Bharat Chipli, the skipper of the Bijapur Bulls, won the toss and chose to bat first at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. However, both teams took to the pitch ahead of the first ball to maintain a one-minute silence after the tragic death news of former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and also of former Indian captain, Ajay Wadekar. The teams took their positions immediately after and it was Vinay Kumar, captain of the Hubli Tigers, who struck first as he claimed Bulls’ opener Shishir Bhavane's wicket. But Chipli was solid on the crease and formed a good partnership with Anurag Bajpai before he departed scoring 29 runs off 25 balls. But increased pressure from the Tigers’ bowling department resulted in three quick wickets to reduce last year’s finalists to 69-5 after 13 overs. Kumar’s side looked in total control of proceedings at the Chinnaswamy, but Bulls’ player - Naveen MG had other plans. With his team struggling to score, the lad scored a quickfire 44 from 25 deliveries to take the total to a competitive 128-7 in the stipulated 20 overs. The Tigers bowled extremely well, led by Vinay Kumar. Mahesh and Anil were the pick of the bowlers, with the former picking up three wickets and the latter picking up two. A target of 129 was not going to be a tough one for the Indian pacer’s team although Bijapur is renowned for their consistent bowling.

The second innings began a little late as the rain god’s descended upon the pitch at Bangalore. But Tigers’ opener Mohammed Taha began with a bang as he set the tone of the innings with a couple of boundaries on the very first two deliveries of the innings. The 24-year old did not stop there as he looked to be in fine touch along with opening partner Abhishek Reddy as they put up a partnership of 32 runs before the latter was caught by Sunil Raju off a Ronit More delivery in the fourth over. It was Taha’s day for sure as he smacked eight fours and one maximum during his innings, but one of the highlights of the game came in the 13th over when it appeared that Taha was caught off a Cariappa delivery. However, the decision was overturned by the third umpire who adjudged the delivery to be a no-ball and gave the opener a second lease of life on the pitch. Taha recorded his eighth fifty in the KPL but a piece of brilliant fielding by Apanna dismissed the batsman for 62 and left the Tigers’ at 117-6. When things looked shaky for the Kumar’s side, keeper Nitin Bhile kept his zen to lead the Tigers to their first win with seven balls to spare.