Independent Cricket Club 180/7 in 20 overs (Siby Chacko 71, Shad Hamza 27, Mazhar 3/40, Sudeep 2/15) defeated Marsons United 141/8 in 20 overs (Shaoukath Ali 45, Rizwan Hafiz 42, Shad Hamza 3/22) by 39 runs
Result of the second semifinal at the Volcano T-20 Cup was pretty much how it was expected. Independent Cricket Club easily trounced Marsons United and the final battle is set to be played between the two giants of the league stage. Independent Cricket Club won the toss, piled on 180 and then defended it like a champion team does. MU were never in the game, especially in the second inning.
The spirits of Marsons United were crushed in the first 9 overs of the inning when a ruthless Siby took them apart with an inning of 71 off just 43 balls. His 6 fours and 5 sixes, all came in the area between deep mid-wicket and long on, yet the United bowlers failed to figure out a way to stop him. By the time Sudeep managed to rattle his stumps, the scorecard had 91 runs on it, at over 10 runs per over.
The kind of a base ICC got, a score above 200 looked certain but a couple of quick wickets dented their inning for a moment in the middle overs. A couple of batsmen got decent start in the middle order but they failed to convert them into a big knock. Shad (27) and Linkan (19) led their team past 150 with ease but they failed to build upon that start. ICC finished with 180 in their quota of 20 overs. Mazher managed to sneak out three wickets but his wickets came at a cost. He leaked 40 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Sudeep bagged 2 wickets as well and he was the most economical bowler of the inning. He went for 15 in his quota of four overs.
MU’s chase derailed early in their inning. They never looked comfortable throughout the chase. Both the openers Khurram (6) and Mazhar (5) departed early while the number three Adnan went back without troubling the scorers. The disaster continued when Mansoor had Rohith short of his crease for 1.
Among the top order batsmen, Rizwan Hafiz tried to fight it out with his gutsy 42 (32 balls, 4*4, 6*2). He found some support from a steady Shoukath Ali (45) but unfortunately they failed to keep the required run rate in check. Once Rizwan departed, the game was all too easy for the ICC. Asif entertained everyone with some late blows on his way to 25 off 15 (2 fours and 2 sixes). ICC bowlers were pretty disciplined and apart from Midhun, none of them went for over 7.50. Shad Hamza finished with the figures of 3/22 while Aadhil, THAYUS and Hasif shared a wicket each.
Siby was awarded man of the match for his wonderful performance with the bat. The final of the tournament will be played between Independent Cricket Club and White Hunterz at the Volcano Cricket Ground on 19th of November.
