Stormers loses to Titans, but scrapes through to the finals
Playing in the last league match of the tournament, Stormers knew that they can afford to lose, for even if they lose, if it is not for a huge margin, they can always walk through to the finals to meet Tuskers United. And they lost, though they scraped through to the finals as they lost to Titans only by a margin of 8 runs. A better run rate than the Legends was enough for the Stormers to book a berth in the CCL finals.
In a match where the Titans had nothing to lose, they chose to bat first on winning the toss. After the match against Tuskers United, when he had sent bowlers to all parts of the park with his explosive hitting, Baji become a name that sends shock waves through the minds of the bowlers. As an opener he didn’t disappoint Titans even today as he launched into an assault on the Stormers’ bowlers. Though his partner didn’t make a lot of runs at the other end, Baji maintained the pace of his batting and frequently sent the ball across the fence along the ground and over the top. The formidable bowling attack of the Stormers found it difficult to dislodge the fearsome Baji and by the time he was sent back by Renjith Kumar he had made his second fifty of the tournament. At the end of the allotted 10 overs, Titans was able to make 84 runs for the loss of 3 wickets.
In the start of their innings, Stormers’ batsmen appeared to be in some kind of confusion on whether to go for the winning target or go for the score that would take their run rate above the Legends, which would allow them to go through to the finals. If they needed the former, they should have gone all out for the target and if they needed the latter, they should have gone a lit bit easier on their run chase. The initial stages of their batting made the viewers believe that they were caught baffled between the two options. Everyone made starts but failed to convert those starts into any significant scores. At a point they panicked so much that it appeared that the Stormers is facing a very bad loss and thus an exit from the tournament without seeing the finals. However some late surges allowed the team to come close to 9 runs for a victory, though the team was not able to cross the line and lost the match by 8 runs. Gopalan top-scored with 16 runs for the Stormers. For a better run rate, Stormers edged past Legends to reach the finals.
Baji was adjudged the Man of the Match.
SCOREBOARD
