The inaugural match of the Prem Ranjan Memorial Tournament saw HS13 beat two-time champion HS14 comfortably, in what was a lop-sided contest.
The star-studded batting line-up of HS14 failed to live up to high expectations. HS13, through their disciplined and tight bowling, never let the batsmen get away. HS14 faced a huge jolt in the first ball of the game, as Dilip took the wicket of Nityanshu. Santhosh came in next. He hit a few boundaries, but could not make that much of an impact inspite of being dropped thrice. At the end of the sixth over, HS14 was struggling at 37/3. But a good knock by Biyas and a couple of sixes by Hari ensured that they finished at 83/6.
Dilip delivered a great performance with the ball. His accurate pace bowling gave the batsmen very little room to attack. Sannihit proved an able foil to Dilip. Though he did not pick up any wickets, his leg-spinners, complete with unexpected variations (the odd fast ball), built up pressure, which was exploited by the other bowlers. Saba was a revelation. Her three wickets and tight bowling put paid to any hopes of a late batting flourish.
Since the target wasn’t too steep, HS13 opted for caution over style. Dilip and Sannihit were patient, constantly rotating the strike and going for that occasional boundary. Though the pacers, especially Nityanshu and Santhosh, put up a spirited performance, they couldn’t stop the scoreboard from ticking constantly. A few misfields didn’t help either. When Sannihit got over in the seventh over, Rimil came in and soothed frayed nerves with a couple of boundaries. Dilip was as splendid with the bat as he was with the ball, and HS13 won the game with two-and-a-half overs to spare, courtesy his stellar knock of 48.
Dilip was adjudged the man of the match for his batting and bowling efforts. This win almost guarantees the entry of HS13 into the semifinals, while HS14 have to win their next game against HS17 to stay alive in the tournament.
Report by Avinash R.
Article 19 