Into the Semis!

KölnCC played its 50 over game after a break of almost one and half months. It was a quarter final of regional liga against Mavericks. What seemed as an easy job was completed with little hiccup. But as they say, all's well that ends well.

Quarter final was scheduled at Düsseldorf on 13th of August. With clear sky but wet outfield, Rishi Pillai, captain of KölnCC chose to bowl after winning the toss. It all started well for KölnCC. But the main strike bowler Zadran, who had injured his thumb during nets was finding it difficult to control the bowl. Still his pace proved too much for Maverick’s batters. On the other hand the experienced Rishi, was clinical in his performance. He was so accurate that he ended being the leading wicket taker with 4 in total in his quota of full overs. Unlucky not to take a five-fer. He was well supported by Appu who bowled all his overs on trot with great economy of 3.3 runs per over. Left arm spinners, Jimit and Shrishail also chipped in with couple of wickets.

In reply to this disciplined attack Mavericks intially stumbled but was recoverd by solid middle order batsmen Haseeb and Hussain. They efforts took the target par 100. Otherwise they were struggling to make a respectable total. With Haseeb scoring 42 Mavericks set a dicey target of 129 which looked 150 due to heavy outfield.

In chase, KölnCC began in style with Irfan Ahmed, smashing Mavericks’ bowler over square leg and mid-wicket boundaries. The opening stand of Shrishail and Irfan quickly raced to 55 before Irfan Ahmed was brilliantly caught in the slips. Then came the captain. Rishi tried to dominate the off-spiner but was caught in the inner circle while playing a lofted on-drive. Next in Dhruv formed a stable partnership with the other opener Shrishail. They took the score to 88 before drinks. Shrishail made a solid 42 before he got out first ball after drinks. This led to a little collapse and put KölnCC in trouble.

KölnCC had a little hiccup before finishing the game. Appu, a handy batsman lower down the order came in rescue with solid Dhruv. They formed a partnership of crucial 25 runs. They level score before Dhruv fell for a part timer Haseeb. Haseeb went on to take two more wickets in his over. The score which was 128/5 before Haseeb’s over was suddenly 128/8. With one run remaining and two wickets in hand. The story ended with an anti climax when the bowler bowled a wide to seal KölnCC place in the Semis.