On Saturday at the same venue, WPP India XI defeated the Jakarta Barbarians by 1 wicket in another humdinger of a game. Batting first, the Barbarians were looking good at 53/0 after 12 overs. WPP, then led by Ajay (2/21) pulled things back as Barbarians crawled to 88/1 at the second drinks break, before finishing at 168/5 in 35 overs. Vsau picked up 2/41 while Ben Burgess scored 69 runs supported by Eki (28 runs). WPP started its chase disastrously when it was reduced to 20/4 after 8 overs. With all its top order batsmen back in the pavilion, it needed a special effort from someone which came in the form of Vasu who forged crucial partnerships with Manoj (18 runs) and Santosh (19 runs) to take WPP to 115/7 after 24 overs. Still 54 runs adrift and only 3 wickets remaining, Vasu put together another crucial 46 run partnership with Dhiraj Nagpal (16 runs) to take his team to within 8 runs of the target, when he departed after a well made 61 runs off 70 balls. With the last man standing, WPP romped home in the final over of the match to emerge deserving winners in a game that could have gone either way.
Thanks to Satish & Upendra from Mavecrics for umpiring the game
