Brief
Scores
Vedic
Naturals: 7 / 274 in
20 overs
Devraj 160 (57)
Kapil 48
(14)
Toshik
3/44 (4)
Delhi
Donuts: 164 all out in 17.4 overs
Waseem 52 (21)
Toshik
27 (17)
Charan
3/14 (2.4)
Arun
2/7 (3)
Man of
the Match: Devraj (Vedic
Naturals)
Best
Performer Delhi Donuts: Waseem
Vedic
Naturals 274, Devu the Demolition Man 160
 |
| Devraj plays a glance |
Devraj walked in to bat with both openers dismissed by Toshik in
the 3rd over. A batsman who typically likes to play himself in and
bat for long periods, the expectation was that ‘Devu’ would see off the new
ball and build a solid innings: business as usual. When he slammed two sixes in
the 5th – first a pull then a full-bodied swing over long off – that
was cause to worry for the fielding side. Everything about those two shots was
perfect – feet moved with lightning speed, bat came down at just the right
moment, and ball met the sweet spot. And biggest of all, today the mind seemed
to be free. No pressure. It was a day to watch the ball, hit the ball. Simple.
Perhaps it was the form of his life.
The
Devraj Special
 |
| Fastest 100 of the season! |
The next 80 minutes produced a spectacle of batting demolition. Not
demolition by raw power, but talent and timing expressed freely and fully. The
Dutch invented total football in the 70s, this was total batting. Alternating
with remarkable ease, Devraj caressed the ball in gaps, lashed hard or swung
over the top. The ball was dispatched to every part of the field, and landed
more than once in every neighborhood property. Over the course of his mammoth
160 in 57 balls, he broke every batting record of the season. The highest
score; maximum sixes (13); maximum total boundaries (29); and fastest hundred
(41 balls). The last 60 came in 15 balls.
 |
| Kapil (left) scored 48 from 14 balls |
Equally impressive were the 8th over, in which he
dismissed left arm seamer Gurdeep for 5 consecutive boundaries with immense
ease, and the 16th, in which he hit seamer Kanav for 5 sixes and a
boundary (most runs in an over). Delhi Donuts is not a poor bowling side, mind
you. The 274 they conceded is not a fair reflection of their abilities. They
were merely at the receiving end of an exceptional batsman playing the innings of
his life.
Kapil
Just Misses Out on Fastest Fifty
When Devraj was dismissed, caught and bowled by Nayeem on the
last ball of the 17th over, the score read 222. By now the
opposition was so deflated, they had little fight left. Kapil, a destructive
batsman and the man of the match from the previous game, could not have walked
in on an easier opportunity. And he cashed in, slamming 5 sixes in his first 11
balls. He raced to 48 in 13 balls, before being dismissed by Toshik off the
penultimate delivery of the innings, and missing out on the fastest fifty of
the season.
Waseem
Launches Fight-back
 |
| Waseem edges over the keeper for four |
Delhi Donuts, to their credit, came out fighting. Although they
lost Sofi, Karan and Kapil inside 4 overs, Waseem launched a terrific
counter-punch of his own. He used the pace and aggression produced by first Kuldeep
and then Kapil in the Powerplay overs, knocking off a string of boundaries
mostly flayed over the wicket-keeper. In 6, the Donuts had raced away to 62. Shwet
came in to bowl the 7th, and was immediately carted over mid-on for
a boundary and then a six. With the maximal hit, Waseem completed a blazing half
century in 20 balls, but then he top-edged the very next ball and Shwet ran
back to complete a fine catch off his own bowling. Delhi Donuts, however, had
the launch they needed to make a big total of their own. Midha (26) and then
Toshik (27) both played quick cameos, keeping the scoring rate at 10 an over.
However, just when either of them started to look threatening, they were
dismissed.
Tight
Bowling and a Great Catch
 |
| The two best performers: Devraj (left) and Waseem (right) |
The innings finally wrapped up for 164 in the 18th over.
Delhi Donuts had come in to the match a man short, and it was hard to blame the
batsmen for playing chancy shots. Medium pacer Arun stood out among the Vedic
bowlers for bowling a dead accurate line early on and varying his length and
pace cleverly. He conceded only 7 from his 3 Powerplay overs, and picked up the
wickets of Sofi and Karan. Credit must also go to captain – wicket-keeper Cristy
for the Sofi dismissal, as he completed an excellent one-handed catch off an
edge, diving to his right. Charan cleaned up the tale with an impressive spell
of 2.4 – 0 – 14 – 3 at the death.
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