The Avengers won the Saini Cup 2-0 with a 9 wicket victory on Sunday. Overnight rain meant wet conditions, which represented a challenge for bowlers and batsmen, but the teams overcame them in an engrossing match.
The Eagles batted first, and lost both openers to run outs after a good start, due in part to difficult conditions underfoot resulting in slips. Raheel Zaman again played very well making 57 in 41 balls taking the Eagles to a competitive total of 155. The Avengers fielding was top-notch, highlighted by a fine direct hit run-out from Daxraj Mehta and an excellent catch at deep-square from Praveen Manhas.
Another direct hit from Hamza Rehan ran out Rahul Roy as the Avengers reply got under way, and tight, hostile bowling from Mohammed Asim and Najaf Raza Kami put the Avengers under pressure. The turning point of the match was perhaps the 12th over, when Mohammed Asim beat Rahul Vashishta with a beauty that just missed leg stump, and then an easy chance went down, with the Avengers needing 70 from 8 overs. Rahul Vashishtha paced his innings very well and accelerated, finishing the match with a 6, and making an unbeaten 90. He had excellent support from Rajitha Kaushalya, who made 52*, as well as bowling four overs for 17 runs (the scorecard attributes his bowling to M Arora), and he was named man of the match.
This concluded an excellent Summer League, and we extend our thanks to all captains, managers, umpires and the league committee chair Waqas Ali for their efforts.
Scorecard