DCL Plate Quarter-final 1: Chadha and Chadha vs Silent Assassins

Brief Scores

Chadha and Chadha:                 6 / 241 in 20 overs

                                                            Deepak 84 (28)

                                                            Vijay Pal 49 (25)

                                                            Pradeep Negi 38 (33)

                                                            Manish 33 (23)

                                                                                                                                               

Silent Assassins:                        8 / 125 in 20 overs

                                                            Kanwar 50 (40)

                                                            Chetan 4/26 (4)

                                                                                                                                   

Man of the Match:                        Deepak (Chadha and Chadha)

Best Performer Silent Assassins:       Kanwar

Complete Scorecard:                    http://bit.ly/1CQVh8n

Deepak Slams Rapid 84, Powers Chadha and Chadha Into Plate Semi-finals

The biggest draw of T20 cricket is its unpredictability. A single spell of few overs or a few balls of big hitting can turn the game around in a flash. That is what Deepak did for Chadha and Chadha in a 45-minute barrage of sixes.

The early partnership between Manish and Negi set up the innings

Silent Assassins won the toss and elected to bowl on the morning track, and the game began with a lot of promise for them as medium pacer Akhil removed Pradeep, clean bowled off the second ball of the innings. Seamer Shri struck another blow in the 2^nd over, the other opener Chetan caught at extra cover. 8 / 2 was an uncomfortable position for Chadha and Chadha, and Manish and Pradeep Negi began their innings with consolidation as their priority.

The two decided to cut risks, wait for loose balls and look for gaps. It turned out to be a productive tactic as Silent Assassins failed to put together enough good balls to build pressure. Pradeep Negi began the boundary count with a slash over slips for four in the 3^rd over, before Manish doubled the tally with a glance in the next off Shri.

Deepak goes for maximum impact

The story of the first few overs was 4-5 good balls by Silent Assassins and one that was either too full, too wide or on the pads. Jatin was crunched for a straight six by Manish in the 5^th, and off-spinner Prateek was picked easily in the next, his slow and predictable flight inadequate for the PowerPlay overs. Negi scooped him over mid off, pulled him square and cleared the in-field over cover twice to collect 16 off the over.

The pattern continued till Manish was run out for 33 off an excellent throw from deep square leg off the last ball of an excellent 8^th over by Jatin. At 72 / 3, the game was still within Silent Assassins’ reach. The fielding side came roaring back into contention when Negi (38) was dismissed by seamer Saurav off the first ball of the 11^th, caught by Kanwar at extra cover. Six balls later Kanwar added to his tally of excellent catches this tournament, as he had Goldy dismissed, running back from his position at extra cover off Abhishek’s first ball of the day.

Vijay Pal played a solid supporting role

With Chadha and Chadha 91 / 5, Silent Assassins felt like they were in command. This was when Deepak walked out, and within minutes his rapid partnership with Vijay Pal destroyed the fielding side’s advantage. Vijay Pal got the partnership going from its first ball, launching Abhishek for a big six over long off followed by a four past mid-wicket. A no ball full toss above the waist was pulled into the bushes past the square leg fence, and the over that had begun like a dream for Abhishek, ended up leaking 19 runs. Deepak slammed his first six in the next over, a poor short ball by Rohan pulled over square leg.

A simple catch off Vijay Pal was put down at square leg in the 14^th and it proved to be costly as the partnership ultimately yielded 105 off 39 balls till Vijay Pal was dismissed LBW by Jatin for 49 (25 balls) in the 18^th over.

After starting with 11 wides, Chetan snapped up 4 wickets

Deepak had already blasted big sixes between square leg and long on off Prateek, Akhil and Saurav, but he wasn’t done. He carted Shri for two big leg side sixes off the last two balls of his spell in the 19^th, before Hitender exploded in the last over – which turned out to be the biggest one of the Chadha and Chadha innings.

Hitender slammed 3 leg side sixes off Saurav, and those hits were interspersed by yet another Deepak six, this one off a no-ball. The over yielded 29 and propelled the score to a mammoth 241 / 6. 161 runs had come off the last ten overs, a season record.

Kanwar played another solid innings for his side

Silent Assassins had put up a spirited fight for most of their bowling innings but the big hitting at the end had deflated them and they never managed to mount a serious challenge during their own batting innings. Kanwar, however, got yet another fifty to back his excellent fielding effort. Other than Kanwar’s knock, Chetan’s slow and canny spin bowling was the highlight of the innings. After throwing down an astounding 11 wides in his first two overs, he adjusted his radar for terrific success in his 3^rd over. Tempting batsmen with his teasing flight, he picked up Jatin, Vaibhav Suri and Rohan within six balls, delivering a maiden 3-wicket over and ending up on top of the tournament’s wickets tally.

Kanwar was once again the Best Performer for Silent Assassins as Deepak walked away with the Man of the Match award.