WATCH: Former RCB star plays match winning knock during opening game of Kerala Cricket League 2024

The first match of the Kerala Cricket League kicked off on Monday. Thrissur Titans took on Alleppey Ripples in the first match. Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Mohammed Azharuddeen played a match-winning knock with the bat to help Alleppey win the game. 

Chasing 162 to win, Alleppey lost Krishna Prasad and Akshay Shiv early. With the score reading 21/2, Azharuddeen was joined by Vinoop Manoharan as the pair added 84 runs for the 3rd wicket. 

𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟- Mohammed Azharuddeen!🫡#KCL2024 #കേരളംകളിതുടങ്ങി #KeralaCricketLeague pic.twitter.com/QFQQv09n2u

— Kerala Cricket League (@KCL_t20) September 2, 2024

Mohammed Azharuddeen scored 92 runs from 47 balls with the help of 3 fours and 9 sixes. The right-handed batter was dismissed by Aditya Vinod with Alleppey still needing 23 runs to win and missing out on a well-deserved century. Alleppey Ripples won the game with 5 wickets in hand and 9 balls to spare. 

Who is Mohammed Azharuddeen?

The 30-year-old Kerala batter Mohammed Azharuddeen hit the headlines when he scored 137 runs for Kerala during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. This led to the batter earning a contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL.  

Sadly, Mohammed Azharuddeen didn’t get a chance to play any match and wasn’t retained the next season. The 30-year-old is a regular fixture in the Kerala side and has scored 763 runs from 42 T20 matches with one century and 2 fifties with a strike rate of 133. 

With the IPL 2025 Auctions set to be held in the next few months, the 30-year-old will be looking to score more runs. On Monday, none of the bowlers were spared as the blazing blade of Mohammed Azharuddeen hit 9 huge sixes. Each of the hits easily cleared the ground. 

Earlier in the day, Thrissur Titans batting first scored 161/8 from their 20 overs. Akshay Manohar was the best batter with a score of 57 off 44 balls with one four and 5 sixes. Mumbai Indians batter Vishnu Vinod scored 22 off 14 balls with 3 fours and a six. 

The second game of the day saw Kochi Blue Tigers take on Trivandrum Royals. It was the Royals who won the game on the Duckworth and Lewis method. Batting first Kochi were all out for 122 with Jobin Joby top scoring with 48 while Abdul Basith took 5/12. In reply, Trivandrum were 83/5 when the rain came down and the match didn’t resume at that stage Trivandrum were ahead by 1 run.