Salil's defiant ton seals momentous victory

10 October 2010, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: In a epic battle that swayed from one side to the other, IISc wrestled out Rajajinagar Colts to win by a slender two-wicket margin with barely two balls to spare. A fine unbeaten ton by Salil (108*) and his stubborn partnerships with Varun (26) and Teja (47) were the cornerstone of IISc's victory, their fourth successive win that propels them into the Super League stage of the KSCA IV Division League for the first time since 1997. Batting first, Rajajinagar Colts were jolted early by Debajit who knocked out the openers with a couple of corkers. The one that swung in to castle an utterly bemused Praveen could easily have toppled even the best of first division players.  Reeling at 11/2, the visitors orchestrated a stinging counter-attack in the form of Rahul and Sandeep. While the former played some classy cover-drives, the latter clobbered boundaries with disdain. Sounik promptly brought Vikram into the attack and immediately sparks started flying with some streaky shots and verbal exchanges. Sandeep nicked one to the keeper evoking an animated send-off from Vikram. The volatile situation that followed was diffused only after intervention from the umpires and other players. Rajajinagar Colts were tottering at 139/5 at one stage. However, with some help from the lower-order, Rahul (87) essayed substantial partnerships that took them to a healthy 251/9. For IISc, Debajit and Arindam claimed three wickets each. IISc went into the match without the services of regular opener Shimjith and run-machine Ashith. A split webbing suffered by Vikram further compounded their woes. Mahadev and Pramod wrecked havoc in the IISc camp reducing them to 60/5 by the twelfth over. The odds were stacked strongly against IISc and the matched seemed all but over. Salil and Varun started rebuilding the innings brick-by-brick defending stoutly and scoring whenever the opportunity presented itself. But IISc sunk further to 146/6 with Varun's departure. Teja walked in and gave company to Salil's symphony at the other end. With Salil scoring freely through a broad array of sweetly timed strokes, Teja took his time to settle in before opening up and thumping some telling blows. A couple of sixes from him seemed to derange the opposition as their fielders started wilting under pressure. Salil was down with cramps and was barely able to run. After some arguments between the umpires and the opposing captain, Lalit was allowed in as substitute runner. Teja was stumped with 12 needed of 12 balls. Out walked Vikram with six stitches on his hand and smote the most crucial of boundaries flat over mid-wicket. The drama didn't end there though. Four runs were required off the last over. With the confidence of five wickets under his belt, Pramod conceded two off the first two balls and snared Vikram off the third ball. Three balls, two runs. Arjun  walks in and all the fielders close in. What does he do? He scoops the ball over fine-leg for a boundary sending the IISc camp into raptures. The small crowd that had gathered at the benches and the stairs at the IISc Gymkhana ground were treated with a royal roller-coaster ride.

Brief Scores: Rajajinagar Colts - 251/9 in 50 overs

(Rahul 87, Sandeep 24, Vinay 25, Bhaktavatsal 22, Raghavendra 32, Debajit 3/81, Arindam 3/83) IISc - 254/8 in 49.4 overs (Salil 108*, Varun 26, Teja 47, Pramod 6/88, Mahadev 2/100)

Result: IISc won by 2 wickets

Man-of-the-match: Salil Kashyap