Playing his first game in the JCA, Gaurav Sharma carried his bat but couldn’t carry his team through as RB United fell short of Rawamangun CC’s total by 17 runs in the first game of the weekend fixtures of the R.P. Singh Memorial cup.
RB United won the toss and asked Rawamangun Indorama CC (RICC) to bat first and a very generous fielding effort where 3 catches were dropped, helped RICC get off to a steady start. Gaurav Tandon continued his good form with the ball and Marten Eddy finally managed to dismiss Muhammad Aziz but Eki Antaria batted well at the other end to lay a solid foundation. Skipper Josh Van Vianen got some sweet revenge by dismissing his old team-mate, Eki in the 13th over and that helped pull things back a bit. The RICC batsmen were struggling to clear the fence but ran very well and finished at what looked like a par score on a slow outfield.
RB United lost their opener in the first over of the chase but debutant Gaurav Sharma & Azhar Ali batted well to get the chase off to a decent start. Aditya Gustama got rid off the dangerous Azhar Ali and this triggered a procession of wickets as no other batsmen could reach double figures against some smart bowling by Eki Antaria & Ardan Saputra. Gaurav Sharma fought valiantly but he had a mammoth task to accomplish in the absence of support from the other end as RB United fell short by 17 runs.
