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Karnataka stars bat their way to victory

When cinema and cricket came together, Bangaloreans celebrated the union with gusto. The T20 Celebrity Cricket League matches got a great start over the weekend at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada stars padding up to win the trophy.

After folk troupes from across Karnataka performed the curtain raiser, a felicitation programme for ace Karnataka cricketers such as Prasanna, Sujith Somsundar, David Johnson, Sunil Joshi and Vishwanath followed.

Next up, Arjun Sarja and Madhuri Bhattacharya used this forum to promote their upcoming film. In normal circumstances, the crowd would have grown impatient by now, but there were so many beautiful actors and actresses - not to mention the cheer girls to gawk at, that the time passed pleasantly.

Fans throng the venue to catch their fav stars

"Sonakshi-Salman is my favourite onscreen jodi and I saw this as an opportunity to get a close view of the stars," said Amritha, who had come with her friend Vijay.

"There was so much hullaballoo around CCL and how our Kannada heroes have been training for the matches that I was curious to see how they actually play. Also, with so many celebrities and cultural events, it turned out to be a good weekend outing.

I enjoyed the performances of Sonu Nigam who belted out Kannada numbers and Vijay Prakash who sang Jai Ho," said Vijay.

Chennai Rhinos and Tellugu Warriors clash on the field

The stars - some dressed appropriately in sportswear while others struck to their usual glamour wear were generous with their smiles, waves, handshakes and even an autograph and photograph here and there.

Easily spotted were Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Ravichandran, Ambareesh, Bharathi, Ganesh, Srinagara Kitty, Jaggesh, Shobraj, Sharathkumar, Radhika Sharathkumar, Sumalatha, Sonakshi Sinha, Shriya Saran, Priyamani, Aindrita Ray, producer Rockline Venkatesh  and cricketer Shreeshant. 

When it was finally time for some on-field action, Chennai Rhinos and Telugu Warriors took the field. But with the rain playing spoilsport, the match was restricted to 14 overs and the Warriors had to chase a total of 134. The Rhinos won by 21 runs.

Dhruva puts up a great performance

The crowd was in for a bigger treat when home team Karnataka Bulldozers took on the Suniel Shetty-led Mumbai Heroes. The Mumbaikars set a total of 157 in 20 overs. The boys in blue, ably led by captain Sudeep, won the match in just 18 overs.

Dhruva, who had put up a bankable performance in the inaugural match between South Superstars and Mumbai Heroes in Hyderabad last month, ensured Bulldozers a victory. His knock of 50 not-out won him the Man of the Match Award.

"Victory comes to those who don't give up. KB boys proved it big time. I'm proud of my boys. Thanks for all the support," said an elated Sudeep after the match. 

Finals to be held in Hyderabad

The actor had some kind words for his Mumbai counterparts too: "Suniel Shetty led the side well. It was a good knock by Ritesh Deshmukh too." Apoorva Lakhiya's bowling spell was also impressive but just not good enough to stop the Bulldozers from rolling!
The Bulldozers are turning out to be a fine team, and when the action moved to Chennai on Sunday, they easily surpassed the 180 runs set by the Chennai team.

Following the victory, Sudeep commented on a social networking site: "Nice to be returning to B'lore victorious. One more match to go in the prelims but KB is already through to the finals cheers boyz!!"

Here's looking for more heavy duty action from our crick'actors'. The remaining matches, including the finals, will be held in Hyderabad.