July 2 brought another great day for cricket, and with a shorter outfield and a harder pitch, conditions ideal for run-scoring.
The opening match was yet another thriller between the Eagles and the MHWirth Stallions. The Eagles won the toss and opted to bowl. The Stallions innings was dominated by a 55 ball 73 from Rakesh Negi, with four sixes and four fours. He got good support from Hummam Bin Saif (17), and Tamkin Khan (15) as the Stallions made 141/6. Waqas Ali and Osama Saeed took two wickets each for the Eagles.
The Eagles made a steady start to their reply, Khurram Shezad and Saeed Khan (19) putting on 59 for the first wicket. The Stallions had restricted the scoring speed, however, and by the time the partnership was broken the run rate had climbed to nearly 10/ over. Umair Khan (13) struck a couple of big sixes, and Khurram Shezad accelerated, also striking three sixes, taking the Eagles close. Khurram was stumped for an excellent 70 leaving just 12 to win from 9 balls. The Eagles needed two to win off the last ball, but a no-ball and run out gave them at least a tie, and a scrambled bye off the last ball gave them the narrowest of wins. Kazi Ashraful Hoque and Rakesh Negi had two wickets each for the Stallions. Khurram Shezad was named man of the match.
Scorecard
The second match saw more runs, as the Avengers posted 169 all out batting first. Rahul Vashisht led the way with a hard hitting 57 from 33 balls, 46 in boundaries (5 sixes, 4 fours). He got good support from Bharat Shetty (25) and Sachin Vashisht (23), but the Rising Stars did well to restrict them to 62 off the last 10 overs. Taqrim Ghous and Raza Riaz each took three wickets, Mohammed Irfan two, and Adeel Illyas one, plus three catches.
In reply the Rising Stars lost early wickets and were 11/3 before Harish Kana (10) and Adeel Ilyas (42) put on 51 together. Tapan Trivedi broke the partnership and took another wicket; the Rising Stars were 75/5 but then lost their last 5 wickets for just 5 runs, as Rahul Vashisht ran through the lower order, taking 5 wickets in the course of 9 balls – an obvious choice for man of the match.
Scorecard