TNM Ghaziabad 335/7 in 30 overs (Ronak 130, Kushagra 86, Viddyansh 3/10) defeated Dharam Cricket Academy 160/10 in 23.4 overs (Bharat 38, Preet 31, Tushya 4/26) by 175 runs
The ICC cricket world cup final concluded with one of the greatest ever ODI game. A tied game followed by a super over, the super over got tied too and England took the title thanks to more number of boundaries they scored at the game. No matter where you watched the game, you surely had your heart in mouth.
6700 KM away from Lords in the east, Vishal international school in Ghaziabad hosted the final of 4th Late Shree Inder Pahalwan Memorial U-14 Cricket tournament. The 12 team tournament was another of those age group tournament specially targeted at providing the young kids with an opportunity to enjoy the summer vacation playing the sport they love in a professional atmosphere. How bad, the tournament, the summer vacation and even the world cup all of them are over in a jiffy right?
The 30 over game kicked off with TNM electing to bat as the coin landed in their favor. Sanskar and Ronak never gave a chance to the opposition bowlers. They destroyed the bowling attack with a partnership of 140 off just 11.1 overs. A couple of quick wicket was not enough for the DCA as TNM batsmen continued their assault. Ronak departed in the 18th over with score already over 220, his individual figures read 130 off 55 balls as he made his way back to the pavilion. His inning constituted of 14 massive sixes and 8 fours.
Ronak’s wicket should have meant some respite for the DCA bowlers but they had a bigger storm to weather. Kushagra began where Ronak left. He kept the strike to himself for the most of the slog overs. It was his inning which ensured 65 runs of last five overs for TNM. 76 of Kushagra’s 86 came off boundaries (6*9, 4*5). He targeted the leg side in fact, 66 of his 86 runs came in the area between fine leg and midwicket.
The game was all but over in the first inning itself. There was no way the DCA were going to chase down the target of 335 in 30 overs. The pressure of scoring at 11.16 is not everyone’s cup of tea especially for the kids who are still infants in the sport. The tournament saw only a couple of score over 200 and that too in the first inning. DCA used all their 11 players for bowling but none could do what they were expected to and as a result, they were chasing one of the biggest totals in the history of a 30 over game.
The chase got on the way with some lovely shots from Nishkarsh and Bharat but it was evident that they were playing the second inning just for the heck of it. There was no intent to chase down the target. Wickets in clutters didn’t help their cause either. A few batsmen got starts but they failed to convert them and as a result, DCA fell short by a whopping margin of 175. While the final at lords provided us with exhilaration, another final near Delhi gave us Sarfaraz Ahmad moments.
