SRT XI Beats Eagles to Make It 1-1 in CCL5 Finals

In a closely fought match, SRT XI beat the Eagles by 4 wickets to make it 1-1 in the best of three CCL5 finals. Chasing a score of 62 in 10 overs, SRT XI achieved the target with 5 balls to spare.

On winning the toss SRT XI captain Aneesh chose to bowl first. The decision of the captain appeared to be perfect when SRT XI was able to get the wicket of Eagles’ opener Ben in the first over itself, when Ajeesh caught him at square leg of the bowling of Ajith. The Eagles slipped further down when the new man in, Eagles’ captain Sandeep was out bowled by his counterpart off the second ball he faced. Eagles’ other opener Latheesh, who was keeping one end safe was looking for a partner to set the batting back in order. Abhin was able to provide that support for Latheesh as he hit a couple of sixes, but was unable to find singles and doubles to keep the scoreboard moving. After the fall of Abhin and Binish, Baji joined Latheesh and slowly moved the scoring forward. When Latheesh fell, Baji and Nisam, with the help of Syed and Arun VS, took the score to 61 in 10 overs. While Sumesh and Ajeesh got 2 wickets each, Ajith and Aneesh chipped in with 1 wicket each.

Chasing a moderate total of 62, SRT XI got into an early trouble when they lost their star batsman Saleem for 2 runs, who was caught by Binish off the bowling of Nisam. Then captain Aneesh joined Sumesh and steadied the ship. The partnership didn’t last long though, as Aneesh was caught by wicket keeper Latheesh. The next man in, Ajeesh was given caught behind of the very first ball he faced, which put the SRT XI to deep trouble. More trouble followed when their set batsman Sumesh was out bowled off the bowling of Nisam. The onus of keeping the innings afloat was left with Ajith as he saw many wickets falling at the other end. Gopan gave him good company for some overs, but he was also out caught by Nisam off Ben. Ajith was at his best as he kept on scoring runs, including a couple of fours and a six. Though the real twist in the tale came when Arun G Nath heaped Abhin to a straight six in the 9th over to get the scores level. In the first ball of the tenth over Ajith hit a four and completed a very satisfying win for SRT XI.

Ajith was adjudged Man of the Match for his all round performance.

Now the third of the three finals has become a crucial match and it will decide the winner of CCL5. With one win each in the two finals, both Eagles and SRT XI would feel that they are in with a great chance to clinch the decider.

You can find all the snaps of the match at the following locations.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.756587597687839.1073741836.289242297755707

https://plus.google.com/b/102759447090439455847/photos/+Calpinetech/albums/5997657256352036001