Germany Friends XI 72/9 in 10 Overs (Nasrullah 24, Rahul 13, Rajabharathy 4/11) lost to Royal Strikers FFM 76/3 in 5.5 Overs (Mohan 59, Harish 13, Nawai 1/13) by 7 wickets
Germany, a country that is highly obsessed with Football, Golf and Ice Hockey, got a taste of cricket in the past few days. Organized by Frankfurt Eagles Cricket Club, The Eagle cup is a prestigious tournament especially for the South Asian community living in the region of Hessen. The tennis ball tournament had 13 teams split across 4 groups fighting for the glory.
Chief Guest of Opening Ceremony of this amazing tournament was Mr. Asif Khan ( Ligaleiter for Hessischer cricket Verband, Head Coach of Hessen state cricket team & Former Captain of German National Cricket Team).
After two days of spectacular on-field adventure, the two finalists were decided. Germany Friends XI and Royal Strikers FFM made it to the finals; both were placed in Group D. Unlike other three Groups of the tournament, the D Group had four teams but the fixture was designed in a way so all the teams get to play two games each. So despite being placed in the same Group, the Strikers and Friends were facing each other for the first time.
It was an evening match and the game got off the way at 4:30 PM. Royal Strikers won the toss and invited the Friends to bat first. The opening pair of Friends were moving steadily at around run a ball. Fayaz lost patience and became the first victim of Rajabharthy. Royal Strikers bowled some extremely tight lengths and did not allow the batsmen to score freely and the pressure that was created as a result, consumed the entire batting lineup. Nasrullah (24) witnessed the horror scenes from one end as the Strikers were demolishing the Friends batting lineup at the other end.
Thanks to some late contribution from number 8 Rahul (13), Germany Friends XI managed to post a decent total of 72 onboard. Royal Strikers went out in the middle with clear intentions and it was evident with the way they went about their business. Mohan hammered Fayaz for 11 in the very first over, Nawal received the same treatment in the next. Two quick wickets followed and the Germany fans were alive once again. Unfortunately for them, the joy was shortlived. The pair of Mohan and Harish added 41 off just 19 balls and it was this partnership that buried the hope alive for the Germans. A misconception in the sixth over led to the downfall of Harish but the game was over by then. Mohan was awarded man of the match award for his magnificent inning of 59 (22 balls, 4*5, 6*6).
Best performers of this tournament were as follows:
Player of the tournament : Fayaz Khan (Germany Friends XI)
Best batsman: Vinay Narayana (Germany Friends XI)
Best bowler: Fayaz Khan
Mr. Turgut Yüksel (Member of state Legislative Assembly, Hessen) honoured the Prize Ceremony and awarded all the performers of the tournament.
