A calm and composed knock of 45 (61b, 3*4) followed by an aggressive spell of 4-0-11-1 by Sam ensured a 8 run win for the Eagles.
Sam opened the batting with Parag and he provided the much needed stability for the Eagles while batting. This was very much essential on a day when half the Eagles side was missing. It was an inning mixed with caution and aggression with runs being taken on either side of the wicket. Parag (16 in 28b, 1*4) and Nitin B (10 in 9b, 1*4) scored a few runs for the Eagles.
Having elected to bat Eagles thus put on 92/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Amit (4-1-8-0) had the best figures on either side in terms of economy. Samir picked up three useful wickets and Vinay too bowled well.
In reply the Panthers scored 84/10 in 19.5 overs. Yogesh/Suresh at the top, Yogesh/Vijay V in the middle overs and Shekhar/Rahul B towards the end put on partnerships of substance. Panthers were in the game in the final 3 overs with 21 to get. The only problem was they had lost wickets at regular intervals in the chase. Vijay V (14 in 26b, 1*4), Yogesh (12 in 26b), Shekhar (11 in 15b) and Rahul B (10 in 18b) were among the runs but could not ensure an overhaul of the target.
Sam was troubled with a calf muscle strain but kept bowling accurately picking up the final wicket of Rahul B to seal a win. Rosie had figures of 3.3-0-9-3 thereby bowling one of the most accurate, constraining spell one has seen him bowl recently. Earlier, Vijay S picked up Samir on the first legitimate ball of the game to set the Eagles on the road to successfully defending the modest total. Nitin and Vijay K (new guy) stepped into the shoes of illustrious performers in Siva and Rupesh. Nitin B picked up important wickets of stable batsmen in Yogesh and Shekhar. Parag held 5 catches behind the stumps most of which were pretty easy. The bowling squad for the Eagles bowled a tight line and length throughout the game, the batting squad played around one resolute batsmen. The Eagles thus go up 1-0 in this internal tournament.
There was a call to get Parag and seal a win for the Panthers. It's just that the Panthers had not given heed to the batsman in Sam. There are no awards for this series but undoubtedly "Sam Raj" was the "Man of the Match" today. With the recent performances he definitely moves higher up in the all-rounder category, which augurs well for our entire team.
Panthers lost by a pretty slender margin today. They certainly are capable of pulling one or two back with Hari set to return. Eagles on the other hand would get strengthened by the return of the multiple players absent today. All in all it should be an interesting series going forward.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpr5aFzhQvpaaw&hl=en
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