Cricket: Vijay Cup-Another win for 777 |12 June 2009

The 777 team started off with Krishna and Siva as the opening pair. In-form Krishna soon took charge of the Luckstars’ bowlers after being dropped by Sulu off the first ball from Sohan.

This proved to be crucial as a good batsman never fails to seize on a lucky break. Krishna went on to score a quick-fire 47 off 25 balls, with three sixes and five fours.

By the time he was out, 777 were already off to a flying start. They had scored 66 off just five overs with the loss of just one wicket – Siva, who was out for a duck.

Despite some tidy bowling by Sohan, who ended up with six overs for 23 runs and one wicket, and Rajiva, who took three wickets with the prized scalps of Krishna and Esar,  777’s batsmen cruised along with a steady performance from Esar, who scored 34 from 18 balls with one six and four fours.

777 ended up with a score of 189 runs courtesy of some sensible batting by Dharma, who scored a well-earned 30 runs off 20 balls, and some flashy batting from Sandesh, who scored 18 from seven balls.

In reply, Luckstars did not get off to a good start, with their opener Sulu sent packing after scoring only four runs from nine balls. This was followed by a brilliant piece of fielding by Krishna Naidu – a direct hit to run Janaka out.

Luckstars’ star batsman Aruna failed to impress on this occasion, scoring only one run, and was out bowled by a brilliant delivery from 777 paceman Ganesh. Despite good performances from Thusita (39 runs) and Shirantha (32 runs), the team were all out for 113 runs in the 21st over.

It was an overall good bowling performance by the 777 bowlers, particularly experienced campaigner Santosh with 3.3 overs, eight runs and three wickets – the pick of their bowlers – that helped seal a convincing victory.

For his overall good performance in batting, bowling and fielding, Krishna Naidu was voted man-of-the-match for the second time in a row.

Eden Islands Kings get 25-run win

They say a week is a long time in sports, and the Eden Island Kings proved that right last Sunday in the fourth match of the competition.

After they had struggled to put on 74 runs in their previous encounter, the Kings piled on 187 runs against the Golden Oldies to win the match by 25 runs.

The Golden Oldies missed all-rounder veteran Kaushal Patel but got off to a good start, dismissing three Kings’ batsmen by the fourth over.

After their traditional poor start, the middle order turned things around with Nitesh making 34 runs and second-gamer Khan blasting his way to 47 runs. Formerly with Banyan Tree, Bakya chipped in with 22 and, combined with 30 wides, the Kings made an impressive 187 considering at one stage they were 74 for six.

The clear stand-out for the Oldies was Bertie. His uncanny accuracy was highlighted by the fact that he took five wickets – four bowled and one CBW. The old adage “they miss, you hit” certainly rang true on the day for Bertie with a great performance.

In reply, the Oldies got off to a similar poor start, losing three wickets in the first three overs, Hari Krishna snapping up all three. Veteran Patrick Thomas once again showed his class with a stylish 48. Arup Das and Edward combined well with 26 and 23 runs respectively, but the runs were always going to be too much and the Kings got the final wicket in the 29th over.
 
Playing an outstanding game, Khan took three wickets and featured in a run-out. With his runs in the first innings, he was a good candidate for the man-of-the-match award.

In the next match on Sunday, 777 will take on Vijay in a repeat of the Eden Island knock-out cup final.