Match Report [SPCC vs FUCC] : March 20th 2016 : Kilborne Park, Charlotte

Post date: Apr 06, 2016 1:52:33 PM

To start with, It was a very gloomy day with dark clouds, wet outfield and rainy conditions. We are playing SPCC the division 1 champs at their home ground Kilborne Park in Charlotte. Everyone was very excited as this is going to be a great game of cricket between Division 2 Champions vs Division 1 Champions.

FUCC Captain Navanith lost the toss and FUCC were asked to Bowl first. Sukesh and Harris Khan started the spell. They bowled beautifully. They gave 25runs from first 5overs. Initially Rupesh and Sunil Patel struggled for a while, couple of dropped catches and they started scoring at brisk pace from then on. As a first Change Captain Navanith brought himself into the attack but couldn't get a wicket. Rupesh was well settled and he was scoring very freely through out the ground. Prashanth from FUCC came in as a second change and bowled decently. Then comes our prime leg spinner "Rahul" to bowl the 9th over who got our first wicket of the day. A beautiful ball did the trick to get Sunil Patel bowled. SPCC score was 70/1 at the end of the 9th over.  Rahul's second over yielded another wicket of Karthick, courtesy Raj's exceptional stumping. At the end of the 12th over, score is 89/2. As a next change our offspinner "Harish" was brought in but Rupesh was continuing his innings with boundaries every over. He crossed his 50 and nonstriker Ankit too was scoring very freely. The score was 135/2 at the end of 15th over. Due to the gloomy conditions, the ball visibility was very low and it challenged our boundary fielders a bit. Sunny Kriplani was introduced in the 18th over and he got a first ball wicket, bowled Ankit. The last three overs SPCC has cashed in heavily as they have lot of wickets left and Rupesh moved on to score his 100. SPCC has put a humongous target of 221 for FUCC.

FUCC players were little down with their bowling and fielding performance but never ever thought they were out of this game. They quickly forgot about what happened and focused on getting the runs posted on the scoreboard. 

Rajan Thakur "Best Opener of CCL" and Gaurav Parikh "Gujju-Boy" opened the innings. Ankit bowled a very good first over. Second over Raj started scoring boundaries and FUCC were on the track right away. First wicket of Gaurav fell during the forth over at scoreboard reading 28 runs. Rahul Mandewalker "Mr.Perfectionist" joined Raj and both of them kept scoring. Raj scored two huge sixes and Rahul kept scoring boundary every over. Raj got out after scoring 32runs at the end of 9th over. FUCC were 74/1 by the end of 9th over. FUCC needed close to 150runs at that point with 11 overs left. There comes Sunil "The Star" who joined Rahul and both of them scored very freely. Sunil was scoring big with huge towering sixes both on the off and leg. His offside six which he just timed without any power was a treat to watch. Rahul continued his dominance in the middle with frequent boundaries. Rahul got out after scoring quick 36 in 20balls. FUCC reached 100 in 11 overs. Harris khan lost his foot balance and got runout the very next ball. Sunny Kriplani "Mr.Ageless" joined the party with Sunil and they both kept scoring 13-14 runs per over. The FUCC dugout was very anxious and everyone are up on their feet watching the proceedings with cheers all-around. SPCC started panicking and they were in chaos having all sort of discussions on the field. Finally Sunil got out during the 15th over by scoring 43 of 22 balls. FUCC still needed 77runs from 5 overs at this point. FUCC Captain Navanith Shetty "The Power Hitter" joined Kriplani, they both ran hard and hit huge sixes, made sure the runrate didn't drop. They both kept scoring boundaries and the scoreboard kept ticking. We were getting required 15-16runs every over. Sandeep kriplani got out in the 17th over after scoring 27 of 13 balls. Amit Tayade "Mr.Bachelor" joined Navanith in the middle and they both made sure FUCC are on the track for a win. Navanith launched huge sixes over logon and Amit kept scoring on the offside. At the end of 19th over  score was 202/6. FUCC needed 19runs to win and everyone in the dugout was very tensed and hoping for a miracle and  a win. Harsha bowled the last over, two perfect yorkers resulted in Navanith and Prashanth wickets in the first two balls and that concluded the high intense chase of FUCC. Last but not least, A big shout-out to "Sunny E" for keeping us hydrated through out the game.

FUCC Division 2 Champs were always in the chase against Division 1 Champs SPCC, and this really proved the caliber of FUCC team. Even though the team lost, everyone was very happy with the fight we gave. Our whole team made sure we were there in the game until the last over is bowled. Another great thing to remember about this game is, not just one guy played his part. It was whole batting unit that rose up-to the occasion. That's the way games are won or lost. Take the game to last over, bit of luck on your side and anything can happen. This game proved that FUCC are here to stay in Division-1 and we are going to be in the race for another championship. SPCC were all praising about our batting unit and running between the wickets. There are lot of positives to take home from this game. 

"Sometimes by losing a close battle you find a new way to win the war." . This game showed the actual batting caliber of our team. This is a game to remember for at-least an year and going forward. 

Its my absolute pleasure to write a match report for this game.

Sukesh

Vice Captain