Dr. GB Stadium, KG Gardens - June 4, 2005
This match had all the ingredients of a bollywood masala climax, an India-Pakistan clash at Eden Gardens -- Yes, it was the clash of the titans when FRM B took on the mighty ICT to settle some scores....
FRM B won the toss and surprisingly elected to field taking into consideration the early morning dew on the pitch. It looked like FRM B had a strategy in mind by deciding to hit the field first. Though the opening pair of ICT went down without much flair, what followed was a brilliant piece of batting especially by Kumaresh and Suresh (both district level players). Runs were coming pretty easy for ICT and FRM B was sweating in the early morning chillness. At the end of the first session of 10 overs, ICT was sitting pretty at 67 runs and was headed for a total in excess of 150. However, some rearguard action by FRM B bowlers restricted ICT to a score of 137 runs in their quota of 20 overs, highest in this tournament so far, obviously a stiff target for the perceivably meek FRM B bastmen.
FRM B started their innings cautiously thanks to a brilliant opening partnership between Raja and Dominic. Dominic was exceptional in that he took most of his runs in singles and stood like a wall from the mighty onslaught of ICT bowling. Raja fell trying to press the pedal on the accelerator and there arrived in Pradeep an unsung and little heard of hero who blasted all over the ground and showed tremendous determination and commitment and made everyone in the gallery sit up and take notice of the match. Being a lefty was to his advantage as ICT bowlers erred in line and length and he really set the pace where FRM B saw glimpses of a glorious victory.
As it happens with all high scoring matches, pressure started to mount on the batsmen with every dot ball and run rate started to climb to ungettable levels. Pradeep, Dominic & Ragav perished trying to up the run rate. Devesh, nick named 'Punjab ka puthar' walked in at this time, this guy had shades of Virender Sehwag and hit some brilliant boundaries and sixes and ICT was surprised by this last minute assault on their frontline bowlers. He managed to push up FRM B's run rate and power packed his innings with a couple of mighty 6's. This effort was in vain as FRM B could muster only 125 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.
At the end, ICT won this hard fought match by a margin of 12 runs, which was the second most exciting match of KG Series of tournaments, the first being 2003 Finals. Interestingly, FRM B is still with a chance to go into the second round by way of their good run rate.
This match had all the ingredients of a bollywood masala climax, an India-Pakistan clash at Eden Gardens -- Yes, it was the clash of the titans when FRM B took on the mighty ICT to settle some scores....
FRM B won the toss and surprisingly elected to field taking into consideration the early morning dew on the pitch. It looked like FRM B had a strategy in mind by deciding to hit the field first. Though the opening pair of ICT went down without much flair, what followed was a brilliant piece of batting especially by Kumaresh and Suresh (both district level players). Runs were coming pretty easy for ICT and FRM B was sweating in the early morning chillness. At the end of the first session of 10 overs, ICT was sitting pretty at 67 runs and was headed for a total in excess of 150. However, some rearguard action by FRM B bowlers restricted ICT to a score of 137 runs in their quota of 20 overs, highest in this tournament so far, obviously a stiff target for the perceivably meek FRM B bastmen.
FRM B started their innings cautiously thanks to a brilliant opening partnership between Raja and Dominic. Dominic was exceptional in that he took most of his runs in singles and stood like a wall from the mighty onslaught of ICT bowling. Raja fell trying to press the pedal on the accelerator and there arrived in Pradeep an unsung and little heard of hero who blasted all over the ground and showed tremendous determination and commitment and made everyone in the gallery sit up and take notice of the match. Being a lefty was to his advantage as ICT bowlers erred in line and length and he really set the pace where FRM B saw glimpses of a glorious victory.
As it happens with all high scoring matches, pressure started to mount on the batsmen with every dot ball and run rate started to climb to ungettable levels. Pradeep, Dominic & Ragav perished trying to up the run rate. Devesh, nick named 'Punjab ka puthar' walked in at this time, this guy had shades of Virender Sehwag and hit some brilliant boundaries and sixes and ICT was surprised by this last minute assault on their frontline bowlers. He managed to push up FRM B's run rate and power packed his innings with a couple of mighty 6's. This effort was in vain as FRM B could muster only 125 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.
At the end, ICT won this hard fought match by a margin of 12 runs, which was the second most exciting match of KG Series of tournaments, the first being 2003 Finals. Interestingly, FRM B is still with a chance to go into the second round by way of their good run rate.
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