CHALLENGERS DUCK AT CU WITH KHADER’s 104
Chicago United vs Challengers | MwCC 40-40
By Metha Rathinam
Chicago United assembled at Washington Park an hour and half early to the match, as they do for all matches for their warm-ups, stretching etc. Challengers, the current pool leaders and a well-balanced team arrived soon after. No one had a clue about who would win the match until the 80th over of the day was bowled. Chicago United won the toss and chose to bat.
Challengers strike bowler Urvish Desai chipped in very early in the game by picking both the openers for a duck and 3 runs respectively. There was a brief partnership between number 3 and number 4 batsmen but it didn’t last long as the third wicket fell early as well. The number 4 batsman Abdul Khader seemed like batting against a different team on a different pitch as he was quite comfortable in picking the gaps and pacing his innings steadily as the wickets on the other end fell on regular intervals. The captain of Chicago United gave him the much needed support in holding the fall of wickets as Abdul Khader steadily inched towards a biggie. Captain Mohammed Sami, Ahmed Askari and Paul Singh chipped in with some valuable partnerships with Khader, who gracefully scored his first ton of the season in style with a straight maximum! Chicago United put up a very good total of 202 on board for the loss of 6 wickets. Urvish Desai was the pick for the bowlers for Challengers as he picked up 3 early wickets.
Challenger’s openers walked into the pitch with great confidence in chasing down 203. Ahmed Askari the strike bowler for Chicago United sent batsman number 1 for a duck. A good 2nd wicket partnership from Nandan Umesh and Jay Desai of 50 plus steadied the chase for Challengers after the early wicket. Soon after the 50 run stand, the partnership was broken by Chicago United bowlers by picking both the batsmen in quick succession which was quickly followed by wicket number 4 for just 1 more run. The best bowler for Challengers happened to be the best batsman as well. Urvish Desai showed great composure with bat and scored a quick 37 with just 29 balls partnered with Vijay Radhakrishna’s 21 ball 24 runs. This turned the game from Chicago United to Challengers looking comfortable to chase it down. Strike bowler Ahmed Askari had other plans, dismissed Urvish when he looked the most comfortable and slightly turned the game towards Chicago United. With Vijay still on strike, being survived from a dropped catch, Challengers looked in control of chasing the game. The centurion Abdul Khader bowled brilliantly to pick the crucial wicket of Vijay. With just 29runs to win from last 5 overs and 3 wickets in hand, it was anyone’s game. Chicago United’s regrouping and a great turn around in the last 6 overs with increased intensity on the field pulled the game in their favor and won the last over thriller by getting the Challengers all out at 195 for 10 in 39.4 overs. Yaseen Sheikh’s confident volunteering to bowl the last over when all the strike bowlers had run out of their quota was commendable and he bowled brilliantly to contain the Challengers and also pick the final wicket.
Overall one of the best games of the tournament that went till the wire and both the teams and spectators enjoyed every bit of it.