Raja’s brialliance tamed the RedBulls

In the clash of the titans - positive attitude, hunger combined with brilliance of Raja gave Assassins their claim to ISA CUP ’08.While dropped catches and miscalculations costed RedBulls the cup. It is very rare to see one player to have such a dominating effect on the match and the much deserved kudos go to Raja. He put brakes on RedBulls scoring with wonderful bowling and lifted Assassins to victory with calculated batting filled with strokes of luck.

RedBulls innings never got the momentum going, and in the end was short by atleast 5 to 10 runs. Praveen and Shakti started the innings with wonderful excellent running between the wickets. However, shakti’s stay at crease was cut short by good catch at covers. Praveen scored two consecutive boundaries but was run out in the same over. With Shiva, Sushanth and Piyush scoring no runs it put further dent in the RedBulls scoring rate. The icing on the cake was Vinay’s continued dominance with bat. He dismissed bowlers with ease and scored boundaries all around the wicket. Rana played perfect foil to Vinay and the duo propelled Redbulls to competitive score. However, intelligent bowling and athletic fielding from Assassins kept the RedBulls under control. A late onslaught from Vivek gave further twist to the already gripping match. At the end of first innings RedBulls were in driver’s seat with a formidable total of 74 from 10 runs.

Nayan started the innings with a boundary, but was fell to precision and control of Rana. Raja was welcomed to the crease with a dropped catch of the very first ball, which in the end proved to be the deciding point of the game. Assassins, particularly Vinayak, showed positive chasing approach and belted Sushanth and Vinay for 26 runs in 2 overs. Vivek and Piyush did well to control the scoring rate. Vivek was particularly impressive with his miserly spell. Vinayak chose his shots well, but fell to good bowling from Piyush. Benny and Raja continued taking singles and pushing the score board. Assassins were in Cruise mode through midway of their innings, scoring boundaries and singles with ease. At the critical phase of the game the equation was 20 required of 18 balls. Vivek bowled a maiden 8th over and gave RedBulls the slight advantage. Rana’s bowling was turning point of the game, during which Redbulls failed to latch onto catches from Phani and Raja. He induced four catches from the first four balls in the penultimate over, but missed chances meant runs instead of dot balls and wickets. With 9 required from 6 balls, RedBulls again missed an opportunity of a runout in the very first ball of Vinay’s over. Raja outplayed Vinay with clean hitting and scoring boundaries of successive balls. The final score card read “Assassins won with 7 wickets in hand with two balls to spare”.

In the battle of nerves, RedBulls once again failed to latch onto chances, while Assassins showed lot of character in overcoming a formidable total. In the end it was Raja, riding his luck for first few moments of his stay once, who guided Assassins to the trophy.

Congratulations Assassins……..winners of ISA CUP ‘08

Red Bulls outsmarted by Assassins………ISA Cup ‘08 unveils itself

The ISA CUP is one of the prestigious accolade one can expect to receive for cricket from K-State. This year there are four teams, each team unique in its approach and perspective. One of the teams had passion and competetiveness, while the other had talent and raw power. Of the two underdogs one team has a distinct international flavor, while the fourth team has courage and spirit to upset the big guns. Of the league games our game (Team Red Bulls) Vs. Assassins was billed as crowd pulling/entertaining game. And this certainly lived upto the expectations…….as the final scorecard read “Assassins won by two runs”. It was neither a high scoring drama nor bowlers death trap, but a delicate balance of both.

Assassins won the toss and elected to bat. Their objective was to set a decent target and depend on their quality bowling attack to win the game. Nayan (opener) started the game with a superb cut for four and set scorecard in motion. However Rana’s accurate bowling and Praveen’s athletic fielding fetched two successive wickets and scoring almost came to a halt. In midst of all the calm overs, the two quick wickets and being caught in the excitement, RedBulls conceded an extra over of powerplay allowing Raja to score 12 runs in the final over of field restrictions. At the half time (9 overs) the game was evenly poised with scorecard reading 52-2. Raja fell to a reverse sweep, courtesy of a well choreographed and athletic catch from Sushanth. Vinayak followed the suit with a caught behind. This brought Samuel and Pritish to the crease. Sushanth and KLN continued their good form with the ball and kept batsman at bay. After14th over that the batsman started freeing their arms, and in the process scored about 30-35 runs the next three overs. RedBulls did well to restrict Assassins to final score of 122-5. Although the fielding of RedBulls was a lot better than their previous outing, the Assassins found a way to make runs.

Redbulls fresh from their belting the minnows for 203 runs started the run chase in a calculated fashion. Praveen on top of his game and Vivek promoted to opening slot, made runs with ease. Vivek fell to a simple catch at point and prompted Vinay to the crease. Vinay with his clean hitting and excellent running between executed a prefect run chase. Praveen fell to an excellent catch at point by Sandeep. Shiva took time to settle down before taking cheeky singles. Vinay was still in ‘cruise’ mode scoring boundaries with ease. Shiva joined the run fest scoring 12 off Phani’s gently pace. The score at the half time was 72-2. With plenty of batting to come and Vinay well set, RedBulls were well on their way to win the game. However, Pritish returning from leg injury and Raja with his precise bowling had other plans. The duo gave only 12 runs in the next four overs and got four wickets, including the price scalp of hard hitting Vinay and Rana. On the other end, Shiva upped the tempo and started scoring freely with drives and reverse sweeps, bringing RedBulls ever so close to victory. Raja outsmarted Shiva and bowled him. Assassins were in with a ‘chance’. Sushanth, known for his ability to finish the game, fell for a mistimed shot and left the game wide open. JD responded well in the pressure situation scoring run a ball. With 8 needed from 6 balls, it was as gripping as it could get. Three runs were scored off five deliveries, needing a boundary off the last ball for a possible draw. Shakti gave his best to score boundary of the full toss ball, but brilliant fielding effort stopped his attempt.

In the end, to like of cricket aficionados and much to Redbulls dismay, the match lived up to the expectations. With three matches to go in the league stage, the finals are still an open spot. If Redbulls can buckle down and get back to business they can look forward for a sweet revenge. While Assassins need to comeup with few more tricks to claim the ISA CUP ’08.

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