Author: Ishan Rao
Submitted: Jun 25, 2012
RBCC @ CCB: Premier game, June 24, 2012 - Reported by Aditya Kasukurti (CCB)
RBCC won the toss and put CCB to bat on a hot day. CCB openers got through the new ball overs with a modest score on the board. Manjeet came in second down in the 10th over and started accumulating runs steadily while wickets fell at the other end till Naveen stuck around, willing to apply himself. With a steady partnership building, Manjeet asked for the batting power play and went after the RBCC bowlers before falling for another excellent innings of 96 runs 71 balls (12x4, 2x6) single-handedly taking CCB to 168. RBCC bowlers wrapped the CCB tail soon after with the final score of 177 in 36.4 overs. Tahir got 3 wickets and Najeed was the most economical of RBCC bowlers.
RBCC started their innings positively with Faiq scoring 17 off the second over but he fell soon after. CCB bowlers get two more quick wickets pulling back RBCC to 27 for 3. Misbah and Ben played patiently and got RBCC back in the game before Ben fell. Misbah kept RBCC on track scoring steadily, even though CCB were knocking wickets regularly at the other end. Eventually he ran out of partners and RBCC fell 14 runs short of target in 36.5 overs. Misbah ended up unbeaten on a well compiled 54. Satyam bowled a miserly spell of 8-1-16-2 to make up for the 46 extras CCB bowlers dished out and made sure Manjeet's innings did not go in vain.
Manjeet was awarded Man of the Match for another excellent innings of 96 runs and 2 stampings.
YCC @ LCC: Premier game, June 23, 2012 - Reported by Raj Chitikila (LCC)
Yorkers CC drove down to play Littleton CC on a day that lived up to the weather forecast, and had some players longing to beat the 102+ temperatures by running through the sprinklers playing in an adjoining field. Kudos to the umpires for allowing liberal drinks breaks.
LCC won the toss and elected to bat. Opening bowlers Niyaz and Naval bowled with great skill and thoroughly confused LCC's top order. Niyaz had LCC reeling at 17 for 2, when Sundeep (21), hastily promoted up the order, walked in to begin a match-saving 123 run partnership with LCC's rookie sensation, Dhiren Patel. The pair saw off the opening bowlers and inched the score up to 41 in 10 overs. Then Dhiren began a counter-attack and, aided by 2 boundaries and 8 sixes, raced to his maiden CCL century before falling in the 26th over. Dhiren's 100 in 90 balls got LCC to a respectable 171 for 6 by that point, but both clubs were unaware that a second act was about to unfold. LCC's most dangerous batsman, Bodhayan, had just walked in and there were still 14 overs to go--a lifetime by his standards. Bodha ferociously tore into the bowling, achieving his 50 (in 21) by the 31st over, and all of a sudden the possibility of achieving his own century became real. To the delight of his team, Bodha did not disappoint, roaring to 111 off 57 balls with the help of 10 boundaries and 7 massive sixes. LCC closed the innings at a club record 308 all out in 40 overs. Niyaz and Naval both had 3 wickets with a superb economy rate under 4.
YCC's openers began well in response, but the asking run-rate was just too much and YCC ended at 130 all out in the 36th over. Venkat (22) and Niyaz (24) put up good resistance. Jay took 3 wickets. For LCC, all 11 players batted and bowled on this historic day. Despite the one-sided result, YCC has much to be proud of, particularly the excellent performances of Niyaz, Naval, and Venkat.
Man of the Match: Dhiren Patel & Bodhayan Chakraborty were declared joint MoM.
See YCC vs LCC Scorecard