Viplav Sporting Club 104/10 in 22.3 overs (Shaswat 24, Abhishek 21, Prabhas 3/18) tied with Bhawan Sports Academy 104/6 in 25 overs (Sachin 24, Vipul 22, Animesh 1/5)
Another one of those age group limited over tournament concluded on Thursday, 20th June. Ten teams from across the holy city of Allahabad hosted Under-12 cricketers from the city at Pared ground. The Chaudhary Bhola Nath Chakhaa U-12 tournament entered its 14th season a month ago, and now it was waiting for a spectacular final.
The Bhawan Sports Academy were up against Viplav Sporting Club’s A team. The Viplav Sporting Club fielded two teams in the tournament. While their B team failed to win a game in the Group B, the A team managed to enter the finals after some breathtaking performance. But now they were up against a team which topped the group A table and defeated them in the group stage as well. Although the game went down to the wire, the world remembers the winners’ right?
The finals started early in the morning. In fact the toss was flipped as early as 7 AM. Viplav Sporting won the toss and they decided to challenge the Bhawan Sports once again, to chase the target just like they did in the league phase.
Viplav XI were probably looking after a score of 130-140 as not many teams could manage this total in the second inning throughout the tournament. They lost Akshay in the very first over. Although the middle order resisted a bit, were bogged down by some extremely tight bowling by Bhawan Sports. At 84 for 4, in the 18th over, a decent score was still on cards but a massive collapse saw them losing five wickets for just eight runs. They were reduced to 95 for 9 from 87 for 4. Bhawan Sports locked in a target of 105 in 25 overs as Asmit had Animesh caught by Devansh at mid wicket in the 23rd over.
The chase began slowly for Bhawan Sports. They could manage only 24 runs in the first ten overs. They even lost a couple of wickets on the way but they had the luxury of a small total ahead of them and they looked comfortable with blocking the good ones down. But unfortunately the young kids were not aware of the hidden demon that possesses the small scores. Sometimes you get too comfortable with it and that’s where the disaster strikes.
The Bhawan Sports continued their slow approach towards the target while Viplav Sporting chipped a wicket here and there on the way. Bhawan Sports failed to utilize the middle overs properly and allowed the required run rate to move past 6 but with six wickets in hand, you would still back them to get the remaining 39 off last five overs. As Sahcin departed in the 21st over, Ankit and Yash decided to drag it deeper with the help of single and doubles. Although it ensured that the target won’t move too far away, it pushed the required run rate into the red zone.
23 runs were required off last three overs. After starting with a wide, Adarsh ensured that only four runs were scored off the first five balls of the 23rd over but Yash spoiled his party off the last ball as he guided one down to the third man for four. A 6 run over by Prince Left 9 for the Bhawan Sports to chase in the final over.
Ayush Sonkar had the responsibility to defend 9 runs off the final over. Shashwat caught Ankit short on a nearly impossible second run. Next four balls bought in five runs. The pressure could already be felt in the atmosphere around the ground. With three runs to get of the last ball, Ayush slipped one down the leg side. The final got bigger. Every moment felt like a millennium. Shubham failed to make it to his crease on a double off the last ball the curtains were down after a thrilling show, A show that had almost everyone’s hearts in their mouth.
