The victorious Future Stars School of Cricket.
Mihir Ganguli took five wickets in only 2.1 overs as the Future Stars School of Cricket (FSSC) overpowered Lutherville-Timonium-Cockeysville (LTC) by 72 runs to win the Maryland state 15U cricket championship Sunday. The win avenged an earlier three-wicket loss to LTC, FSSC’s only loss of the season, on the same ground. The win also capped an impressive inaugural season in the state competition for FSSC.
Having won the toss and deciding to bat, FSSC’s innings seemed on a leisurely pace at 62-1 after 13 overs, with many early runs coming from extras. Then, Ritwik Behera, having come in at three in the tenth over, began to display the batting form that made him the first centurion in Maryland youth league play. After hitting sixes in the 14th and 17th overs, Ritwik was unleashed, smashing four maximums in the 29-run 18th over and then adding another moonshot in the 19th over, before finally falling to LTC’s Raja Herman with just seven balls left in the innings.
But the damage had been done, as FSSC was 123-4 after 19, finally setting LTC a target of 138 to win.
Mihir Ganguli collects his man-of-the-match award from Jamie Harrison.
LTC’s innings seemed in trouble from the start, as they lost wickets in the second, third and sixth overs. Kiran Herman began the fight back in the eighth over, smashing a four and a six off the first two balls. The loss of two wickets in the ninth, one in the tenth and two more in the eleventh, however, short-circuited the brief rally, and left LTC struggling to stay in the match. Mihir Ganguli took four wickets in this critical stretch, before ending the match by taking the last wicket at the start of the 13th over, wrapping up a comprehensive win and sending the FSSC team into delirium.
Mihir Ganguli was rewarded for his match-winning performance with the MVP of the match award.
Congratulations to FSSC and LTC on great seasons!