Artisans Cricketers 146/8 in 20 overs (Riyaz 38, Aleempasha 36, Abdullah 3/23) defeated KL XI CC 110/10 in 19.4 overs ( Ajinas 20, Sai Krishnan 15 , Syed 3/21) by 36 runs
After three months full of thrills and excitements, the Falcon Premier League concluded here at the Peddeleton Park, Hinnur. The final was contested between Artisans Cricketers and KL XI CC , the top two position holders of group C of the tournament. The tournament saw a league cum knockout format where 15 teams were split across three groups.
With two arch rivals in the final, you’d expect it to be a crunch game. Artisans Cricketers defeated KL XI CC in the league stage but that was over two and a half months ago. That’s enough time out there to spot your weakness and work on it and KL XI surely are a team who improved as the tournament moved forward.
Blazing heat of Hinnur didn’t had any impact on the two finalists. As soon as the clock struck 11 in the morning, both the captains were out there in the middle with umpires for the toss. The coin landed in Artisans Cricketers favour and they elected to bat first, pretty much like they did in the league game.
Adnan and Tushar opened the inning for Artisans and gave them a decent start. Sai broke the opening stand and Abilasb foxed Amit with a beauty which dented Artisans progress. Although runs were coming, they weren’t coming quick enough and there was a wicket at every 20-25 run and the procession remained same till the 13th over. Aleempasha and Riyaz formed a partnership of 70 runs off just 42 balls for 7th wicket which bailed Artisans out of trouble. The partnership ensured a healthy if not great first inning total on the board and they knew that their bowlers are capable of defending it. In fact they had a bowling unit that never allowed the opposition to cross 140 throughout the tournament and they defended 126 against Pirates.
KL XI CC had a target that their batting unit did not score throughout the tournament. They were out there to achieve their highest score of the tournament (Yes it’s been an extremely low scoring tournament, so low scoring that the score of 200 was achieved only once in three months while 150 was scaled only 5 times). Apart from Omar, none of the KL XI batsmen featured in top 10 as they entered the finals so they knew they had a mountain to climb.
The second inning began with Mohammed Rahil trapping Iliyas plumb in front off the fifth ball. The first 10 overs were not too bad for the KL XI but once the required run rate climbed , they ran out of the game quicker than they thought. From 59 for three in 10, they found themselves at 89/8 in next five overs. The taileneders were never going to chase 46 off last three overs and as Shishin found Tushar in the deep of Mohsin, the celebration began in the Artisans dressing room. History repeated itself as KL XI fell short by 36 against Artisans for the second time in the tournament.
