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In the 20th match of the GMR Andhra Premier League (APL) 2025 played at the ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam played on August 19, Bhimavram Bulls defeated Kakinada Kings by 27 runs and qualified for the playoffs. B Munish Varma became Player of the Match (POTM) for his all-round brilliance in the match. With the bat, he scored an unbeaten 43* runs off 14 balls for Bulls while as a bowler, he bagged 2/24 figures in his three overs.
Earlier, the toss favoured Kakinada Kings’ captain KS Bharat and he elected to field first. Nimmala Himakar and K Revanth Reddy looked to deliver a rapid start to Bulls but K Sudharsan cleaned up the former batter and delivered the maiden breakthrough to his team. Captain M Hemant Reddy fell against Sk Kamaruddin after chipping in with his 14 off eight.
After losing a couple of top-order batters within the powerplay, Bhimavaram Bulls got a solid stand for the third wicket as Revanth and TV Sai Saran built a 104-run partnership off just 59 balls. Revanth departed after scoring 51 off 38 and three balls later, Bendalam Satvik also lost his wicket after scoring only one off two.
The next delivery, Sravan got run out and went back to the dugout after hammering 58 runs off 33 balls. His innings included nine boundaries (six fours and three maximums). The final overs of Bhimavaram’s innings saw Muvvala Yuvan and B Munish Varma coming heavily on the bowlers and plundering runs. Yuvan scored a brisk 23 off 13 while Varma also notched up an unbeaten 43 off just 14. Bhimavaram posted a massive total of 214/6 in their 20 overs.
Chasing the target, Kakinada got a fine start from their openers P Arjun Tendulkar and skipper KS Bharat. Both batters added 31 runs off just 13 balls for the opening wicket. In the third over, Satyanarayan Raju got rid of Arjun, who returned to the pavilion after amassing 31 off 12. After Tendulkar, KP Rahul became Raju’s victim in the same over. The top-order batter couldn’t score any runs after consuming three balls.
In the seventh over, Munish Varma cleaned up P Tapaswi, who was looking to settle in the middle with his captain Bharat. Tapaswi could score only 15 off 10. Ravikaran and Golamaru Manish also flopped after scoring in single digits. Kings’ captain Bharat took Bulls’ bowling attack to the cleaners and hoarded 76 off just 40. It was his knock that kept Kakinada in the chase, until the 15th over of the match.
Challarapu Siva ended Bharat’s innings in the 15th over and helped his team go close to victory. Eventually, Kings surrendered at a score of 187 after playing 19.5 overs and ended their campaign with a defeat. For Bhimavaram, Siva, Raju, and Munish took two wickets apiece while Bhuvneswar Patnala and TV Sai Sravan got one wicket respectively.
Kakinada’s GMR APL 2025 campaign ended in the fifth spot on the points tally with two wins in six games while Bulls, with their second triumph in the tournament, have qualified for the playoffs. Bhimavaram will be seen taking on Vijayawada Sun Shiners in the Eliminator on August 21.