Naveen Punyala And Viraj Patel Picks Up Fifers

By Sudharsan Ramarao
United Warriors And Good Vybz Play Out A Thrilling Tie
Put in to bat after losing the toss, the start studded Good Vybz were in for a rude shock as they folded for a mere 106 in 25 overs. Openers Mahesh Raghunathan, who has had a quiet season so far, compared to his high standards, and Steven Mangal, the skipper who hit a scintillating half century in an earlier game, tried to dig in and play the long game.

However, they both got out in the first 10 overs after doing the hard work and negotiating the new ball. John Florent, their senior statemen, Anil Shaman, their star all-rounder, Kelvin Sawh, their man for crunch moments, all failed to get on to a big score and lost their wickets quickly. As a result, Good Vybz got all out for just 106 in 25 overs. For United Warriors, their skipper led from the front in pricing out the star-studded Good Vybz batting line up and picking up a well-deserved 5-wicket haul. Bhargav Bellam did the supporting act by picking up three wickets.

Chasing 107 to win, the United Warriors start-off slow and cautiously. Their batting mainstay, Harsh Jogi who has been in fine form this season played the anchor and took the game deep. Nevertheless, the Good Vybz did not let this game slip away by putting pressure on the Warriors with tight bowling from both ends. As a result, the Warriors lost wickets at regular intervals.

At one stage, they were reeling at 47 for five wickets in 16 overs. But crucial contributions from their Riyaz Sheikh and Naveen Punyala together with the 20 extras helped the warriors get close to the target. With eight runs needed in the last over with only one wicket in hand, the game was up for grabs for both teams. Emanuel Seecharran, the slow left arm bowler, bowled a good over conceding six off the first five balls.

With two needed off the last ball, Bhargav Bellam could get only a single thus resulting in the first ever tie in the 30 over league. For the Warriors, Harsh Jogi was the top scorer with 30 from 40 balls. For Good Vybz, their skipper Steven Mangal picked up a 4-wicket haul.

For his 5-wicket haul that played a crucial part in getting the Good Vybz all out for just 106, Viraj Patel was adjudged the man-of-the-match.

Gujarat Lions Outclass Tricity To A Huge Win
Winning the toss and electing to bat, the Gujarat Lions put on a batting show by posting their highest ever total in 30 over league scoring 205. Openers Ajaypal Reddy and Chinmay Ghag provided the stable platform their team needed by putting on a good partnership for the first wicket. Kalpesh Kathriya coming in at three then played the anchor in taking the innings past the 100-run mark.

But it was the partnership of Dhruv Patel and Saurabh Verma that stole the show for the Lions. Both came together at the 20th over at which point the Lions were looking to explode to a big score. Both played attacking cricket and dispatched the balls to the boundaries more frequently. In the process, Saurabh made his first half century of the season scoring a well-made 46 balls 55 that contained three boundaries and three sixes. Dhruv Patel made an equally aggressive 40 in just 27 balls.

Chasing 207 to win, Tricity was never in the chase as they kept throwing away wickets and folded for just 114. The only solace was the half century of Vickey who made an attacking 50 of just 40 balls that contained a whopping six maximums. For the Lions, Mansij Rai Sharma and Chinmay Ghag picked up three wickets a piece. For his impressive half century that helped Lions post their highest score, Saurabh Verma was named the man-of-the-match.

Knights Beat The Panthers Convincingly
Winning the toss and batting first, Panthers made 118 from their 30 overs. Siva Dharma, opening the innings blunted the Knight attack with his patient 64 ball 27. While he held on to one end for most of the innings, the Knights picked up wickets on the other end pushing Panthers to 74 for 6 in 22 overs. John Pole made 20 while their skipper Kranthi made 16 thus ending their innings at 118. For the Knights, Raj Mannar was the pick of the bowlers picking up three wickets for 19 runs in his six overs.

Chasing 119 to win, the Knights romped home easily on the back of their opener Ruthvik Vemareddy. Ruthvik, in fine form this season, continued his good touch scoring 47 off 43 balls that contained seven boundaries in it. The Knights lost three wickets of Raj Ardham, Jayaram Manukonda and Siva Pattapu but Saravanan Manickvasagam coming in at five sealed the win with his brief cameo of 28 from just 24 balls.

For his economical bowling spell that contained three wickets upfront, Raj Mannar was adjudged the man-of-the-match.

United Warriors Romp Home To A Record Win Against DB-ES
Winning the toss and electing to bat, United Warriors posted a decent 129 and got all out in the 29th over. Bharathwaj Samavedam coming in at three anchored the innings with a patient 38 that had two boundaries and a six. None of the other batsmen made a mark as the DB-ES bowlers kept the Warriors on a short leash. For Warriors, Ankur Bhanot, Dilip Kallepalli, Akshay Kumar picked up two wickets a piece.

Chasing 130 to win, the DB-ES succumbed to just 37, the lowest score in the league and lost the game by a huge margin. Naveen Punyala, the canny outswing bowler, did bulk of the damage claiming his first five wicket haul of the season. Naveen, known to entice batsmen with his medium out swingers, kept prodding at the batsmen with immaculate line and length. This eventually resulted in the batmen losing their patience and giving their wickets away to mistimed drives.

At the end of the game, Naveen’s record spell read 6-2-9-5 and for this match winning effort with the ball that got a huge win to the warriors, Naveen Punyala was adjudged the man-of-the-match.