DCL Match 13: CCPL vs Silent Assassins

Brief Scores

CCPL:                              3 / 260 in 20 overs

                                                            Raghav 132* (68)

                                                            Jogi 84 (41)

                                                            Anuj 28 (14)

                                                            Akhil 1/28 (3)

                                                                                                                                   

Silent Assassins:                      183 all out in 19.4 overs

                                                            Kanwar 80 (43)

                                                            Vaibhav 22 (15)

                                                            Karan 3/18 (4)

                                                                       

Man of the Match:                        Raghav (CCPL)

Best Performer Silent Assassins:       Kanwar

JOSH TALKS Impact Performer:        Jogi (CCPL)

Complete Scorecard:                    http://bit.ly/1A8dkag  

Raghav Cracks the First Hundred of the DCL, Leads his Side to Record Total

Raghav (r) walks out after belting 132 not out

The big hitters took a while to come to the party at the DCL. Slowly and surely, however, run scoring momentum has been picking up, and it reached a pinnacle in this contest. This match produced a whopping 443 runs, including the first hundred of the tournament. Raghav, a plucky batsman who brings down the straight face of his bat with the destructive force of a club, opened the innings for CCPL and carried his bat through for an eye-catching 132 not out. While the record chase of 261 was well beyond the reach of Silent Assassins, they did manage a respectable 183, powered by a belligerent 43-ball 80 by Kanwar.

The morning began positively for Silent Assassins, as seamer Akhil whistled the ball past opener Manish’s bat, rattling his stumps for a first ball duck. The CCPL onslaught began the very next ball, however, as Jogi punctured the off-side field with a powerful cut for four before Raghav followed it up with a carbon copy in the same over.

Jogi (r) smashed a rapid 84

Jogi and Raghav, both stocky power hitters, are dedicated practitioners of the ‘stand and deliver’ batting mindset. They swing hard, put serious weight behind their shots and rarely run singles. The most striking difference as the two bat together is their height – Jogi stands a clear foot above Raghav. On the day, they complemented each other perfectly, with damaging consequences for Silent Assassins. Between them, they smashed 14 sixes and 24 boundaries, while running only 20 singles during their ultra-destructive 179-run partnership (82 balls).

After Raghav punished two boundaries and a big midwicket six in the 2^nd over, the serious alarm bells sounded in the 5^th over for the fielding side, as Jogi clattered 3 sixes and 2 boundaries of leg-spinner Ankit’s opening (and only) over. Two of the 3 sixes were smashed over mid-wicket, and the last of these might have cleared a 100m in distance.

Kanwar (l) scored a quick-fire 80 for S Assassins

Hardly an over ticked on without serious hitting, as both batsmen comfortably collected fifties in the first ten overs. Raghav’s gaze fell on Jatin in the 13^th over in which he battered 4 sixes, including 3 into the adjoining property past the long on fence. Rohan came on and conceded 5 wides as well as two boundaries and a six off Jogi’s bat before finally beating a straight swing and trapping the batsman LBW. Raghav, however, continued unperturbed, completing his 100 in the 18^th over with 3 boundaries and a mid-wicket six off medium-pacer Kartik.

Silent Assassins came out hoping to deal the same treatment that they had received, and they got a bonus in the 4^th over as seamer Ankit sent down a couple of leg side wides that sped away to the fence before Vaibhav picked up two successive boundaries, over cover and mid off, to complete 24 off the over.

Karan (l) picked up 3/18 on a batsman's day

Seamer Karan, bowling from the other end, broke the big hitting sequence with the best spell of the match, picking up 3/18 from 4 overs on the trot, even as Silent Assassins reached 85 / 4 from their first 10 overs. The latter half of the innings was dominated by Kanwar’s explosive onslaught, as the dynamic batsman used his quick feet and fluid shot-making to pick up a counter-attacking 80. 59 of these came in an 18-ball spell, during which he smashed 7 sixes and 3 fours. Spinners Manish, Shaurya and Anuj were all victimized by the predominantly straight hitting.

Kanwar’s was a lone effort though, and without support from the other end, he never managed to threaten the CCPL total. He did end up earning himself the Best Performer award for his side, while the Man of the Match award, without a shadow of doubt, went to Raghav. Jogi won the Tosh Talks Impact Performer award, and young CCPL seamer Karan was awarded the best bowler.