Eagles won the toss and elected to bat first on the good pitch at Stonebridge Neighborhood Park. The pitch had been rolled and was even with no dew offering good conditions through out the 40 overs. Contributions of 23 (17b, 5*4) from Umesh K, 13 (26b, 1*4) from Santosh and 13 (22b) from Naman allowed the Eagles to get to 98/10 in 19.2 overs. Four run-out dismissals for the Eagles meant wasted opportunities for more runs of the bat. Defending 99 on a pitch where the Mavericks had chased 106 in the very previous game in more difficult batting conditions seemed like a challenge. The bowling combination of Mansoor, Amit (3 wickets), Rupesh (4 wickets, 2 in two balls), Satheesh (2 wickets) and Sam (1 wicket) stood up to the test. Eagles were able to topple all the batsmen of the Mavericks in 19.3 overs and won with 3 runs to spare. Sumanth scored 24 (19b, 2*4) and was the lone batman standing at the non-strikers end for the Mavericks when Ajay was adjudged caught behind with Amit bowling the final over of the inning with 5 runs to get and 1 wicket standing guard. Sumanth had injured his knee earlier while batting, had retired for a while, then had to come to bat again to pull a victory for the Mavericks with the asking rate hovering at run a ball in the final 5 overs. It was a brave fight back by both teams (especially Sumanth for the Mavericks) but one team had to win and this time it was the Eagles. There was drama with the Eagles making matters uneasy for themselves with catches being floored, fielders losing their cool in run out sitiuations etc. A couple of players for the Eagles had to leave either at the start or mid-way through the second inning. Sanjay R and Rohit Falke (stand in umpire) were kind enough to take over fielding responsibilities. Mansoor and Rupesh had to set aside personal ocassions to fulfill team responsibilities. Great teamwork folks. We now get past the quarter final and enter a stage that could be either the semi-finals or the finals :-)
Game highlights :-
Umesh hits Rahul C for three boundaries in three balls. Umesh hits 5 boundaries in a score of 23 runs. Rupesh has a chance of a hat-trick and picks up 4 key wickets. Sanjay R commits himself to a catch by pouncing on the ball while running in from long-on. Sumanth almost wins it for the Mavericks despite an injured knee. Amit (3 wickets) and Rupesh (4 wickets) run through the innings of the Mavericks. Amit and Sanjay R latch on to a catch at the long-on boundary. Sanjay R and Rohit Falke field for the Eagles with two fielders having to leave.
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