KIOC U-12 142/3 in 20 overs (Shiv R 79, Rehan 24, Ishaan 1/24) defeated Gopalan National School U-12 109/10 in 18.5 overs (Arvind 23, Amegh 22, Sourish B 2/21)
The Karnataka Institute of Cricket U-12 thrashed Gopalan National School U-12 by 33 runs in the final of Zen Cup, 2019 at the Zen Cricket Academy ground. The tournament was contested between 10 teams from across the city of Bangalore. The teams were split across two groups and around 250 talented under 12 cricketers of the city exhibited their talent throughout the month of August.
KIOC , a name which is not unknown to those who follow cricket along with Gopalan National School made it to the finals. Both the teams finished on top of their respective groups. Although GNS entered the final undefeated, by no means were they favorites and the final was one of the most anticipated contest of the month.
Among three completed games of theirs in the league stage, GNS won two of them chasing and no doubt, they elected to field first as the coin landed in their favor on the morning of the final. Ishaan removed Talha in the very first over for five but the pleasure was short-lived for GNS. Shiv tore apart their attack and with the help of two wonderful partnerships with Rehan (24) and Daniel (15), he took KIOC to 142 in their quota of 20 overs.
Shiv who finished with 79 off 67 balls scored runs all around the park but it was the mid on reason where he liked it most. 25% of his runs, 2 out of his 15 fours came in that region only. Charvik became his special target and he smashed him for 18 off just 9 balls. His marathon effort came to an end on the last ball of KIOC’s inning when he got run out after attempting an impossible second run. Team man, eh.
GNS got off to a decent start. Although they lost Reyansh off the very first ball of second inning, Arvind made up for it with some quick runs. Unfortunately the middle order could not provide enough steam and their inning collapsed midway. They were in the game till 13th over but as Saivaran got out; their inning plunged like a plane with no wings. Amegh (22) tried to stabilize their inning but consumed a lot of deliveries in the process. 10 out of 11 KIOC bowlers had a chance to ball as the GNS were rolled out for 109, 33 short of their target in the 19th over.
