Above, Akshay Homraj smashed 82 of 30 balls that included 10 sixes and 3 fours. Photo by Shem Rodney
By Sudharsan Ramarao
Akshay Homraj Produces Fireworks, Again
Akshay Homraj seems to be a man from a different planet at least for the people in capital district of New York. For he is a good cricketer. Bloody good one. He hits balls to areas that others could only dream of.
He finishes games that others might take an eternity. For second week in a row, Akshay spearheaded a chase and finished the game inside 10 overs. If he chased 120 in the last game, he chased 137 in this game. If he scored 81 in the last game, he scored 82 this game. For 2 consecutive games, he showcased his batting prowess that had power interlaced with elegance. For he hit a whopping 15 sixes against those poor bowlers. Akshay Homraj is definitely a man from another planet.
Earlier winning the toss and batting first, Falcons made 137 at the end of their 20 overs. Varun anchored the innings with a patient 35 while Sridhar provided the finishing touches with a run a ball 27. For his magical innings of 82 in just 31 balls that included 10 sixes and 3 boundaries, Akshay Homraj was undoubtedly the man of the Match.
Knights Knock Out JETS And Make The Playoffs
In what was a virtual knock out for a spot in the playoffs, JET Albany won the toss and put Knights in to bat. Vishva Velichala, the JETS captain and their opening bowler, started with a bang by picking 3 wickets in the very first over. He first cleaned up the opposite captain Raj Ardham with a full-length ball that hit the pads and rolled on to the stumps.
He then got trapped Vamsidhar Varmakonda and Jayaram Manukonda LBW with identical full length in-swinging balls. Knights were shell shocked after the first over. But they found support in their other opener Nandakishore Krishna, who along with Ruthvik Vemareddy steadied the innings with risk free cricket. Nanda produced his trade mark pulls and flicks, yet at the same time defended the good deliveries as well. He and Ruthvik took the Knights to the 10 over mark without much damage. Chakri Reddy, the JETS phenom who has been picking wickets for fun, then got a double breakthrough pricing out both the set batsmen.
Murali Ankaraju then came at 6 and played some pleasing shots and gave the much-needed momentum. He played an immaculate innings that helped Knights to go past 150. In all he faced 23 balls and scored 40 runs that included an excellent on the up shot over extra cover that went all the way for 6. He and Rana were busy at the wicket and ran hard between the wickets. Murali’s late innings heroics was the primary reason Knights reached a match winning total of 156. Vishva Velichala picked up 4 wickets while Chakri Reddy picked up 3 wickets.
Chasing 157 to extend their season, JETS openers Ravi Ekambaram and Chaitanya Donthineni started positively with Ravi being the aggressor. Ravi took chances and tried putting the pressure on the Knight bowlers. He scored 21 off 24 ball that included 2 boundaries and a sixer. But just when was looking good, he lost his wicket off the bowling of Vamsidhar. Anand Kalukuluri coming in at 3 then got out cheap.
Their batting mainstays Chakri Reddy and Pardha Phani as well lost their wickets in quick succession. JETS were 5 down within the first 10 overs. Their lower order didn’t offer enough fight as they folded for 84 runs and got knocked out of the T20 league. For the Knights Hareesh Atluri, Mithesh Jain, Nandakishore and Murali each picked up 2 wickets. For his excellent attacking innings of 40 and 2 wickets Murali Ankaraju was adjudged the Man of the match.
Maurice Persaud Empire Cricket League
Semi final 1
Scintillating Century From Nanda Puts The Knights Into Finals
Knight skipper Raj Ardham won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. Openers Raj Ardham and Nandakishore Krishna laid a stro
Nanda Kishore Krishna scored a scintillating 104 of 99 balls.
ng platform by putting on a good partnership. While Raj played the steady hand, Nanda played his shots and put on a show. Playing only in his 3rd game of the season, Nanda never looked out of touch.
His trademark pulls of the short length balls and wristy flicks to anything on the middle and leg were on full display. Known to take on the best bowlers of the opposition, Nanda played fearless cricket by dispatching balls to the boundaries at will. He completed a scintillating century that almost put the Akhadi onto their knees. In all he faced 99 balls and scored 104 runs that included 9 beautiful boundaries and 2 huge sixes.
Raj Ardham made a patient 17, while Joseph Gali and Arun Ghanta flourished with brief cameos. Knights of Albany made a mammoth 220 for 7 at the end of 40 overs. For Akhadi, Rahul Dhole and Naveen Punyala picked up 2 wickets each.
Chasing a mammoth 221 to win the first semi finals, none of the Akhadi batsman got going with every single one of them getting out in single digits. At 11 runs, Extras was the highest scorer of the innings. Hareesh Atluri and Rahul Aggarwal were the chief tormentors as they both picked up 5 and 3 wickets each. Knights comfortably won the semis by a whopping 184 runs and booked their spot in the finals for the second straight year.
For his scintillating century that put the match beyond the reach of the opposition, Nandakishore Krishna was adjudged the Man of the Match.
Semi final 2
JETS Emerge Victorious In A Roller Coaster Game
JETS skipper Vishva Velichala won the toss and decided to bat first. Ravi Ekambaram showed the first sign of intent by lofting Ashok Adikoppula for a huge six over long on in the very first over of the game. But a clever bowler that Ashok is, came back in the same over and had Ravi caught behind. The other opener Dani was dismissed for cheap by John florent. Anand Kalukulri and Mohnish Bandaru then did the repair job by steadying the innings. Both left lot of balls alone and offered dead bat for the straighter ones. They dispatched the bad balls and were content on playing the long game. Junaid Khan, the wily medium pacer, then picked them both in quick succession.
Pardha Phani and Chakri Reddy, the batting mainstays of JETs also lost their wickets to a mini collapse. At 101 for 6, the JETS innings was going to a dismal end. But the JETS skipper Vishva and Bharadhwaj Samavedham, coming in at 8, had other ideas. Both didn’t give up easily and took the fight to the opposition. They ran hard between the wickets and converted many ones into twos. In all they produced over 60 runs for the 7th wicket with 56 of them coming in 1s and 2s. Vishva Velichala made 27 and got out to an excellent boundary line stand from Shoaib Hassan while Bharadhwaj made 39. JETS finished their innings at a fighting total of 176.
Chasing 177 to book a spot in the Finals, the Highlanders started with a bang. Their opener Javed Safi, who usually revels in the middle order, hit the first ball of the innings for a boundary thereby sending his message loud and clear. That he was there to take on the opposition come what may. In the next few overs, Javed Safi played excellent attacking shots that forced the JETs bowlers to alter the line and length and thereby playing into the waiting hands of Javed Safi. A few boundaries later Ashok Adikoppula lost his wicket courtesy of a mix up with Javed. This triggered a mini collapse as Chinmay and Junaid Khan also lost their wickets in quick succession.
While Javed fell by his own sword by mistiming a lofted flick toward deep square leg. Highlanders had posted 52 runs in 10 overs but lost 4 wickets as well. Sudharsan Ramarao and Claudy then joined hands and offered a stiff resistance just to avoid the fall of another wicket. For the next 10 overs, both resorted only to defense and were content on taking singles here and there and were happy taking the extras that came along. At 20 overs, Highlanders made 79 for 2. Claudy then got out LBW to Ankur Bhanot. John Florent then came in and dispatched the very first ball to the boundary.
Highlanders decided to step on the gas and get the game going. Sudharsan, who was all the while playing stout defense on the other end, then opened up scoring 2 boundaries of Chakri Reddy through the vacant 3rd man region. Just when things were looking good for the Highlanders, Pardha Phani produced a remarkable match turning running catch at Long on to see the back of John Florent. Shoaib Hassan, Highlanders match winner, then came in and dispatched the first ball he faced for a huge six. He further hit another huge six over a long on and followed it up with a bludgeoned extra cover drive that went for a boundary.
In a matter of 4 overs, Shoaib reduced the equation to under 32 needed of 8 overs with 4 wickets in hand. And then he fell in to the trap. In a moment of desperation, Shoaib flicked a delivery on middle and leg stump straight to the fielder at square leg who was waiting for such a mistake. The match tilted on its head. Sudharsan Ramarao who was all the while holding the other end then tried to play a big shot but only found his stumps shattered. Highlanders lost their last 4 wickets for just 5 runs. They were all out for 146. Jets reached their maiden final.
For his excellent innings of 39, that helped JETs reach a fighting total of 176, Bharadhwaj Samavedham was adjudged the Man of the match