Cricket Round One : Second Match

After watching some terrific performances in the opening match of cricket, everyone was expecting some more such type of performances in the next match which was played between CRK3(led by Vikas Gaur) and CRK4(led by Jon Pradeep). This match provided everything one could expect be it batting, bowling or fielding. Although Weather.com gave a forecast of a tornado in the evening, CRK4 felt the tornado named Himanshu Arora in the morning itself.He scored the quickest 50 of the history of the tournament and made the match a one sided affair within no time.'

Captain of CRK4 team Jon Pradeep won the toss and straight away chose to bat first. Amit Arora and Atul opened the innings for CRK4 while Mohibur Rohman and Vikas Gaur shared the new ball for CRK4. Mohibur Rohman , what a bowler he is! He took 3 wickets for just 14 runs in his first fiery spell of three overs. Vikas too bowled his trademark line and length giving only 8 runs in his first three overs which included the only maiden of the match. After a disastrous start, Amit Arora got Naren as his partner and what a partnership those two had after that.Both of them first saw off the opening spells of Mohibur and Vikas and then played their shots.While Amit stayed on the wicket and played with patience, Naren was more on a atacking side. He played his shots freely riding on his luck though, getting as many as three lives. CRK 4 was well placed at 48/3 after 10 overs and they were all set for the onslaught in the final 6 overs. But Vikas' trust on Himanshu proved right when he provided the breakthrough with the wicket of Naren. Fall of Naren's wicket brought Rajesh Dimri on the pitch and after that 14th over of the innings proved to be the most expensive over of the innings with left handed Rajesh hitting one six and two fours and scoring 20 runs in the over. Score read 88/4 after 14 overs and CRk4 looked all set to be the first team in the tournament to cross the magical figure of 100. But Vikas bowled a tight 15th over picking up 3 wickets and giving away only 1 run. Last over was bowled by Puneet and he polished off the tail by picking up 4 wickets in the over. CRK4 scored 92 runs with Amit Arora and Rajesh Dimri top scoring with 20 runs each. It was Amit Arora who held the innings together and was instrumental in setting up a fighting total for CRK3. Puneet Khurana took 4 wickets giving away just 9 runs in 2 overs while Vikas and Mohibur took 3 wickets each for 9 and 19 runs respectively in their quota of 4 overs.

Chasing a target of 93, CRK3 lost their Key batsman Mohibur Rohman very early when he flicked a full toss ball straight into the hands of Jon Pradeep at square leg. Score board read 5/1. Spectators started wishing CRK3 team best of luck for the next year because loss of Mohibur forced them to think that the match was over for CRK3.But what happened after that can never be forgotten. In came Himanshu Arora and he tore apart the opposition attack hitting 2 sixes on the first three balls he faced. Puneet on the other hand was given the responsibility to stay till the end and he performed it beautifully. Himanshu hit 4 sixes and as many fours in his innings of 52 runs without getting dismissed. He showed his class by playing some solid defensive strokes, frequent attacking shots and some usefull improvisation which included a beautiful reverse pull off a short ball from Amit Arora in the cover region for four runs. The most beautiful six was hit over the extra cover off Rajesh Dimri with no effort.This is where CRK4 missed a trick or two. Jon removed both Amit Arora and Rajesh Dimri from the attack while those two bowlers had the potential to turn the tables for CRK4. By the time Rajesh was brought back, the match was more than over for CRK4. Riding on the explosive batting of Himanshu Arora CRk3 raced to 70/1 after 7 overs. Spectators also saw a great team spirit from Puneet Khurana who ,thereafter, almost stopped scoring giving Himanshu each and every chance to complete his 50. Puneet got out just 5 runs short of the target . He scored invaluable 18 runs with one four.It was no surprize that winning shot was a six from Himanshu's bat. This six completed 50 for Himanshu and sealed the win for CRk3 team. For his extra ordinary innings and one wicket which he took, Himanshu was declared the man of the match.

This match completed the list of three teams which will play among each other in the next round which starts from 06/14(Saturday).The list goes as : CRK1 led by Virender Chaudhary, CRK3 led by Vikas Gaur and CRK5 led by Nishant Daruka. Nishant was again on the field throughout the match. He is definitely going to give his invaluable inputs about the opposition team in his team strategy meetings. Is his presence in all the matches going to be the deciding factor in future games? Watch out for rest of the tournament to get the answers.