Abhishek won the toss and elected to bowl in the final game against the Blasters. The wicket at Cypress Canyon Park slows down in the second inning making it good for batting. Eagles were eager to do well knowing quite well that even a win may not earn them a semi-final slot. The plan was to restrict the Blasters to a score between 90 to a 100.
Vinay bowled a tidy first over against openers Ibrar and Ishwak. Ibrar launched Siva for a couple of boundaries in the second over that yielded 1o runs. Vinay bowling the 3rd over was hit towards deep fine leg for another boundary by Ibrar, who sure was in an attacking mood. Srinivas was introduced into the attack and Ibrar dispatched him for two boundaries towards mid-wicket and wide cover. Abhi bowled a relatively quiet over but Ibrar continued to attack. Ibrar hit one high over long on for a six just after he was dropped by Suresh standing at the same position.
Abhishek then made the right move by bringing in Ajay to bowl the 8th over, knowing that Ibrar would not adjust well to his lack of pace and bounce. Ibrar hit one towards gully and darted for a single. Naman smartly pounced on the ball and then threw it sharply to get rid of Ishwak by means of a direct hit. Ishwak played relatively slow but he was not required to experiment too much with Ibrar doing the damage at the other end. Harman walked in but was dismissed caught behind in the next over being bowled by Hari. This brought in Pavel with Abhishek bowling the 10th over. Pavel mis-hit one towards cover and the ball ballooned to Srininvas who held the ball fine but then grassed the prize wicket, as the spinning ball slipped out of his hands.
Eagles went into the break having picked up a couple of wickets but had also bowled a few loose deliveries at times, and to make matters worse also dropped a couple of crucial catches. Ibrar had given the Blasters a fantastic start with the score reading 54/2 in 10 overs.
Vinay bowled a tidy 11th over. Abhishek clean bowled Ibrar after he was hit for a boundary. Ibrar played a good knock of 42 (39b, 6*4, 1*6). Siva went for quite a few runs in the 12th over as Pavel now assumed the role of senior batsman. Shailesh joined the crease and managed to get a lucky 3 runs. Hari, Mudit, Srinivas went for a boundary each in the overs to follow with Pavel picking up vacant slots in various areas of the field with relative ease. The hit to Mudit was exquisite as a short rising ball was hit with great power over the cover region. Shailesh was bowled by Abhishek and Nitin gave away his wicket as Pavel went for a quick single to get to strike. Vinay fielding at short mid-wicket passed the ball to Srinivas resulting in the easy run out of Nitin. Pavel could not maintain the strike towards the end and thus the Blasters could not accelerate as they would have liked to. Abhishek, Siva, Hari bowled well in the death overs thus saving a good 10 runs of the final target. Pavel remained unbeaten on 35 (37b, 4*4) and the Blasters ended on 122/6 in 20 overs.
Abhishek and Suresh opened the inning knowing very well that the wicket would have eased up. Nitin and Shailesh opened the bowling for the Blasters. The first three overs were relatively quiet with just 10 runs coming of them. The second ball of the 4th over by Shailesh was lofted by Suresh over long on for a magnificent six. The next over by Nitin saw Suresh picking up a three and Abhishek hitting one in the gap in the mid-wicket region for a boundary. The 6th over by Ibrar was milked for a few singles. The 5th ball of the 5th over was hit high and wide over mid-wicket for a one bounce boundary by Suresh. The first ball of the 7th over being bowled by Suresh was then hit high and hard by Suresh for a 71 yard six, straight over the bowlers head. Ibrar then dismissed Abhishek in the 8th over to bring some cheer for the Blasters. Ashish B standing at short mid-off held the high catch with ease. The 49 run partnership between Suresh and Abhishek in just 7.4 overs was just what the Eagles had wanted from the openers. Parag walked in and settled in with Harman bowling the 9th over of the inning. At 55/1, Ashish B was introduced to bowl the 10th over of the inning. Parag lauched three boundaries in that over in the square leg/backward square leg region to take the Eagles to 70/1 in 10 overs, with 15 runs coming in that over. 53 to get in 10 overs then seemed a relatively manageable task.
Shaliesh then produced a fantastic 12th over that yielded just a single. The 13th over by Ashish M yielded 5 runs but also produced the wicket of Suresh who missed a straight one and was bowled. Suresh had scored a superb 37 runs (34b, 2*6, 1*4) to lay the foundation of a chase that seemed very much doable. Hari walked in and played the last over of Shailesh watchfully. A hard straight hit to long on yielded a boundary to Hari as Ibrar missed the ball that should have been easily stopped. Parag then hit Ashish M towards mid-wicket for a boundary but was caught by Pavel on the very next ball at deep long-on. A simple uppish push resulted in the ball sailing all the way towards the fence and into the hands of a fielder running in from the boundary. Parag played a quick knock of 28 (25b, 4*4, 1*3) to add some impetus to the chase but could not stay till the end. Hari and Siva then hit Ashish M for a boundary each bringing the Eagles closer to a much wanted victory with the score reading 98/3 in 15 overs. Ibrar then kept Hari quiet in the 17th over giving away just two runs resulting in 23 required in 4 overs. Hari lofted Harman towards mid-off where Ibrar ran in to hold the high catch with relative ease. Siva launched the next over pitched ball from Harman for a 73 yard hit over long off resulting in the ball crashing high on the fence which meant the ball would have carried even farther. Harman tried to adjust the length of the next ball but Siva rocked back and hit the ball over square leg for another good looking boundary. The next over by Ibrar saw Siva launch one straight and high over long on for a magnificent six. Within a few balls Siva hit one towards cover, over the infield for another good looking boundary. The quick fire 25 in just 12 balls by Siva (2*6, 3*4) left no doubt as to who the winner would be after 18 overs. With just two to get in 2 overs Eagles won the game with 10 balls to spare and 6 wickets in hand.
The brilliant hits by Suresh and Siva were a treat to watch and also seemed to have been hit with relative ease. The helpless feeling of the opposition after each of those hard hits was to be seen to be relished.
Ibrar and Pavel played a stellar role in the 122 scored by the Blasters. Pavel seems to be the batsman of the series with his hard hitting ability, good strike rate, ability to stay at the crease and highest run aggregate.
Eagles thus finshed the tournament on a high, beating the Blasters and thereby winning 4 out of 7 games. The losses against RBCC, Mavericks and Shadows however resulted in them not making it to the final round of four. Abhishek as captain did well to use the available pool of players with the intent to impart opportunities as well as try and achieve results.
Well done Eagles, its not as bad as it was in the early stages of the tournament. It is now upto the Panthers to win the cup to make the team proud possessors of the winners trophy for a third time in succession.
Let's be there to cheer on the Panthers in the most important games of this tournament starting next weekend.
MoM: Suresh Tudor (37, 34b, 1*4, 2*6). Have I not told you that I fancy the bowling of Ibrar, Nitin and Shailesh. Send me as the opener against the Blasters.
Siva :- I never get a chance to yield my bat. This is what I am capable of.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcprPTWPutHh6Vg&hl=en
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