Match Report: FUCC vs CDCC, CCL T20 Finals @WestonPark

Post date: May 04, 2017 5:29:38 PM

FUCC vs CDCC, CCL T20 Finals, 29th April 2017 @Weston Park

The stage was set for the 2017 T20 finals with the weather holding good. CDCC players looked keen to grab the winner’s trophy as they arrived with 15 players and immediately started their warm up and practice sessions. On the other hand FUCC players were working hard to get the ground ready which had a couple of huge puddles (thanks to heavy rains on Thursday, 27th night) in the extra cover area. You could see players using sponges’ and towels to get rid of 4 buckets of water and then covering the wet area with sand and mulch. The game started after a 75 min delay.

FUCC captain won the toss and elected to bat. Raj Thakur and Gaurav Parikh took center stage for FUCC whereas Venkat and Karthik shared the new ball for CDCC. The bowlers maintained good pace and line from ball one. Gaurav started sensibly whereas Raj attacked from ball one. In no time FUCC raced to 21 runs but in the 3rd over Gaurav was caught behind of Venkat’s bowling. Amit Kumar Tayade was back in the side after missing all the prior playoff games due to sickness. He walked in at no. 3 and looked in sublime form. Raj and Amit complemented each other by running hard and scoring boundaries. CDCC had done their homework and set fielders to cover Raj’s strong areas but were unable to limit his scoring abilities. FUCC were cruising at 8 runs per over at the end of power play. CDCC captain tried a few other bowlers but none of them could trouble either Raj or Amit. The batting duo brought up their 50 runs partnership for the 2nd wicket. Pranay Reddy was introduced and struck gold in the very 2nd ball when he had Raj caught at deep extra cover boundary. The pair added 62 runs for the 2nd wicket before Raj fell six runs short of yet another fifty. He scored 44 runs in 36 balls and smashed 6 mesmerizing fours. Sunil was promoted in order to further attack CDCC’s bowling. Confusion over if the batsmen crossed when Raj was dismissed lead to Amit being at the striker and Sunil at the non-striker end thus resulting in Amit being given out LBW in the very next ball. Pranay Reddy & team were on top of the world and their celebrations’ knew no boundaries. CDCC had pegged 2 wickets and were right back in the game. FUCC were 83 runsfor 2 wickets at the end of the 11th over. Rahul Mandewalker walked in at no. 4 and made his intentions clear. He played his shots and ran hard between the wickets. He hit a couple of magnificent boundaries and pulled the momentum back in FUCC’s favor. Sunil supported Rahul ably and the pair added 34 crucial runs before Rahul was caught behind by Yogesh of Chandu’s bowling. FUCC were 4 down for 117 runs in the 15th over. Navanith joined Sunil in the middle and fireworks were expected. The duo took the attack to CDCC when they both hit a six to Gautham in the 16th over. FUCC were 135 for 4 in 16 overs and looked all set to pocket more than 50 runs in the last 4 overs. Sunil was dismissed in the 17th over. Shiv walked in next and was run out while trying to give strike to Navanith. Yash joined Navanith in the middle. The boundaries were hard to come by due to some good death over bowling by CDCC. FUCC finished at 161 for the loss of 6 wickets. They were short by at least 15 to 20 runs but nonetheless a good score considering FUCC’s bowling and the pressure of chasing in finals.

CDCC opened with Aravind Reddy and Sunny Kessireddy whereas FUCC opted for left arm medium fast of Shiv and left arm fast of Harris Khan. FUCC drew first blood when the dangerous Aravind Reddy was given out LBW as he missed a fast straight delivery from Harris Khan. Sunny and Sagar counter attacked and kept the scoreboard moving. At the end of the 3rd over CDCC were 27 for 1. CDCC’s nemesis, Vinod was introduced and he kept up to his reputation. He got rid of Sunny and Murali caught by Raj in back to back deliveries. In the 5th over, Shiv had Sagar caught by Harissh at square leg. CDCC were 4 down for 48 runs in 5 overs but still had a very good run rate. Yogesh and Chandu, the two new batsmen had to make maintain the run rate without losing anymore wickets.  At the end of power play CDCC were 52 for 4. Harissh was introduced and along with Vinod kept the pressure on CDCC with some good line & length. CDCC were still scoring at 6 runs per over courtesy of some good running. Rahul was introduced in an attempt to get wickets but had no luck. CDCC needed 61 runs from the last 6 overs when Yash was introduced into the attack and boy he bowled a match defining over. He not only got Chandu stumped but also limited CDCC to just 2 runs in the over. In the next over Rahul had Yogesh caught at long on boundary courtesy a fantastic catch by Shiv. Suddenly, CDCC has 2 batsmen at the crease and needed around 56 runs in the last 4 overs. Harris (17th & 20th), Shiv (18th) and Vinod (19th) were given the responsibility to bowl the last 4 overs. In the 17th over Harris got rid of CDCC’s captain when he cleaned up Vamshi with a quick ball. In the 19th over Amit took a brilliant running catch to get rid of Gautham and give Vinod his 3rd wicket for the match. 26 runs were needed of the last over and Harris Khan made sure CDCC were bowled out 18 runs short of their target. It took a while for FUCC players to realize they had won the T20 championship. The team remained unbeaten through the league stages and then climbed one step at a time to be crowed as T20 champions. Once again FUCC got the better off CDCC in a champion game. Vinod was rightfully declared the man of the match.

Cheers,

Navanith