DCL Match 10: Valley Boys vs Stoners

Brief Scores

Stoners:                             5 / 192 in 20 overs

                                                            Shreyans 80* (59)

                                                            Bhaskar 26 (13)  

                                                            Karan 2/19 (2)

                                                                                                                                   

Valley Boys:                           7 / 166 in 20 overs

                                                            Hashim 57 (39)

                                                            Yawar 35 (24)

                                                            Siddharth 3/21 (4)

                                                           

Man of the Match:                        Shreyans (Stoners)

Best Performer Valley Boys:            Hashim

JOSH TALKS Impact Performer:        Siddharth (Stoners)

Complete Scorecard:                http://bit.ly/1CvcDs5

Opener Shreyans Strokes a Fluid Fifty as Stoners Complete Hard-fought Win

Graceful and effortless stroke-play, gliding the ball into gaps fluently, and the ability to build acceleration and momentum with unhurried smoothness is a rare talent in batsmanship, and in spite of the reputation for savage hitting that T20 cricket carries with it, we were lucky enough to see three such batsmen prosper in quick succession at the DCL. Akshay Raghav of Hindustan Tiles, Anuj Poddar of CCPL, and in this game, Shreyans from Stoners – each of them openers – expressed their talent without inhibition, all in a single weekend.

Akshar Dominates Early Passage

Unlike the other two, Shreyans took his time to get going. His first boundary came in the 9^th over of the innings, and till that time he had faced all of 18 balls. For the early part of the innings, he spent most of the time as passive spectator at the non-striker’s end. The early exchanges were dominated by his opening partner, Akshar.

Shreyans (l) receives the Man of Match award

Stoners got a lucky start, with the first ball of the morning by seamer Hashim misdirected for 5 wides. Akshar capped the over with an exquisite late cut boundary. He tonked another two off the next two overs, before slapping three successive boundaries in the 4^th. The first of these was a dropped catch at the deep third-man fence, but the next two – a glance and a pull – were as convincing as they come. Salim eventually got his own back, cutting short Akshar’s adventurous knock of 31 in the same over, caught by Wasim at square leg.

The big wicket of Ayush followed soon after in the 6^th, as the batsman stepped out to a back of length delivery and was clean bowled. As is usual, Ayush’s early disimissal dampened spirits in the Stoners dugout, but Shreyans lifted the mood significantly on the stroke of the 10^th over, twice presenting the full flow of his blade to slice the gap between deep cover and extra cover to perfection.

Shreyans Takes Control

At the halfway mark the score read a promising 84, and from then on any early reverses the Stoners suffered were banished from sight and mind by Shreyans’ crafty willow-work. Between the 11^th and 15^th overs, he picked off-spinner Nasir for 3 boundaries, two of them wristy flicks off his pads. From the other end, Varun picked up a leg side boundary and the innings first six off Rafiq in the 12^th. When Varun was dismissed, stumped off the bowling of off-spinner Karan in the 14^th, he had contributed a handy 26 in a partnership worth 67 that had swung the game Stoners’ way. Karan, however, brought momentum back in the balance two balls later with the wicket of Kartik, caught at deep extra cover.

Medium pacer Siddharth (l) was the Josh Talks Impact Performer

At 115 / 4, it could still be anyone’s morning, but Shreyans seized it convincingly in the last quarter of the innings. He targeted Karan in the 16^th, dispatching a sweep for four before deploying two straight drives for a four and a six. 20 were collected off the over, including 4 byes. Opening seamer Salim was the next to cop punishment in the 18^th, falling victim to another two straight drives.

Wicketkeeper batsman Bhaskar, so far content with giving Shreyans the strike, joined the party himself in the 19^th, lifting a six over extra cover off Hashim, before Shreyans once again threaded the off-side for two consecutive boundaries to move on to 80. Bhaskar went all out in the last over with a leg side six and flick for four to end with 26 not out in 13 balls. The 34-ball partnership with Shreyans had yielded 74, and Stoners ended at an imposing 192 / 5.

Hashim and Yawar Keep Valley Boys in the Hunt

A hard get for Valley Boys began on a positive note as the explosive Hashim took the attack back to Stoners with a six over long off in the first over. Kartik, bowling the 2^nd over, got one back for the fielding side just two balls into his spell, snapping up Wasim Sofi for 3. Hashim, nonetheless, continued in top gear, flicking a six very next ball and picking up two boundaries in the next over – a straight drive and a pull. Tariq also helped himself to a boundary in the 4^th, before he was yorked by Kartik.

While the scoreboard tilted in favor of team Stoners briefly after the second wicket, the dynamic duo of Hashim and Yawar put life back into the game with a rapid partnership that had Stoners sweating. Yawar opened his boundary account early on with a crisp straight drive in the 5^th over, before tucking into Kartik for a pull for four and a six over long off. Kartik committed a cricketing sin in the 10^th, putting down a simple catch offered by Hashim at long off. The score by now stood at 90 / 2 and the game hung in the balance.

The desperately needed breakthrough finally arrived in the 12^th over, as leg spinner Sid completed an excellent running catch off his own bowling, even as he collided with Mustafa who had run in from cover. Yawar was dismissed for a solid knock of 35. 10 balls later, the well set Hashim was caught at third man off an excellent over of tight bowling by medium pacer Siddharth. These were big blows for Valley Boys with 79 still needed off 40 balls.

Wickets Tumble but Valley Boys Fight On

Wasin and Karan fought on for the batting side, though, putting together a brisk partnership. The 15^th bowled by Mustafa turned out to be expensive, with Karan playing a switch hit to the fence, before Wasim smacked a straight six. The two carried the momentum into the next over with a boundary each of Siddharth. Wasim was stumped off leg spinner Neil in the 17^th, as he lifted his back leg on an attempted drive and Bhaskar dislodged the bails with lightning speed. Salim wasted no time, however, lofting a six off his second ball.

With 41 needed off the last 3 overs, Stoners were not yet out of the woods. Seamer Varun Mishra finally seized the day for them, conceding only 4 runs from a tight 19^th over. Valley Boys finally closed at 166. Hashim was their Best Performer for his excellent knock of 57, while Shreyans was the obvious choice for Man of the Match. Siddharth walked away with the JOSH Talks Impact Performer of the Day award for his excellent spell of 4 – 0 – 21 – 3.