1st Plate Cricket Tournament : CRAU dump ESU in last league match
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 11 2014 :
Riding on a handsome 56 runs off 62 balls and a four wicket burst from Mihul, CRAU defeated ESU by 86 runs in the last league match of the 1st Plate Cricket Tournament to become the second team to enter the Elite Group.
On winning the toss, CRAU elected to bat and this move paid off as their frontline batsmen capitalised on a placid wicket with Ronil leading the charge with a fine 56 balls off 62 balls.
Ronil found able support from Bimol who came out with a patient knock of 26 runs off 52 balls and Sineg who made 27 runs off 41 balls to take the tally of the team to 183 for the loss of 9 wickets in 35 overs.
The pick of the ESU bowlers was Milan who scalped four wickets followed by John with three wickets and Bode with 2 wickets.
All the good work of the bowlers however were undone by some inept batting by the frontline batsmen of ESU.
Set a target of 184, the batsmen of ESU were not really into the run chase with wickets falling regularly on both sides.
Only Vivananda put up some resistance with 32 runs off 52 balls followed by Surjit with 10 runs off 18 balls.
With the pitch offering some bounce, the bowlers of CRAU capitalised on this with Mihul leading the way with four wickets.
He had able support from Shankar who scalped three wickets and Herojit with two wickets.
Instead of digging in their heels and treating each ball with merit the ESU batsmen never rose to the occasion and went in for the big hits, which ultimately did them in.
Keeping a tight line and length, the CRAU bowlers led by Mihul managed to bundle out ESU for 97 runs in 28 overs and win the match by a huge margin of 86 runs.
For his fine contribution with the bat Ronil of CRAU walked away with the man of the match award.