At the TATA Motors JCA league, in a game that was certainly not for the faint hearted, MavecricsCC overcame some nerve wracking moments in the last 2 overs of its defense of its score of 170 runs, as it defeated CeylonCC by a solitary run, in a Division2 game at Cibubur on Sunday.
With CeylonCC needing 28 runs off the last two overs, it was all heading the Mavecrics way until 15 runs were plundered off the penultimate over by Pulokesh Majumdar, leaving 13 runs to be scored off the last 6 balls. 5 consecutive wide balls and 2 dot balls meant 8 runs were needed off 4 balls. A boundary and a brace made the equation 2 off 2 balls. As Pulokesh heaved wildly off the next, it was down to 2 needed off the last ball. As all Mavecrics fielders zoomed in, Roy held his nerve to bowl straight as Pulokesh’s drive to Mid-on was smartly collected by Keyur Moradia who had the presence of mind to under-arm the ball to the non-strikers’ end, catching the batsman short of the crease.
Earlier opting to bat first, Mavecrics put up a par score of 170/9 in 35 overs. Pradeep Patnaik top scored with 31 runs while Keyur chipped in with 27 runs. Riaz Ur Rahman (Faheem) was impressive with the ball as he took 4/27. Kesavadas supported with 2/27.
In response, Ceylon started disastrously as it lost its openers cheaply. Baba Sivasankaran then steadied the ship with an aggressive half century (51 runs) before Mavecrics pulled things back to have them reeling at 110/6 at one stage. However the arrival of Pulokesh to the crease meant it was not all over until the last ball as he stood in defiance with an impressive 48 runs. For Mavecrics Pradeep (3/46) and Mayank Puri (2/23) did the most damage, even as Satish extracted uncomfortable bounce with his off spin.
The joyous celebration that erupted soon after demonstrated how relieved Mavecrics were to snatch this victory even as the Ceylon players came out in applause for a game of cricket that was so well played by both teams.
Thanks to John Dulip Kumar & Kapil Bhutra from Menara CC for umpiring the game
