Bhavani Warriors 150/2 in 10 overs (Chirag 70, Niraj 50, Pinal 1/16) defeated Decore Lions 101/7 in 10 overs (Gheto 30, Pinal Patel 26, Kishan 2/21) by 49 runs
The monsoon season is tailor-made for the tennis ball cricket. A lot of kids are out there celebrating the holidays, light rain never impacts the games either. The two Bhawani cricket grounds hosted the corporate cricket bash 2019. The tournament that went on for 21 days witnessed some high quality individual as well as team performances.
12 teams participated in the tournament. Split across two groups, all the teams played five games followed by the semi finals. The two table toppers of the tournament locked in the final showdown after some variable performances in the semi finals. While the Warriors destroyed the Brasstech XI, the Decore lions made it to the finals after some healthy workout against Snowwell XI.
The Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first. The tournament witnessed a lot of teams failing to chase the target so that was probably in the mind of Jay while he flipped the coin. They received their first blow off the very first ball of the final when Pinal rattled the stumps of Paresh. The Warriors lost another wicket just after the powerplays in the form of Mayursinh but that was the end of delight to the Lions, at least for the inning.
The pair of Chirag and Niraj went berserk as they piled on 117 off just 39 balls. They kept slogging, almost everything into the leg side and with maximum result. 40 of Neeraj’s 50 runs were scored between long on and deep square leg while 60 of Chirag’s 70 runs were scored in the leg side as well. Chirag loved smoking them over the mid wicket as four of his seven sixes were scored in the area. A roaring start from the Lions was turned into a disaster via some extreme level of power hitting.
Entering the arena as a batsman knowing that you have got to chase at 15 runs per over from the beginning, there’s always an element of pressure. It happens at the highest levels too. The Lions were chasing a total which none of the teams could achieve throughout the tournament, not even in the first inning.
A lot of the games at cricheeros can have a scorecard where you can notice the similarities in both the innings, at least to some extent. The situation was pretty much same here. The Lions lost Ranjit in the very first over and they lost their second wicket at the score of 33. A start exactly as their opposition got with only difference being the number of balls taken to score the runs and it’s not the team you think did it quicker. The Lions lost Pritesh with two balls still to go in the powerplays.
Pinal Patel, the only Lions batsman in top five run scorers of the tournament entered the ballpark with all the expectations on his shoulder. Motivations aside, the Lions knew that he was the only one who could chase it down for them. A 44 run partnership between Pinal and Gheto ensured some fightback but they allowed the required run rate to move pass 19. As Pinal was caught by Neeraj at the fine leg off Kishan, the hopes vanished for the Lions. Gheto stitched some partnerships with the tail enders, only to delay the celebrations in the Warriors dressing room.
