Popovich Panthers vs Viterbi Vultures match report
Feb 01, 2017 04:16 PM | Popovich Panthers won by 82 runs | ScorecardDefending Champions Popovich Panthers kick started the spring 2017 season with a bang. The Panthers were in visibly great spirits having retained their core group of players in Rahul Chitkara, Tarun Sandhu, Mukul Sagar, Kamalpreet Kalsi, Ganganjot Singh and Siddharth Thakur. Winning the toss Panthers made a bold decision of batting first on a pitch which had lot of moisture and dew from the recent heavy rain however Viterbi opening bowlers struggled to control their lines and Popovich Openers Sushil Premjani and Gaganjot Singh capitalized on that and launched into the Viterbi bowling. Thanks to some tight bowling by Abhimanyu Rajp, Rohit Kumar and rookie Apurva Khamparia, Vultures slowed things down in the middle overs but both the openers mixed caution with aggression and Panthers got off to a great start and were sitting comfortable at 105/0 in 10 overs. 11th over of the innings hurt the Vultures as Akshat playing his first game at Cromwell found it difficult to control the swinging ball and ended up bowling 6 no balls in an over resulting in 6 extra free hit deliveries. Vultures ended up conceding 43 in that over. Quick fire cameos by rookie Anurath and experienced Tarun Sandhu and Mukul Sagar ensured that Panthers posted a towering score of 193 in their allotted 15 overs.
Vultures already without one of their mainstays Vikas Rajgopal had their task cut out but in Abhimanyu Rajp they had a player who can single handedly win games from any situation. Vultures got of to a good start with rookie Manas and Abhimanyu going after the bowling in the very first over but Mukul Sagar bowled a brilliant second over getting the prized wicket of Abhimany Rajp and 2 guest players (Tejas and Aayush). Rohit and Manas got a partnership going and kept up Vultures run rate above 10 but the Panthers score of 192 was always going to be a daunting chase for Vultures and they eventually got out for 133 at the end of their allotted 15 overs.
Sushil Premjani was man of the match for his all-round performance.
Special Mentions for Rookies: Viterbi Vultures: Manas Ghare for his awesome batting knock and Apurva Khampari for his controlled bowling in the middle overs. Popovich Pantehrs: Anurath Gupta, Rishabh Tyagi, Sanjay Purswani and Preethish for their bowling and fielding efforts.