A brilliant brace by young Karan Laxman Baskaran paved way for a 3-1 victory for Bhopal Badshahs as they defeated hosts Karnataka Lions in their first home match at the KSHA turf in Bengaluru on Monday night.

The Karnataka Lions are yet to open their account in the Bridgestone World Series Hockey. They are lying at the bottom of the table while Bhopal Badshahs have six points from two wins and one loss as they returned to winning ways.

Karan has made his father and coach Baskaran proud as he has been playing a crucial role in all the matches Bhopal Badshahs have won so far.

The action-packed third quarter saw Karnataka Lions take a lead in the 41st minute through veteran star Dhanraj Pillay, who showed glimpses of his famed stick-work and aggression.

However, the hosts suffered severe set-back thereafter as Bhopal Badshahs came out aggressively not only to equalize but pump in two more goals in the next five minutes.

Suddenly, the match came to life and a silly mistake in the defence saw the visitors post another field goal in the 48th minute.