Cricket: Vijay Cup-Eden Kings upset Youngstars with massive win |11 May 2011

Winning the toss, Eden Kings elected to bat first and it proved to be the right decision as they easily achieved victory by 114 runs. Openers Hari and Tim laid a solid platform by putting on 82 runs for the first wicket in no time.

Tim made 36 runs with 7 fours and Hari made 27 along with 6 fours.

Once Hari departed, Christo made life harder for the Youngstars bowlers by smashing a quick-fire 40 runs in 17 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes. Wickets kept falling but contributions were provided regularly by upcoming batsmen Charles with 18 runs, Khan (25 runs with 4 fours) and Ismael (31 runs with 2 sixes and fours each). With a contribution of 35 extras by Youngstars and a solid batting performance, Eden Kings posted 234 for 9 in 25 overs.

For the Youngstars bowlers, Ricky picked up 2 wickets for 35 runs, Hessel got 2 for 45, Dharmesh got 1 for 29 and Jaydip picked up 4 wickets but gave away 61 runs. All four completed their 5 overs.

In batting, Youngstars lost 3 quick wickets in the run chase (Ragul, Raja and Anthony) before skipper Dharmesh and opener Milind put on a solid partnership for the 4th wicket. Milind made 10 runs with 2 fours and Dharmesh hit 25 runs with 3 fours and a six.

The other partnership was provided between Byron and Hessel. Hessel was dismissed for 20 runs after hitting 4 fours and Byron remained undefeated on 16 runs with 3 boundaries. In the last 2 overs, Ricky and Jaydip hit a four each but they weren’t enough as Youngstars, who could never keep in touch with the asking rate, failed to reach a mammoth target of 235 runs. They only managed 120 runs in 25 overs by losing 8 wickets.

For Eden Kings, Tim picked up 3 wickets for 26 runs in 5 overs and Hari got 2 wickets for 20 runs in 5 overs. The most economical bowler was Prabath who claimed 1 scalp and conceded only 8 runs in his 4 overs.

777 sneak to semis with comfortable victory

In a must-win encounter for both teams, 777 clashed on the same afternoon against Artic Turn in which 777 clinched victory by 20 runs.

Batting first, 777 lost wickets regularly but contributions were provided by each and every batsman –Sanjay (8 runs), Parthi (11 runs), Krishna (16 runs), Sandesh (11 runs) and Suranga (16 runs). Parthi, Suranga and Sandesh all hit a four and a six each, but the turning moment of the match was the 50-plus partnership between Prakash and Dharma. Prakash made 21 runs with 1 six and 2 fours and Dharma made 31 runs with 1 six and 4 fours.

With contributions by most batsmen, a solid 8th wicket partnership and 30 extras provided by Artic Turn 777 reached a score of 154 runs in 25 overs.

For Arctic Turn, mostly all their bowlers picked up a wicket each apart from Vijesh who got 3 wickets for 30 runs in 4 overs.

In the run chase, Arctic Turn were off to a disastrous start as they lost 4 wickets in quick successions. Things were brought right on track by Pandey and Vijesh who put a 70-run partnership for the 5th wicket.  Vijesh scored 38 runs with 9 fours and Pandey made 22 along with 3 fours and a six. After the 2 batsmen were dismissed the upcoming batsmen were unable to contribute much and failed to keep to the asking rate. As a result of a disciplined bowling performance by 777 bowlers, Arctic Turn were bowled out for 134 runs falling 20 runs short of their target.

For 777, Krishna picked up 2 for 21, Suranga claimed 2 wickets for 21 runs and Dharma too got 2 wickets for 30 runs. All these 3 bowlers completed their 5 over spells.

Aritra Das