Brief
Scores
Hindustan
Tiles: 4 / 198
in 20 overs
Akshay Raghav 98 (58)
Manish
50 (25)
Umang
1/23 (3)
Software
One: 9 / 187 in
20 overs
Manoj Jacob 54 (34)
Rakesh
38 (26)
Toshik
3/34 (4)
Parveen
3/40 (4)
Man of
the Match: Akshay
Raghav (Hindustan Tiles)
Best
Performer Software One: Manoj Jacob
JOSH
TALKS Impact Performer: Manoj
Jacob
Akshay
Raghav Powers Hindustan Tiles to Narrow Win in High-scoring Match
Software One had played Hindustan Tiles in a couple of practice
matches before, and when they won the toss they would have been wary of opener
Akshay Raghav. He had got a fifty against them, but in timing, fluency, and
aggression, that innings was no match for the one he played this day. From the
time he took strike first ball of the morning till he was run out of the
penultimate ball of the innings, he dominated the park. With the support of
first Manish, then Nikhil, he set up an imposing total for his side that proved
to be beyond the reach of a spirited Software One run chase.
Akshay
Dominates with 98 from 58 Balls
 |
| Akshay (l) receives the MoM award from Jack, owner of DelhiByCycle |
Strong both sides of the wicket, Akshay’s flowing stroke-play
relies equally on timing and finding gaps in the field. From the time he
flicked left-arm seamer Ashish for a boundary in the 2nd over, he
made batting look ridiculously easy. Repeatedly, the ball met the meat of his
willow and was dispatched in vacant areas with power and razor sharp precision.
He threaded the narrow spaces between long off and extra cover, and long on and
deep midwicket a number of times, while also going aerial for 5 sixes – a new
addition to his game.
The first of the sixes was a flick launched over midwicket off
medium pacer Pradeep in the 3rd over. Left arm seamer Umang was
carted over mid off in the 6th and seamer Sangu and off-spinner
Rakesh were lofted back straight in the 16th and 17th
overs respectively. Heartbreakingly for the run-hungry opener, he was stranded
at the non-striker’s end at 98 with 2 balls to go, and when Toshik missed a
slog, he scrambled desperately but was caught short of his crease. Apart from
the 5 sixes, he scattered 9 boundaries over the course of his 58-ball knock.
Manish
Supports Opener with Aggressive Fifty
Manish also made a fiery contribution, slamming a rapid 50 off
25 balls. Helped equally by his disregard for caution and dropped catches, his
short knock consisted of 5 savage sixes. Poor fielding hurt Software One on the
day, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to suggest that it cost them the match.
Manish was dropped twice, both easy catches. The first of these was lifted into
the hands of deep midwicket in the 7th over, and the next was an
even simpler one spilled at short fine leg in the 9th.
He made the
fielding side pay in the 10th over, walloping 3 sixes in a 23-run
over by left arm spinner Sahil.
 |
| Shobhit (l), founder of Josh Talks, awards Manoj Jacob the Josh Talks Impact Performer |
Software
One Openers Manoj and Rakesh Knock HT Back with 98-run Partnership
In most circumstances 198 is a winning total, but Software One’s
feisty openers Manoj and Rakesh were not about to call it quits. They got their
side halfway there, grabbing the advantage over ten overs of belligerent hitting.
Skipper Manoj, batting in pain with an injured thumb, proved that his
considerable talent is buoyed by a big heart. He stunned Hindustan Tiles with a
stinging counter-attack that began with 3 boundaries off the first four balls,
two of them meaty straight drives.
After Manoj’s onslaught, Rakesh also tucked into Parveen’s
gentle medium pace in the 3rd over, smoking him for a straight six
and two hoicks over the leg-side in-field to gather 16 runs. Vikas, Toshik and
Akshay all took punishment in the Powerplay overs, as both batsmen targeted the
straight boundary. After 6, the score read an imposing 70 / 0, and 66 of these
had come in boundaries (12 fours and 3 sixes). Manoj reached his fifty with a
massive straight six off Akshay’s medium pace in the 8th over.
Seamers
Toshik and Lande Engineer Comeback
 |
| Toshik (l) receives the chocolate for Best Bowler |
Toshik finally brought some cheer to the battered fielding side
in the 10th over, picking up the wickets of Rakesh (38 off 26 balls)
caught at extra cover, then Sahil caught plumb in front 4 balls later. Parveen
‘Lande’ then bagged the big wicket of Manoj in the 11th over, squeezing
the ball between bat and pad. That sent the fielding side wild, and for the
bowler it was fair revenge for the early punishment. Lande completed his
energetic comeback spell with the wickets of Imran and Sangu in the 13th
over, the latter bowled off an ugly slog.
The spirited Software One kept the fight alive, however, with 15
off Toshik in the 14th over, including a bizarre full toss that
ricocheted off the bails for a boundary and was promptly called no-ball for
height. None of the batsmen following the openers really got going, though, and
in spite of a combative last wicket partnership, Software One wrapped up at 187
/ 9, 12 runs short. Toshik and Parveen, with 3 wickets each, were the catalysts
of the turnaround midway through the Software One innings, and Toshik walked
away with the Best Bowler award.
Akshay was, without any doubt, the Man of the Match, while
Manoj, with his defiant fifty, was easily the Best Performer for Software One.
He was also adjudged the Josh Talks Impact Performer of the day for his innings
under pressure.
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