Popovich Panthers vs Cromwell Champs match report
May 03, 2016 02:49 PM | Popovich Panthers won by 64 runs | ScorecardPopovich Panthers win the Cromwell Premier League trophy for the second successive season by defeating Cromwell Champs by 64 runs. The Panthers are the 1st team to win back to back CPL championships and finished with a stellar 15-1 record in the 2 tournaments.
The Panthers faced the Cromwell Champs yet again in the finals and dominated CC, just as they had on the previous 4 occasions in the last year. PP won the toss and elected to bat in this 20 over affair.
Veteran opener Sushil Premjani played a determined innings with flair and resolve to score a MVP worth 64 runs of just 34 balls. CC former captain and veteran Rana Aijaz got CC back into the game by getting the series MVP Gaurav Mathur out caught behind for just 10 runs. However, the experienced Pinkies middle order didn't panic and Ashish Relan unleashed a destructive 38 runs of just 15 balls to provide the exclamation mark in the innings. The panthers at one stage were looking at 175-185 runs but Ashish's innings gave them the boost and the Panthers scored 207 in the 20 overs. Rana Aijaz (2/22) and Amarnath (3/22) were the pick of the bowlers for CC.
Chasing 208 in 20 overs, CC were desperate for a decent start but skipper Tarun Sandhu pulled off a brilliant one handed c&b in the first over of the innings to dismiss Nayan Ks. His partner Ankur Saxena disturbed the woodwork of CC skipper Suhas B Shekar, who has been in destructive form in recent games. It was then up to veterans Rana Aijaz and Ankith Nagarle to salvage and make a stand. Rana with his 4 consecutive ducks against PP was fighting the demons in his mind and almost gave up his wicket yet again by miscuing a low full toss to cover. Unfortunately PP couldn't hang on to the catch and the cricket gods gave Rana another chance. However, Ravi Lingineni soon deceived Rana with a brilliant delivery to get the important breakthrough for PP. Ankith Nagarle however did not let up, he put up a breaktaking innings and played some wonderful shots all over the ground to score 78 crucial runs for CC. The rest of the CC batting order didn't last long against the pace onslaught from PP and the pinkies cruised to an easy win at the end. Noteworthy performances from skipper Tarun Sandhu (3/14), Ashish Relan (2/24) and Ravi Lingineni (2/33).
Star performers for PP during the season were:
Gaurav Mathur - 412 runs in 8 innings
Sushil Premjani - 133 runs in 5 innings and 28 dismissals
Ashish Relan - 113 runs and 11 wickets
Goutham A V Kumar - 11 wickets
Ravi Lingineni - 9 wickets
Thank you all for the support and looking forward to next season in August 2016. Fight On!