Dilip and Sannihit were playing their final game in the Prem Ranjan Cricket Tournament, facing their familiar foes – HS14. HS14 has a 4-1 record in head to head matches with HS13, but coming into the finals HS13 were the favourites due to the blistering form of the Dilip, Sannihit and Saba, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. HS13 won the toss and chose to field first.
Batting first HS14 got off to a slow but steady start, scoring 40 runs off the first 5 overs. In the sixth over Sunny held onto a sharp catch on his own bowling to send Monish back in form. His partner Nithyanshu was back in the hut in the very next over. Tight bowling from the HS13 meant the innings never took off. And then came the tenth over bowled by Dilip, Santhosh hit three sixes and two boundaries in that over. Things were starting to look better for HS14 with five more overs to come and having two settled batsmen, a respectable total was likely. However, Saba had other plans and took the wicket of Biyas in the eleventh over. From there on the batting never looked threatening and they were only able to add 30 runs from the last five overs.
Dilip and Sannihit were given a Guard of Honor by HS14 as they came into bat. Chasing 113 in fifteen overs, HS13 had a cautious start adding 24 runs with both their openers intact from the first four overs. The fifth over bowled by Nityanshu was a defining moment. Few full tosses and wayward bowling saw 18 runs being given away. The momentum shifted in favour of the HS13. Santhosh was able to get the priced wicket of Sannihit in the sixth over. The lack of a strong batting department in HS13 meant HS14 were in with a slight chance. Yet, Rimil’s sensible batsmanship avoided the familiar batting collapse HS13 had in previous meetings with HS14. Injury to Biyas in his fourth over was the final nail in the coffin.
HS13 bid farewell to the tournament with their first ever Prem Ranjan trophy!
Report by Aswin Prabhakar
Article 19 