Stranded On 99* - RCB Batter Narrowly Misses Century In Maharaja Trophy Playoffs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Devdutt Padikkal was left agonizingly stranded in the Qualifier 1 clash between Hubli Tigers and Mangaluru Dragons today as he ended with 99* off 64 balls, missing out on a ton by 1 run. 

Padikkal, Hubli Tigers’ captain, was on 97 off 61 balls heading into the final over of the innings, but he could only manage 2 runs off the last 3 balls he faced. Still, his efforts helped Hubli post 210/2 in Qualifier 1 of the 2025 Maharaja T20 Trophy.

It was a knock of two halves for Padikkal, who struggled big time initially, managing just 52 runs off his first 47 balls. However, he flicked a switch after that and hammered 45 runs off his next 14 balls. From 59* off 49, he tore into Ronit More and Shreevathsa Acharya as he collected 32 runs in 9 balls in the space of two overs.

The 2025 Maharaja Trophy has proven to be a very successful one for Padikkal, who is currently the highest run-getter in the tournament with 439 runs at a strike rate of 155.1. He was integral to RCB dominating IPL 2025, although he suffered an injury that ruled him out of the second half of the tournament. 

Meanwhile, in the same game today, SRH's Abhinav Manohar played a brisk cameo of 50 off just 23 balls to help Hubli post a formidable total.