Haryana Cricket Academy 141/7 in 20 overs (Jatin 55, Harshit 40, Pradeep 3/17) lost to Hari Singh Cricket Academy (Ghaziabad) 144/3 in 19.3 overs (Aryan Kapoor 42, Ankit Dabas 34, Harshit 1/27) by 7 wickets
While Jofra Archer was mauling the Aussies once again at the Ashes, Ravinder Phagna Cricket Academy was having its own battle going on. It was the final of the seventh season of Ravinder Phagna T-20 tournament where two top teams from NCR were battling out for the glory.
The three-week tournament began on August 26th with 16 participant teams. All the teams were spread across four pools where they played a game against each other. The top two from each pool made it to the quarterfinals.
By the time of finals, it was the domination of pool 3. Haryana Cricket Academy who topped the group along with Hari Singh Cricket Academy made it to the finals and as soon as you hear this, you know how the final was going to be lit because once again, two arch-rival were about to face each other.
Now those who didn’t follow the tournament, Haryana Cricket Academy defeated Hari Singh Cricket Academy around 12 days ago in the league phase of the tournament, in a high scoring thriller. Ankur Dalal and Akhil Kuhur stole the show with some magnificent batting back then.
The humid weather and blazing sun in the city of Faridabad meant nothing to these 22 men. Both the captains went out for the toss exactly at 10:30 AM and the first ball was delivered at 11:00 AM. HSCA won the toss and they invited their opposition to bat first.
Pradip Sangwan, the ex Delhi Dare Devils fast bowler along with Himanshu Rana walked out to open the inning and maybe they had no idea about the carnage that was about to begin. It was Sangwan’s namesake, Pradeep Prashar who was licking his lips when he saw the wicket early in the morning and he turned his words into performance. Prashar rattled the stumps of Sangwan and then had Rana plumb in front and both these dismissals came within three balls. ‘
Prashar didn’t just stop there and he removed Kuldeep soon after and whatever the hopes were left from the top order, vanished as soon as Sodhi removed Sumit and Akhil cheaply. By the end of powerplays, the destruction was evident. HCA were left reeling at 21 for 5 and HSCA could smell the blood from there.
Just when it looked like the final was moving ahead quicker than anyone’s imagination, Jatin (55) and Harshit (40) joined hands out in the middle and it was probably the last pair that was standing between HSCA and a chase of less than 80. The pair stitched down a partnership of 89 runs off 72 balls. The pair didn’t just sail the score past 100, they also ensured a target good enough for their bowlers to fight for.
A tournament where scores over 180 were a common sight, HSCA were chasing just 142 in the final. Varun Sood, the only bowler among top 10 from HCA was the last hope for them. Knowing the target, HSCA played risk-free cricket. The powerplays bought them 39 runs but most importantly they did not lose a single wicket. The pair of Aryan and Akshay gunned down 71 runs off the target in first 10 overs.
HSCA lost the openers in quick succession in the eleventh over but that had minimum effects on their chase. Ankit (34) and Mehul (30) added further 62 for the fourth wicket and ensured that their team walks past the target without much stress.
