Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Mumbai Champs record first win in ICL

A splendid spell of bowling by slow left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav and an unbeaten 66 from Raviraj Patil helped the Mumbai Champs to their first victory after three matches in the Indian Cricket League tournament.

The Champs recorded their six-wicket win against the Ahmedabad Rockets in a day/night Twenty20 match here at the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium, Panchkula.

The Rockets' openers, whose powerful stand knocked the wind out of Chandigarh Lions in the first game of the tournament, gave their team a steady start after Damien Martyn decided to bat against the Champs. Sachin Dholpure was trapped by Michael Kasprowicz for 29 after he and Wavell Hinds had put on 61 off 9.1 overs, and although they were slightly off the pace, the platform given was ideal for a run-fest in the remaining overs.

However, Avinash Yadav wrecked any such hopes with his 4-0-14-4. He first removed Hinds in the 12th over. Saman Jayantha effected a run-out of Sridharan Sriram in the 14th; in the same over he caught Martyn off Yadav's bowling. The left-arm spinner went on to make it four for the match by dismissing Reetinder Sodhi and Rakesh Patel in the 18th.

The Rockets struggled to 131 for 9, and though it was an improvement on their 107 for 6 against the Delhi Giants, the score was not likely to be enough.

Subhojit Paul fell early during the Champs' chase, and Jayantha wasn't too impressive in his 22-ball 13, but Raviraj Patil went at a brisk pace to keep the Champs on course.

His 66 off 46 balls contained six fours and three sixes. Patil's fiery 52 against the Kolkata Tigers in their previous match had all but sealed victory, but this time he stayed till the end as the Champs reached their target with two balls to spare.

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