Vikings Cricketers are the Champions of CCL 2017

In a final that could be called as a one-sided affair, Vikings Cricketers emerged the Champions of CCL 2017 by beating Calpine Raiders by 49 runs.

Winning the toss Calpine Raiders’ captain Nikhil decided to send the Vikings Cricketers to bat first. Vikings’ openers Sujith and Emmanuval started slowly, making just 4 runs each in the first 2 overs. However from the 3rd over onwards both batsmen shifted gears and got into hitting mode, continuing from their heroics in the previous match. While Sujith was in his usual style of combining caution with aggression, Emmanuval threw caution to the wind. From both ends there was a flurry of boundaries and sixes, which took the score rate to soaring heights. Though a couple of wickets fell at the fag end of the innings, by then Vikings cricketers had scored a mammoth 102 for the loss of 2 wickets.

Chasing a score of 103 in the final was always going to be a hard task for any team. The only way a team could have successfully chased such a total was by going after the bowling from the first ball itself. However, in a bid to pursue the same, Calpine Raiders lost wickets in regular intervals. None of the top four was able to get to double digits and fell cheaply one after another. Rakesh and Binish offered some resistance at the latter part of their innings, but by then the Raiders had already lost steam. In the end they were able to make only 53 for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 10 overs. Sujith and Ratheesh scalped 2 each, while Sumesh and Aneesh got 1 wicket apiece. Vikings Cricketers thus winning a well deserved crown.

Sujith was adjudged the Man of the Match.