DCL Match 16: Star XI vs Hindustan Tiles

Brief Scores

Star XI:                             178 all out in 19.5 overs

                                                            Mohit Mehlawat 76 (46)

                                                            Sonu 23 (12)

                                                            Muktar 3/1 (1.5)

                                                            Sudesh 2/33 (4)

                                                                                                                                   

Hindustan Tiles:                       9 / 116 in 20 overs

                                                            Akshay Raghav 36 (20)

                                                            Devrath 4/9 (4)

                                                            Chetan 2/8 (2)

                                                                                                                                    

Man of the Match:                        Mohit Mehlawat (Star XI)

Best Performer Hindustan Tiles:        Muktar

Complete Scorecard:                    http://bit.ly/1vVtNx3  

Opener Mohit Mehlawat Seals Big Win for Star XI

Opener Mohit Mehlawat and left-arm spinner Devrath starred with bat and ball respectively as Star XI completed a big win on back of a solid team performance. On the day, they were clearly the superior side, particularly as a bowling and fielding unit. Hindustan Tiles, heavily reliant on their opener Akshay Raghav’s batting, could not make a match out of the tough yet chaseable target after their star batsman fell within the Powerplay overs.

Two Mohits Gave Star XI Speedy Start

Devrath (r) awards Mohit (l) the MoM

Mohit batted through a large chunk of the innings, turning the screws on spinners and medium-pacers alike. The highlights of his batting were his decisive footwork, the severity with which he punished bad balls and the precision with which he found gaps in the field. The game began perfectly for Star XI in the 1^st over, as both Mohits (Mehlawat and Arora) punished width offered by Akshay with cut shots to the boundary, before being gifted 5 wides. Akshay’s next over was even more expensive, as Mohit Mehlawat crashed a six and a four past the vacant long on fence, before gliding a cut behind point to complete 15 off the over.

Rinku, Akshay’s seam partner, also got an indifferent start at the other end, and Mehlawat punished poor short deliveries in the 4^th over with a couple of pulls to the square leg fence. In no time, Star XI had raced off to 44. Hindustan Tiles brought on their best bowler, left-arm spinner Sudesh, in the 5^th over, even though the tweaker prefers bowling outside the PowerPlay. He was dispatched for a couple of sixes, Arora smoking him over square leg first ball, before Mehlawat deposited a full delivery well behind the sight-screen.

Mehlawat Completes Fifty, Powers Star XI to Big Score

Rinku persisted with a short length, and Arora dispatched him for a six and a four between mid-wicket and square leg, before being dismissed, caught by Manish at long off. In spite of the wicket on the stroke of the 6^th over, Star XI had reason to be delighted with the rapid 67-run partnership. Bowling with the field spread out, Sudesh was now in his comfort zone and he immediately gave Hindustan Tiles another scalp, tempting Harshi with flight, only for the batsman to lift a drive straight into Manish’s hands at long off. He might have had Mehlawat’s wicket in the same over, had Parveen held on to a straightforward skier at deep extra cover. The dropped catch possibly cost Hindustan Tiles the match.

Muktar (r) was the Best Performer for H Tiles

Mehlawat cashed in, smoking a boundary past covers in the 8th, before stepping out to an excellent length ball by Sudesh and slamming it over mid wicket for a big six next over. Nitin too dropped an easy catch, this one at cover, with Sonu the batsman gifted the repreive this time, as the Star XI team total motored on to 95 / 2 after 10.

Off-spinners Muktar and Akshay Bring Hindustan Tiles Back Into the Game

Mohit completed his fifty in the 11th over with another six off a good length Sudesh delivery, this time straight over the bowler. He followed it up with another 6-4 double in the next, before Akshay came back on in the 13th, this time with off-spin that instantly yielded success for his side. In a tight over, marked by excellent control, he picked up the wicket of Sonu.

Akshay struck again in the 15^th, this time with the big wicket of Mohit, clean bowled right after the batter had slammed him for a straight six. However, with the score already at 146, out of which the opener had heaped 76 himself, considerable damage had already been done. Star XI might have hoped to push on from this platform, but they lost wickets consistently. Off-spinner Muktar stalled them at the death, wrapping up the tail in the 18^th and 20^th overs, and earning himself stupendous figures of 1.5 – 1 – 1 – 3.

Lone Resistance from Akshay, Hindustan Tiles Folds

179 is definitely gettable, and Akshay set a scorching pace early on, picking up a string of boundaries. The first three balls of the innings were dispatched by the opener to the fence, a slash over cover, a drive past mid off and a cut behind point. Sonu took punishment in the next over, driven down the ground and through covers for a couple of picture-perfect boundaries. In his next over, the 4^th of the innings, Akshay again split the field for three consecutive boundaries – a cut and two flicks off the pads.

Devrath (l) bowled excellent left-arm spin

The other opener Nitin did not look nearly as fluent, however, and he failed to keep the scoreboard moving or rotate strike. That put Akshay under greater pressure, and he finally buckled in the 6^th over, lifting a simple catch to mid-wicket off the seam bowling of Chetan. The same bowler ensnared the aggressive Manish LBW two overs later to close the game early for Star XI.

Left arm spinner Devrath came on in the latter half of the innings and stifled the batsmen with his teasing flight and tight control over length. He picked up a couple of wickets in his second over, 12^th of the innings, and another couple in the 16^th, finishing with figures of 4-0-9-4, and leaving Hindustan Tiles floundering at 91 / 7. Credit for one of those wickets, that of Muktar, goes to Sonu who completed an excellent catch running in from long on.

The big win left Star XI with a win from two games and a healthy net run rate. Mohit Mehlawat walked away with the Man of Match award, and Muktar was adjudged the Best Performer for Hindustan Tiles for his bowling figures of 1/3.