Team Green A 62/10 in 28.4 overs (Gaurab 8, Swaraj 6, Bhaskar 3/7) lost to Team Red 62/0 in 14.3 overs (Sambhav 39, Raja 14, Sudarshan 0/9) by 10 wickets
The 2019 season of Challenger Trophy concluded with Team Red thrashing Team Green A in a one sided game here at ACA Stadium, Barsapara, Guwahati. Serving as a much needed practice game for upcoming season of Vinoo Mankad trophy and Cooch Behar trophy, the tournament saw some of the most talented Under-19 cricketers from across the state go head to head in a One Day format.
The tournament was contested among 6 teams which were divided in two groups. Team Red and Team Green A , the two table toppers made it to the finals. Despite showing some exceptional abilities with the ball, they elected to bat first on the morning of the final. Unfortunately their inning failed to take off and their batsmen could not hang out there in the middle. With the help of some exceptional bowling from their bowlers, the Team Red pushed the opposition against the wall from ball one.
None of the batsmen from Team Green A could manage to reach the double digits as they were bowled out for a meager 61. The pair of Rituraj (7-2-13-3) and Bhaskar (4-2-7-3) absolutely destroyed the middle order but the man who began the carnage was Dasarth Kumar. With the help of some venomous movement off the deck, he got rid of Swaraj for 6. Any chances of a fight back were buried alive as he slipped one past Akash Chetri’s defense to leave the opposition choked.
Green A bowlers defended some of the lowest scores in the tournament, in fact they entered the finals by defending 166 in the semifinals. Back in the league phase, they managed to defend a score of 116 against Team Red A. Their batting struggles remained throughout the tournament but it was their bowling that defended impossible looking scores for them. To understand the impact of their bowling you just need to go through their scores in the first inning throughout the tournament and once you do, you will realize that they failed to score 200 even once. Still they entered the finals undefeated thanks to their bowling.
The fans and followers of Team Green A probably still had hopes after the disaster in the first inning but 61 is not a defendable total, even for the most experienced bowling lineups in the modern game. The opening pair of Sambhav (39) and Raja (14) cautiously sailed their team past the target. The most anticipated final concluded without much fun.
