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03/01/2017POSTED BY Hcca Admin |
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Austin Bengal Tigers overcome Falcons to win inaugural edition of HCCA T20 Blast 2017 tournament amid unprecedented drama! Sometime LIFE scripts something better than a great movie script. Sunday, 2/26/2017 in the Grand Finale of HCCA T20 Blast Tournament, it was on of those days. It was a day that Austin cricket lovers will not forget easily as they saw two teams putting everything on the line to win the championship. So much emotions ran throughout the duration of the game that even the spectators, and there were many, were exhausted after the game. But it was a dream final for any cricket players who would always wanted to be part of and this will stay with them forever. After winning the toss 4 times in a row, Tiger’s captain Kabir decided to field first under cloudy and gloomy sky with lot of dew on the grass and started the innings with his off spin bowling. Gopal & Mahtab came to open for Falcons. It didn’t start well for the Tigers, as Kabir went for 11 runs in the first over where Gopal hit him 2 4s. Fazle Elahi Rabbi bowled the 2nd over and bowled good. Tiger got Mahtab run out in 4th over from a fine fielding of Kabir. Sunil came 1st down and hit a 4 right away but then perished quickly to Fasbir. On the other side though Gopal was going great guns and hitting boundaries at will. First 6 overs costed Tigers 60+ runs. Gopal and Praveen played well and took the score 105 runs in 10 overs. But right after drinks break disaster struck for Falcons as a mixup got Gopal (69 off 42 balls) run out. It was a brilliant knock but Falcons would have wanted him to stay longer. Karthik (32 off 28 balls) and Praveen (42 off 31 balls) made another good partnership but was not able to hit free as both Tiger bowlers Bahar & Masud bowled brilliant 8 overs on a trot by giving only 68 runs. In the context of the game it was HUGE for the Tigers as they didn’t let Falcons to get away with a huge score. Eventually Falcons scored 189/5 in 20 overs. To chase a mammoth total, Tigers sent Rashed and Oli to open and both played some really good shots and generated a quick 50 runs partnership in 6 overs. But then Rashed (16 off 15 balls) fell off Hemant. Oli (30 off 23 balls) perished very next over chasing a wide ball from Gopal. But two inform batsmen Masud and Mahab (Kochi) negotiated first and started hitting the balls. Masud was at his best in displaying power by hitting 3 sixes. Tigers were 87/2 runs at drinks break needing another 103 runs in last 10 overs. Both played till 15 overs with great shots but then Masud fell (65 off 33 balls) to up the tempo, then Kabir got stumped in the same over from Karthik. He bowled really well and took 3 wickets for only 28 runs in 4 overs. Kochi (22 off 24 balls) got out in the next over as well - a very well judged one handed catch by Rahul off Raajit’s bowling. The same combination also got Fasbir out in 18 overs. At that time, Tigers needed 25 runs in 2 overs. Sayed and Roman was in the middle and tremendous pressure was on both batsmen in the middle and everybody else outside. They ran hard by hitting some clever shots and scored 14 runs off Raajit’s 19th over. Now 11 runs needed in 6 balls. Hemant came to bowl the all important over. Everybody was at their edge of the seats, well on their feet and edge of the boundary lines. Situation also got better of Tiger's captain who received warning from umpires for going to field to give directions to the batsmen. Sayed was facing and the first 2 balls from Hemant he only could score 4 runs and the next ball was a leg bye. Now 6 runs needed in 3 balls and Roman, the youngest tiger, is facing the ball. But he cover drove that 4th ball beautifully and ran hard to take 3 runs. This was a HUGE turning point in the over. Now only 3 runs needed in 2 balls and more importantly Sayed is facing. He hit the 5th ball towards point and ran hard to get 2 runs. SCORE LEVEL. 1 run needed in 1 ball and again Sayed is facing the last ball. Tigers were a bit relaxed at this time thinking that Sayed has the nerve and experience to get his last run. But little they know what a twist is coming. Then the moment came that ripped the heart out of the Tigers when Sayed lofted the 6th ball towards mid on and substitute fielder Niket took the all important catch. Falcons jumped with joy and the Tigers fell to the ground with utter disappointment. The score is TIED and SUPER OVER ON!!!! Tigers didn’t have much time to gather themselves for the super over as they had to go bat first as per super over rule. The captain had to announce 3 Super batsmen Oli, Masud & Kochi who would bat. Karthik was the Super Bowler from Falcons. Masud and Oli went in to open and very first ball Masud got hold out to deep midwicket to Gopal. Oli missed the 2nd ball but hit a 4 off the 3rd ball and then he stepped out to hit the 4th ball and was stumped even though it was a wide ball. The Tigers were all out for 5 runs and Falcons needed ONLY 6 runs to win the Championship. Tiger’s captain Kabir decided to bowl the super over and tried to inspire the demoralized players that they can still win the game. Gopal and Praveen came to bat for Falcons with Gopal facing. The very first ball, Gopal hit the ball straight to the deep cover and Roman caught that ball very calmly. Tigers were overjoyed to see the back of Gopal. Now Falcons were in tremendous pressure still needing 6 runs and only 1 wicket left. Tigers knew they had a very good chance now. Sunil came in to replace Gopal. Kabir floated the 2nd ball in middle & leg stump which Sunil tried to play a back foot leg side shot but edged the ball that ballooned up to the short mid wicket where Rashed ran and took the simple but THE MOST important catch in Tigers History, and… THE TIGERS WON!!!! Euphoria engulfed the whole team, their supporters ran on the field wherever they could. Captain was running hard everywhere with joy before his knees gave up and lied down on the grass. Second later there was a human mountain on top of him. Players hugging each other, shaking hands, crying with joyous tears. Tigers deserved this win, they deserved every bit of it. From the first game to the last, they played with guts. They were knocked down but fought back every time. Every game they played were close one but they were in triumph except for one league game against Falcons. Tigers got their revenge and cannot be sweeter than this. However spare a thought of Falcons- they had their chances but at the end only one team could have been the winner. Well Played Falcons!! At the end , Cricket was the winner! Special Thanks to both umpires who officiated under extreme pressure and handled the situation very well and also Thanks to all spectators who came to watch and support both team! It could not get any better for fitting finale for a great tournament. Every game in the tournament were decided in the last over. They were very competitive and perfect warm up games for the upcoming CTCL league. Hope to see every team from the HCCA club does well in the CTCL league and win the the T35 & T20 league title this year. |
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