The opinions expressed in this post are solely that of the author. However, this report has been prepared with the help of some insider information, eyewitness accounts, and personal interviews. All errors are entirely their fault, not mine.
Game 14: WVUCC versus Blitzers
The final game of the regular season for WVUCC was bereft of much tension. The second spot in the league, and with it a bye in the first round of the playoffs, had already been secured. In addition, the Blitzers came to the ground with just 9 players.
Sohail Chaudhry won the toss and chose to bat. For the third straight match, and the 5th time this season, the Mountaineers put up in excess of 200 runs (202 for 7, to be exact). The architect of this total was Arvind Thiruvengadam, who made a career-best 78 in 60 balls (8 fours, and 4 sixes). The rest of the batsmen batted around him and ensured that the total was big enough that the undermanned Blitzers did not harbor any thoughts of an unlikely upset.
When you are chasing over 200 runs, and have just 8 wickets to spare, being 56 for 7 is exactly the best way to go about doing it, eventually finishing up at 90 all out. Six bowlers shared the 8 wickets to fall and the Mountaineers charged into the playoffs in style, firing on all cylinders.
They finished the season with a 9-4-1 record (second only to the 11-2-1 mark of the Steelzags), runners-up for the second year in a row in the regular season. They eagerly awaited the winner of the first quarterfinal between the Hurricanes and the PittsPunters.
All the Mountaineers, bar none, wanted a return match with the Punters in the semi-finals, but it was not to be as the Punters choked in their quarterfinal match. They had the Hurricanes reeling at 117 for 7 but could not stop Naveen Peiris (who scored a fantastic 100 not out) from taking the score to 200 for 7. In their chase, the PittsPunters were 135 for 4 at one stage and collapsed to 170 all out with Naveen taking 4 wickets for 18 runs in 5 overs.
The Mountaineers were convinced that they had a date with destiny and she was waiting for them in the finals. But before they got to that the stage was set for the two behemoths - Naveen and Sohail - to face-off once again. Tune in shortly for the next installment in this saga.
No comments:
Post a Comment