Red defeated a resurgent Blue team by three wickets in perhaps the best match of the Summer League to date. On a lovely day for cricket, the only blot on the landscape was the outfield, un-mown since last week, and tough on the batsmen who frequently saw shots worthy of a boundary dying in the long grass. The second match was highlighted by a century from Nick Baxter as the Blues beat the Greens.
In the first match, Blues won the toss and batted. Saad and Nick got them off to a good start with an opening partnership of 32, with the highlight a six driven over point by Saad. He made 6 before Kavish had him caught. Kathir also had trouble finding his touch and after 10 overs there was only 42 runs on the board. The runs eventually started to flow, and Kathir hit a big six off Kavish. Nick also cleared the ropes in the next over, but Rakesh bowled Kathir 4 balls later- the partnership was worth 37. The first thirteen overs yielded 60 runs, but the last seven more than doubled the total as Nick opened up. He hit four sixes in all, mostly over the leg-side boundary, and ended up unbeaten on 59 from 58 balls. Tahla Riaz took two late wickets, and Rakesh bowled his four overs for 17 runs.
Reds chased 122 in 20 overs and also got off to a promising start, as Kranthi and Rakesh put on 24 in short time. The Blues however were soon in command as Kathir executed an excellent caught and bowled to dismiss Kranthi, Rakesh failed to take advantage on being dropped in the previous over skying a catch to Bharat at mid-wicket, and Kavish next ball giving Mark an easy catch at point. Mradul was leg before to Nick, and the Reds were 40 for 4 after 8 overs. Waqas Hanif however played very well, accumulating runs with little risk, and Hummam contributed a rapid 27 from 22 balls with a couple of big sixes. Suresh broke the partnership as Hummam aimed another big hit but was bowled. Red were back in the game, and Waqas Hanif partnered by Ali Dawood and Luftor took the score to 103. Ali then Waqas Hanif were both caught by Bharat at long-on off Waqas Ali, leaving Luftor and Tahla Riaz to score 20 off the last two overs. Tahla hit Neelav for 6, and they scrambled a bye and an overthrow to leave 11 off the last over. They scrambled four runs from the first three balls, then Tahla settled the match with a six over long-on, leaving just a scrambled single for the win. there were several good candidates for man of the match- Tahla for his last over herics and wickets, Waqas Hanif for an invaluable innings, Kathir for three cheap wickets but the award went to Nick for his unbeaten 59, and 1/18 off four overs.
Scorecard
The second match was the highest scoring match of the league to date as Blue (189/3) beat Green (166/6). The teams compensated for the long grass by taking the aerial route, striking 17 sixes in all. The majority of these came from Nick Baxter who made 101 from 58 balls, with ten sixes. After batting through the innings in the first match, Nick was run out in the final over of the blue innings, scoring 160 runs on the day for once out with 14 sixes – he was named man of the match again. He had good support from Kathir (38) in a partnership of 69.
The Green squad made an excellent effort in chasing the intimidating target, with good innings from Gurman (33), KK (31 from 18 balls), Senthill (29), and Alex (25) but they fell well short. Kathir bowled his four overs for just 13 runs, also taking a wicket.
This sets up an intriguing final round of matches, with the possibility of a three-way tie at the end of the league (if Blue win both their matches and Green beat Red then all teams will have 10 points and a 5-5 record).
