The CouchExpert Staff
1st May, 2013
Match: CECC vs Wipro Sharks
Venue: CECG, Bangalore
Toss: Wipro Sharks won the toss and elected to bat.
Team Photo (match day):
Standing (L to R): Chanakya, Gautam R, Gokul LN, Shoukath, Yugank, Sushanth, Sameer
Squatting (L to R): Muthu (C), Goutham, Gaurav, Dinesh
Sharks elected to bat and the openers Praveen and Aseem got off to a brist start as Gaurav struggled with his length unusually. Shoukath replaced Gaurav, but the runs kept coming with CECC being sluggish with lines drifting on to the legs of the batsmen quite often.
Sharks’ batting continued to prosper even after losing Praveen as captain Sandeep came in and looked to be aggressive. CECC’s bowling struggled as Gautam and Gokul also were unable to keep a lid on scoring. The tide turned with the introduction of debutant Chanakya who started with off-spin and then bowled 3 nagging overs of stump-to-stump medium pace. The control offered by Chanakya worked in favour of Dinesh with s he produced a memorable spell of quick bowling from the other end. Dinesh repeatedly beat the batsmen with his pace and had them bowled.
Sharks however had a good last 3 overs to recover from the middle-order slump to post a formidable total of 154/7 in their 20 overs.
The chase began poorly for CECC as they lost Goutham and Shoukath in the first over as Vinay had them both castled. CECC’s troubles of losing wickets was compounded by not being able to score runs at the required rate. Yugank and Muthu soon perished as opener Gaurav continued to graft will not much success.
The introduction of deubutant Gokul LN speeded up the innings for CECC as he provided the much needed momentum with powerful lofted drives to the leg. His quick partnership with Gautam gave CECC the impetus on which they would later mount a tremendous assault before he fell playing across the line for a quick 18.
With Sushanth also perishing after Gokul, another debutant Sameer joined Gaurav with close to 9 runs-per-over needed in the last 7 overs. The pair kept at the scoring rate as the Sharks’ bowling wilted under the onslaught. Gautam with his inside-out chips and Sameer with his powerful strokes rapidly chipped away at the target and in the course of 20 minutes and 4 overs changed the tide completely.
Even as darkness invaded the ground late in the evening, CECC brought-up its win in the 20th over.
Brief Scores:
Wirp0 Sharks 154/7 20 overs (Praveen 32, Aseem 34, Dinesh 4/32, Chanakya 2/27, Goutham 1/19) lost to CECC 155/7 in 19.3 overs (Gautam 47 not out, Sameer 22 not out, Gokul LN 18) by 3 wickets
Post Match Discussion:
Performer of the Match (POTM): Gautam Rajagopalan
Match Result: CECC beat Wipro Sharks by 3 wickets
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