Day 4 – Game 1: Faculty vs Students XI
One of the most attended games, the Faculty vs Students XI game turned out to be one of the closest games in the tournaments. The game included various faculty members and students from Year 1 till the PhDs. Opening for the Faculty were Mr. Arfat and Mr. Arvind who started their innings in a steady pace. The first wicket fell when Mr. Arvind flicked the ball into the air, just for Haridhar from HS14 to catch it. Soon, Mr. Arfat retired to give a chance to the Faculty waiting to bat. A rapid 23 off 5 from Mr. Joe Thomas propelled the Faculty XI TO 111/3 in 8 overs.
Put to bat next, the Students XI had a bad start after they lost their key players Santosh and Arvind in the first overs. Thanks to Mr. Ravi, who picked 4 off his 3 overs and giving away just 21 runs, the Student’s found no space to score freely. However, Nishant took a stand after entering one-down and whacked a 32-ball 72. Key to the game was Professor Bandari whose bowling restricted any partnership opportunity that Nishant wanted. At 103 off 7 overs, the Students required 9 off the last 6 balls. Thanks to good fielding and the 5 ducks in the game, the Students were able to score just 6 off the final over – losing the game by just 3 runs.
Final Scores:
Faculty XI: 111/3 in 8 overs (Arfat 22 (16), Joe 23* (5); Athul 1/11)
Students XI: 109/7 (Nishant 72* (32), Hari 7 (5); Ravi 4/21)
Faculty beat Students by 2 runs
Day 4 – Game 2 : Third Years vs Fourth Year
“I am usually comfortable with the usual – and sometimes boring – match reports but this time, I am going to write what I witnessed in the game between teams HS14 and HS13. We all knew it was a tough game, as always. It was after all, the best rivalry in the Prem Ranjan Cricket Tournament. The game started casually, Santhosh and Nityanshu opening for HS14. Being the nerve-racker it is, the Santhosh tried to play as safe as possible while NItyanshu was casually scoring boundaries – the partnership was set. However, HS13’s bowling was too good for HS14 skipper – he was dropped thrice and fell to Siddharth’ ball – and had to depart at 29 from 16 deliveries.
With hopes now on Nityanshu, Monish entered the game, just to get dismissed by Sannihit. Too much discussion took place amongst both the teams as Aiswarya entered the field. The words “Affirmative Action!” were shouted by someone in the audience. After a maiden from Sannihit, the Third Years pushed the target to 101 from 10 overs, thanks to Nityanshu’s 35-ball-63.
The Fourth Years opened with skipper Dilip and Remil. There were four instances which changed the flow of the game. Playing slow and steady, Dilip wanted to play as safe as possible and keep the big boundaries for later. This is when the 3rd over was bowled by Mounika, the special-order bowler, in her cameo appearance where she gave off just 4 runs and took Remil’s wicket. Enter “The Real Cricketer” (as Insti Speaker Venkat said) Sannihit. The Fourth Years picked up their pace and were in a really good position when Dilip decided to go boom-boom. Biyas “The Man” Muhammed, as angry as ever, bowled a ball so tempting that Dilip had to smash it over – on to Santhosh’s safe hands, making it 55-2 in the 7th over.
Sannihit, however, was unaffected in his play. With usual boundaries coming off his bat, he pushed the game hard enough to get to 23 required off the final over. Captain Santosh set his field up – “No Boundaries” he made sure – and bowled the first ball to Sannihit. SIX. This was the point where the HS14 cheerleading dropped to silence after a whole hour of screaming. 17 off 5 now. Who would’ve known it’d come this close? Relief came – a dot. Then came panic – a SIX. Right then, it was just two batches’ supporters sledging and screaming at each other while the players kept silent.
There is no point in saving boundaries now. Super-Sant-and-Sunny-ballistic-game-got-super-ferocious. Dot! 11 off 2 now. WIIIIIIIIIDE! 10 off 2. A six and a four? No – a dot again. The Third Years have the game now – just a legal delivery would be enough – the HS14 audience now kicking and screaming. Sannihit at 45, another dot to finished game and push the Third Years to the finals- AGAIN.
Final Scores:
Third Years: 100/3 in 10 overs (Nityanshu 63 (35), Santhosh 29 (16); Sannihit 2/19)
Fourth Years: 91/3 in 10 overs (Sannihit 45* (29), Dilip 22 (18); Biyas 1/24)
Day 4 – Game 3: First Year vs PhD Scholars
Today’s match was seemingly akin to a David vs Goliath situation. The first years, who made it through to the semifinals by sheer virtue of their grit and determination, were up against the mighty PhD scholars. The PhD scholars, were easily among the most formidable teams in the tournament, their armory consisting of a deadly pace attack with aces like Jithin, Renjith, Nishant and Shahid. The freshies, were also a well set team, with proven match winners, like Athul, Sai, Susmit, Libin and Arvind who proved their mettle in the last two matches. Would the first years be able to make it to the finals and carry on the dream, or would the PhD juggernaut continue on to the finals, and set a first ?
The PhD scholars won the toss and decided to bowl.
The first years were off with a bang, the dynamic duo of Sai and Athul making exquisite shots with ease. But, the PhD scholars brought themselves back into the game, in Jithin’s over. Athul was dismissed for 35. And from there, things did not go well for the first years, as they lost their momentum and the run rate sharply fell.The arrival of Arvind, the talismanic player whose blitzkrieg in the last game stole the show, raised hopes. But, even he couldn’t do much, getting run out, in a cruel twist of fate. Sai fell soon after in Shahid’s over, having scored just 17. From then on, the proceedings were dictated by the PhD scholars, who with their fiery and incisive bowling, reduced the pace of the run rate to a mere crawl. Only Susmit was able to muster a fightback and score 15. The first years concluded their innings with a total score of 87 in 10 overs, for the loss of 6 wickets. For the PhD scholars, Manoj, Jithin, Nishant and Shahidwere were the pick of the pack with their economical figures.
For the PhD scholars, this was never a problem. They quickly finished the chase, clearing the target with 4 overs to spare, without the loss of a single wicket. Anil top scored with 48 off 22 balls, with Ratheef playing second fiddle with a score of 29.
The first years deserved credit for the way they played. They played their hearts out, and unfortunately luck wasn’t on their side. But if anything, their impressive all-round showing throughout the tournament was any indication of their talent, much to be expected from them in future. Kudos to the PhD scholars for their brilliantly coordinated efforts that have taken them all the way to the finals.
The finals will be played on the 8th of March between the 3rd years and the PhD scholars.
Final Scores:
First years- 87/3 in 10 overs ( Athul 35(19), Sai 17(17), Manoj 2/13)
Ph.D Scholars- 88/0 in 6.1 overs ( Anil 48*(22), Ratheef 29*(15) )
Article 19 