The last game of the weekend in the R.P. Singh Memorial cup saw yet another low-scoring contest, but this time, Rawamangun Indorama CC were able to successfully defend their low score against Menara Ceylon CC (MCC)
Rawamangun Indorama CC (RIC) chose to bat first after winning the toss but lost their opener in the very first over bowled by Roney. A couple of tight overs ensued as RIC managed only 6 runs of the first 3 overs, but the next 3 went for 32 runs as both Eki Antaria & Muhammad Aziz hit some beautiful boundaries. Twin changes in bowling led to a double-strike as Faheem Butt & Sawan Malik accounted for Eki & Aziz. Agi Saptiazi then took on the baton and a 16 run 10th over helped RIC fight back to reach 75 for 4 at the halfway stage.
However RIC couldn’t build on this strong platform as Praveen Uppal & Roney bowled very well and only 49 runs came from the second 10 over phase leaving RIC at a below par score of 124 in their 20 overs. A score that MCC would have fancied to chase down.
The MCC chase started in a very similar fashion to RIC as they too lost their opener in the first over itself and after a few tight overs, Sawan Malik exploded to get 18 runs off the 5th over. At 39 for 2 after 6 overs, MCC looked in control of the chase. Things however got a lot riskier for them with the introduction of the Rizky spin twins (Rizky Dwi Nugraha & Rizky Tri Rubbi). They bowled the next 8 overs conceding only 31 runs and claiming the wickets of the in-form Justin & Baba Sivasankaran. Suddenly, now the asking rate had climbed to above 9 runs an over and 55 runs were needed in the last 6 overs.
Sawan Malik who had held the MCC innings together, got 15 runs off the 15th over. Desandri bowled a tight over 16th over and Age Saptiazi fought back in the 18th over with the crucial wicket of Sawan Malik for a well fought 56 runs and now 27 runs were needed off the last two overs. A very eventful 19th over then ensued where 3 wickets (including 2 run-outs) fell but Hashmat in-between managed to collect 15 runs.
12 runs were needed of the last over but MCC had lost Hashmat to a run-out and had only 1 wicket in hand which Desandri picked-up of the 1st legal ball of the over to give RIC a thrilling 10 run win.
