Classic Cricketers CC 55/9 in 8 overs (Range 24, Shreyas 11, Vivek 3/14) defeated Kasthuri A 45/9 in 8 overs (Nitin 12, Mani 8, Pratap 5/14) by 10 runs
Iconic Kasthuri Trophy 2019 concluded with some individual magic from Pratap and Chandru. The tournament got off the way in on the first of August and it was Kasthuri A who set the stage on fire with a spectacular victory against Binny Cricketers. After 52 days full of excitement and drama, we finally had Kasthri A once again, to finish it off.
Kasthuri had three of their teams in the tournament. The 10 teams of the tournament were split across 2 groups where the teams went head to head in a single round-robin format. The group stage games were highly dominated by the Kasthuri teams. While Kasthuri A topped group A, Kasthuri B and Kasthuri C occupied the top two spots in Group B. So without a doubt, a Kasthuri team had already locked a place in the finals even before the semifinals were done and dusted. Kasthuri A destroyed the Kasthuri C in the first semifinal while Classic Cricketers, the only non-Kasthuri team won the other semifinal. After two dull games at the semifinals, the final was expected to be lit because of the presence of arch-rivals. Back in August, Kasthuri A destroyed the Classic Cricketers in their opening game and hence the CC had an opportunity to avenge the defeat.
The game kicked off with the toss where the luck favored Kasthuri A who elected to field first. Mani drew the first blood in the form of Bore Gowda, off the first ball of the inning. Shivraj had his stumps rattled in the very next over and CC were in some trouble early. A 16 runs Partnership might not sound too big to a random cricket fan but that worked as oxygen for CC and the partnership came via Sachin and the other Gowda, Range. Although Sachin contributed just a single to the partnership, his running between the wickets became an added advantage for the team.
While Range Gowda enjoyed the batting on one end, other batsmen looked in some kind of hurry to make their way to the pavilion. It was Gowda’s 24 in the middle and some late blows from Shreyas ensured a decent total of 55 in the end. The pair of Vivek (3 for 14) and Madhu (2 for 4) did not allow the CC middle order to come out of the pressure and play their natural game.
All the scores of Kasthuri A throughout the tournament were above 70. Their lowest score of 33 came against Kasthuri B came in the first semifinal in a chase of 29. Not many believed that the CC could stop them from chasing the target until they did that. Kapil and Pramith were going at a steady pace for the first 9 balls but a tennis ball game is meant for some adventure, right? Kapil lost his cool and went for a mighty hit and lost his wicket as a result. It was just the beginning. The biggest partnership of Kasthuri A’s inning came via Nitin (12) and Thripu. The pair was going pretty identical to how Sachin and Gowda went but unfortunately Kasthuri A had no one to finish the inning for them. Pratap rattled their middle order with a magnificent spell of bowling where he collected 5 wickets for the expense of just 14 runs. Despite all the efforts, Kasthuri A were limited to 45 in their quota of 8 overs. Classic Cricketers finely avenged their defeat and it was evident by the way they celebrated the victory with the trophy.
