2nd T-20 Veteran Cricket tournament : REYS overwhelm NAPSA by a margin of 47 runs
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 27 2014 :
Despite a heroic three wicket haul by Goutam, NAPSA went down to REYS by 47 runs in the 2nd T-20 Manipur Veteran Cricket Tournament today.
REYS opted to bat first on winning the toss and though Gautam and Ratan commendably led the bowling attack of NAPSA picking up three and two wickets respectively, it was the batsmen of REYS who prevailed in the end.
Taking the crease, REYS batsmen dug their heels in with Mujibur Rehman cracking a fine 33 runs off only 29 balls, leaving the bowlers of NAPSA demoralised and frustrated.
Rehman punished each loose ball that came his way despatching them to the boundary.
The free flowing batting of Rehman kept the score board ticking.
At the other end of the wicket, Chingtam perfectly complemented Rehman as he compiled a carefully made 20 runs off 24 balls and never letting the bowlers of NAPSA dominate them.
The pair of Rehman and Chingtam found the gaps and with some big hits followed it up with some quick running between the wickets, stealing the ones and twos.
Iqbal Ahmed also chipped in with a valuable 15 runs off 19 balls followed by Chaoba who made 10 runs off 13 balls, to take the tally of REYS to 124 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.
The good work of NAPSA bowlers however went in vain as their front line batsmen floundered in the run chase.
Besides Goutam and Ratan who picked up three and two wickets each, Ranjit scalped one wicket.
Set a modest target of 125 in 20 overs, NAPSA started well with the runs coming freely from the blade of Ronikumar who made a breezy 21 runs off 21 balls.
The other batsmen however did not really get into the rhythm of the match as the next highest scorer was Goutam with 19 runs but the runs came at the cost of 49 balls.
Disciplined bowling and tight fielding kept the batsmen of NAPSA under a tight lease with wickets falling at regular intervals.
Mahesh chipped in with a knock of 12 balls off 12 runs but with the other batsmen falling regularly the run chase of NAPSA floundered and they were bundled out for a paltry 77 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
For REYS, Krishnan led the way picking up two wickets while Sanjit, Samu, Srikanta and Rehman picked up one wicket each.
For his fine show with the bat (39 runs off 29 balls) and for picking up one wicket, Rehman was adjudged the man of the match.
Tomorrow CHAMP will meet Cyclone.