TCC Taped Ball Professional Spring Tournament: Winners RSCC, Runners Up Champions CC
Winners — RSCC
HOUSTON: RSCC won the TCC Taped Ball Professional ( Divn II ) Spring 2023 tournament by defending the modest target 115.This final was between RSCC (1st final) and Champions CC II (2nd final). Coming into the finals both the teams had massive victories in their playoff matches. This was a tightly contested final.
12th of August was a bright and sunny day, Champions CC II won the toss and elected to field first. Matzke W has been known to be a bowling wicket with big boundaries on the leg side. Champions CC II were off to a dream start as Saad bowled a tight line in the first over which led to the wicket of Naani. Nagarjun followed in the very next over and RSCC were in a spot of bother at the end of the powerplay with a score of 11 for 2. Nasir and Sai Kiran played positive cricket and led the fightback with an impressive partnership of 36 before Sai Kiran got caught behind to Rehan. Rehan bowled beautifully to trap the other RSCC batsmen by picking up wickets in regular intervals, RSCC could not find momentum due to lack of partnerships. Nasir held the fort on one end but ultimately Saad prevailed by finding the nick to a straightforward wicket keeper catch. RSCC were struggling at 77 for 9, when Shashivardhan and Chaithanya added 37 valuable runs for the 10th wicket. Shashivardhan did majority of the heavy lifting by scoring 26 and remained not out. This lead RSCC to a defendable score of 114.
Runners Up — Champions CC
For Champions CC II, Rehan and Saad were the pick of the bowlers, they picked 5 and 4 wickets respectively. The other bowlers complimented them by bowling tight lines and not giving away easy runs. Wicket Keeper Khawar had an amazing day at the office by picking 7 catches and a stumping.
Chasing in Matzke W has always been a challenge, Champions CC II had a challenging task in hand. RSCC were off to a great start as Chaithanya dismissed both the openers, at the end of 5 Champions CC II were cautiously at 19 for 2. Brilliant piece of fielding and a direct hit by Nasir dismissed the in-form batsman and the tournament’s highest scorer Khawar Ali. Disciplined bowling by Raja, Naani and Shashivardhan kept Champions CC II run rate in check, this led to some rash shots and brilliant catching in the deep by Saketh and Sravan to give RSCC much needed breakthroughs. Excellent infield fielding by Shashivardhan and remarkable glovework by Sai Kiran led to their captain Adnan’s dismissal. Rehan played a patient innings, but RSCC bowlers were right on the mark and did not give any room for Rehan to free his arms. At last Rehan got caught in the deep by Nagarjun. At the end of 20, Champions CC II scored 96 for 9.
For RSCC Chaithanya, Raja and Shashivarshan picked up 2 wickets each. They were complimented well with tight bowling from Karthik and Naani, and brilliant fielding to keep it tight.
RSCC were rewarded their first championship and the celebrations showed how much it meant to all the players.
The game was followed by a well-managed presentation ceremony organized by Jagdish Biradar. Saketh Chikoti, the captain of RSCC was handed over the Championship trophy and the runners up trophy was handed over to the captain of Champions CC II Adnan Hasan. Shashivardhan from RSCC was the MVP of the final. Tournament awards were also handed over. Nasir from RSCC was nominated as the MVP of the tournament. Khanwar from Champions CC II was the best batsman with 237 runs. Sameer from SLL was the best bowler with 15 wickets. Suresha from WSK was the best wicketkeeper with 22 dismissals. Sai Prasad from Woodlands Hurricanes was the best All Rounder with 194 runs and 8 wickets. Special awards for Hat-trick were given to Umeed and Vineet from WSK, Raviteja from Woodlands Hurricanes, Abu from Houston Scorpions and Tanuj from Kastech Kings. Dinesh from Gladiators was thanked and appreciated by one and all for his voluntary scheduling services for the benefit of the teams.
Online scorecard is at https://cricclubs.com/3T/viewScorecard.do?matchId=1633&clubId=8675 and the youtube link is https://youtu.be/gbbFl30jvmA