points in six matches. In their sixth and final group stage match of the tournament before the playoffs, Amaravathi will take on Vijayawada Sun Shiners on Tuesday, August 19.