Commonwealth Cricket League
To mark the end of a fabulous and very well organized cricket season for the Commonwealth Cricket League (CCL), the President’s XI took on NYCCC in a special trophy game at Cunningham Park on Sunday Nov. 9th, 2014.
The victorious President XI team, standing: Noble Thomas, Jins Joesph (manager), Tibin Thayil, Sarun Zacharia, Justin Joseph, George Abraham, Anish Kallurathu, Vineeth Wilfred. Sitting: Ashish Kumar, Kunaal Kapoor, Malik Irfan and Shahzad Shahid.
The game which was originally planned for a Forty (40) overs a side affair, was reduced to thirty-five (35) overs per side due to a damp outfield. The delay and the cold weather didn’t affect any player’s spirits and the game got stared with NYCCC winning the toss and electing to bat first.
NYCCC got off to a shaky start losing both openers early due to some good swing bowling with the new ball by Justin Joseph and Kunaal Kapoor. NYCCC’s innings were steadied by their batting stalwart Bilal Shahid who walked in at number three (3) and scored a very well-paced Forty-Six (46) before getting castled by Sarun Zacharia. NYCCC had some key middle order contributions by Wasiq, Gilani and Jassi, to take them to a respectable 177 all out. For President’s XI Sarun, Jijo and Irfan had good tight spells of death bowling which limited NYCCC’s scoring opportunities.
In return President’s XI got off to a solid start to start off with a 65 run opening partnership between Shahid Shehzad and Vineet Wilfred. After picking up Vineet, NYCCC applied some pressure by picking up wickets in regular intervals, but Shahid Shehzad was in no mood to give them any chance to win. Shahid scored a fabulous 81 not out to seal a comfortable win for President’s XI and securing the special trophy for the team.
GAME SUMMARY
TOSS: NYCCC won the toss and elected to bat first.
NYCCC: 177 all out in 33.5 overs (35 overs max.)
Bilal Shahid – 46(40) (6 x 4s)
Irfan – 2/28 in 5 overs
Sarun – 2/30 in 6 overs
President’s XI 178 for 5 in 29.4 overs
Shahid Shehzad – 81(60)* (6 x 4s and 4 x 6s)
Vineet Wilfred – 22 (18) (3 x 4s)
Umar – 2/20 in 4 overs