Following the breath-taking first semifinal where the fourth years outsmarted the PhDs, the second semifinal was due to commence. The Second Years were up against the Fifth Years. Being the outgoing batch, the Fifth years have their last shot at claiming silverware. The second years seemed confident of a win this time, being denied the finals last year by the PhD scholars. The tussle seemed to be interesting.
The 5th years won the toss and chose to bat. Sannihit and Dilip came out to bat. Libin opened the bowling. Libin was looking to carry forward the exploits of past matches, but this time it wasn’t to be. He struggled with length for the sake of pace. And he was punished for it. Dilip and Sannihit went on a spree, with cheeky cuts and soaring lofts. The plot remained largely unchanged with the rest of the bowling. Savio, Athul all struggled with their line and length, conceding extras and getting whipped all over. The fielding was also lacklustre for the most part. Dilip and Sannihit were dropped at different points of the game. The long off region was the weakest region, several runs being leaked there. Allen, Athul, Simha and Susmit were the exceptions in what was an uncoordinated fielding set-up. Dilip departed in the 9th over and Sannihit in the last, having done immense damage with scores of 97 and 50. The 1st innings concluded with a mammoth score of 170.
The second year side’s prospects seemed diminished, but they weren’t out of the game yet. Athul and Sai, the opening duo for HS16, knew they had only one option in hand: to go all out. And they made a valiant attempt. Unfortunately, the Fifth years were a much better side, with an organized bowling attack and a cohesive fielding unit. The openers weren’t able to make the ropes as often as their opponents could. Sai and Athul made scores of 27 and 56. With the exception of Yogesh who made 12, the remaining batsmen could only register single digit figures. Despite the poor showing, the side was able to register a decent score of 130, a decent score considering the conditions. Saba was the unlikely pick of the bowlers, scalping 5.
Complacence did the second years in. Their performance was a far cry away from their first match against the third years. They will have to work harder next year, to get rid of the inconsistency that keeps hampering them. The Fifth years put up an impressive performance and have rightfully earned their place in the finals. It will be seen, if they can cash in their last match for an ever elusive trophy, against the brilliant fourth years, four time finalists and two time winners.
Report by Rahul Jose.
Article 19 