Thursday, January 20, 2011

Ashfaque ton ousts IISc

16 January 2011, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: A swashbuckling century from Ashfaque (111*) coupled with some inept bowling and catching from IISc brought an end to what had been a dream season for IISc. Indiranagar Cricketers thus go through to the semi-finals of the KSCA IV Division League 2010-11.

In his last match as the captain of team IISc, Sounik won the toss and put Indiranagar in. Seven balls into the match, the visitors were 5/2. Then came a stinging counter-attack from Ajay Sainis (46) and Anuj (32) who put together a 77 run third wicket stand. But the alliance that clinched the deal firmly in favor of Indiranagar was the fifth wicket pair of Ashfaque (111*) and Umesh (35) who put together 114 runs. For IISc, Debajit claimed yet another three-for.

Chasing 282 was always going to be a tough ask. IISc were circumspect to start with. The loss of Salil (29) and Ashith (28) to runouts was crucial in the context of the game. Harshan (79*) held his end up accumulating runs and pouncing on any loose offerings from the bowlers. The escalating required run-rate put enough pressure on the host batsmen to ensure regular fall of wickets. In the end, IISc fell a good 59 runs short of the mammoth target.

IISc's league campaign might have been brought to an abrupt end. Nonetheless, no one can take credit away from them for their overall performance this season, one that might  well see them breaking into the top ten in the KSCA IV Division rankings. To make that kind of a leap from a mediocre position of 24 does take some doing. The challenge will now be to keep up the good work and do better in the new season. The baton has been passed - Ashith Shyam is the new skipper and Ravi Teja his deputy.

Brief Scores:
Indiranagar Cricketers - 281/8 in 50 overs
(Ajay 46, Anuj 32, Ashfaque 111*, Umesh 35, Debajit 3/91, Ashith 2/30)
IISc - 222 all out in 47.4 overs
(Salil 29, Ashith 28, Harshan 79*, Ravi Teja 25, Bhagawan 2/28, Ajay 2/37)

Result: Indiranagar Cricketers won by 59 runs
Man-of-the-match: Ashfaque
 

1 comment:

  1. Hey Lalith,

    Nice reading through your blogs - great job in documenting the cricketing fun.

    Its a new season now and all the very best for this season. IISC have a great team. Hope we too join you in getting promoted to next round.

    Thanks,
    Umesh

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