Cricket 2003


Continued from page 1...

The stage for the semis was set and the four teams with their families and friends cheering them on in all languages. The Vols were predominantly Tamil, while the Cleveland team were cheering aloud in Gujarati.

Leading the way, was 13-year old Partha, who called himself the Yell-Leader and Physician for Cleveland. He said that he hoped to make the team next year and that they practiced every weekend ! Every time Partha passed the tent with the trophies, he would say out aloud, pointing at the winner’s cup - ‘Apun ka eech hai’ - ‘The cup is ours’, with a confident smile on his face. The Playboys had that boisterous Yellow Jacket support from some of the volunteers, Niket in particular. And the Sixers brought their spouses and children to root for them.

In the first semi, the Sixers posted a very formidable total of 85, with their best batsman Shyam top scoring with 45 runs. Tech was looking very good with Ambrish blazing away, at 58/3 with 4 overs to spare. But suddenly Ambrish was caught off a good ball from Devang and the rest of the lineup collapsed like a pack of cards! It was a disappointing finish for the Playboys but a calm and efficient performance from the veteran team from Alpharetta.

The battle of Tennessee raged on, on the other field. Cleveland won the toss and elected to field. Chasing seemed to be their forte, having won all their games that way. And again, they showed their mettle with an outstanding performance with the ball. Before they realized it, Chattanooga lost 7 wickets for a little over 30 runs. Radha battled on for almost 3 overs to get them to 49. They had a monumental task at hand to defend that low of a score. Kamlesh and captain Bhavin almost finished it themselves with scores of 17 and 22. They relaxed a bit and showed their youth with some rash shots as the seasoned team, the Vols, who looked out of it in the middle overs, caught a second wind and pounced on them. Wickets tumbled, as Bindu and Bali bowled with poise and purpose. Keyur - was the last man standing in the final 2 overs and just 7 runs to get. Radha came steaming in and bowling his best yorkers, but Keyur calmly blocked them out and took the singles. Bali, bowling the last over, even tried a little leg spin to induce a catch, but big brother swatted the balls away, to save the day as Cleveland made it to an improbable final. As disappointed as they were, the Vols showed their class as they congratulated their state-mates and stayed on to root for them in the finals. Wait till next year, we’ll come back stronger, Bindu and company promised!

After a brief rest for about an hour, and the weather cooling off a bit, the final began with the Webb Bridge Sixers captain calling right on the coin toss and batting first. Captain Sanjay set the tone early with a crisp 29 and others like Azim chipped in with useful innings’. Cleveland, led by Mitesh who claimed 3 wickets, played well, but didn’t dominate like in their previous two games. In response, they lost Ravi early, but Kamlesh was at it again, pulling and chipping his way to a very good unbeaten 32. But chasing 71was not going to be easy and wickets fell around Kamlesh. With one over left and just 4 runs to get, Shyam got the burden of bowling the last over. And deliver he did, bowling a great line and length and putting the pressure on, as even the calm Keyur fell to a bad shot leaving only Mitesh to help Kamlesh, who was stuck at the non-striker’s end. With one ball to go and 2 runs to win and 1 run to tie, in which case too, Cleveland would have won, having lost fewer wickets, the crowd went wild and several discussions followed, with both teams huddling to discuss strategies. After about 5 minutes of pandemonium, the last ball was bowled and Mitesh swung wildly, but the only thing that flew was the bat off his hands and ball ended up in the keepers hands who calmly knocked the stumps off, and the Sixers won by ONE run! What an amazing win, after eighty overs of nail-biting cricket, the Sixers were a deserving champion. They played as a team and despite facing some brilliant individual performances from many opposing teams, they came through, with a very satisfying victory.

The tournament ended with a simple trophy presentation to the Champions and Runners-up. The Vols’ captain, Bindu deservedly won the Best Bowler trophy and the Georgia Tech. star Ambrish won the Best Batsman prize. Although he ended up not winning the final, Kamlesh batted and bowled like a champ and was rewarded with the Man of the Match for the Finals. With many key performances all through the tournament, Azim from the Sixers was chosen as the Man of the Tournament. Mr. Ramesh Maturi, Vice President for Pyramid Consulting and Mr. J.T.Ahluwalia from the Maharaja restaurant were kind enough to show their support to Vibha and their activities and gave out the trophies to the participants. Vibha showed their appreciation to Maharaja, the Title sponsor when Mr. Maturi handed a plaque on Vibha’s behalf to Mr. Ahluwalia. Mr. Ahluwalia added "I am happy to see this tournament grow so big. Vibha is doing a wonderful job in organizing these fund-raisers for a good cause. We are very proud to be associated with them and we will continue to support them in future". Echoing the same sentiments, Mr. Maturi also expressed strong appreciation for Srinivas and all the volunteers of Vibha. The trophy winners also expressed their appreciation for all the tireless efforts of all the volunteers and the good projects that they helped support. Vibha organization expresses it’s special thanks to Pyramid Consulting, FutureTech India Sports and Recreation center, Mirch Masala and Clayoven for their sponsorship. All in all, it was a lovely ending to a great tournament. We realized that this weekend had no losers, just winners. And champions - for a wonderful cause.

2003 << archives << events << home