TDXI 224/7 in 30 overs (Macneil 135, Sai 41, Sharat 2/19) lost to GCF 225/5 in 30 overs (Raju 53, Akash 46, Danish 2/43) by 5 wickets
The pink ball Champions Cricket Cup concluded with a nail biting final at the Athena Sports Ground, Bengaluru. The tournament was played between 5 teams in a league cum knockout basis, with Pink balls.
TDXI and GCF , the two most consistent teams made it to the finals, they were ranked first and second in the group stage respectively. For GCF, it was an opportunity to avenge their defeat in the league stage and on the other hand, TD XI remained undefeated throughout the tournament prior to the final. They crushed GCF in the league stage by 9 wickets and the eve of the final game was full of heat.
Just like the game in the league stage, GCF had the luck with coin once again and they decided to bowl first this time around. After a couple of early wickets, TD XI made a comeback and it was Macneil who became a nightmare for them once again. Along with Sai, he added 83 off just 57 balls. Sai departed in the 16th over but Macneil continued the assault and piled on further 101 with Shashank (25). While Shashank rotated the strike, Macneil kept sending the bowlers out of park.
TD XI lost some quick wickets in the death over but Macneil caused enough damage in the middle overs to ensure a massive total on board for GCF to chase. 224 can be called a winning total in a tournament where a target of 200 or more was chases only once right? But the modern day game allows no speculations in it. The chasing team usually believes that they can chases anything even at 10 an over these days so if you thought 224 was safe, you are probably a fan of test cricket on a diabolical tracks.
GCF got their chase off to a wonderful start thanks to Akash and Priyadarsh. The opening pair gunned down 52 off the target within first 6 overs. Unlike TD XI, none of the GCF batsmen could go on to make a big one but they all made a contribution good enough to reach the target. All the top 5 batsmen scored in excess of 25 with Raju being leader with his 53.
The game got tense in the final moments. 29 runs off final 5 overs might not be as big task as you might think but a final game has it’s own demons. GCF needed 6 off last two overs but a wonderful display of bowling from Muthanna in the 19th over left 4 to chase for them in the final over. TD XI trusted Macneil to do the job but he was left with too little to defend. The game went down to the last ball. With a struggling batsman on strike, 1 off 1 meant both the teams had their hearts beating faster. Vijay somehow got the bat to ball and both the batsman ran a single, quicker than a hare, even quicker than a tiger maybe. The closing ceremony began with some wild celebrations from GCF.
