02/06/2017
Westlake CC Chases 265 in 24.4 overs to Enter Quarter Finals of NTCA T20 Winter Cup
The high scoring game started with some very expensive bowling by openers. Spinners were brought in early but that too didn’t help much.
The first breakthrough was provided by Nishant Mohapatra supported by Mayank Saxena who took a long leap catch (& a deep scratch) at Deep Mid Wicket to break the opening partnership.
Adi Dixit proved his might again by a quick caught & bowled. He ended up getting 2 important wickets. From the other end, Nishant Shah & Faisal Akhtar took 2 wickets each. Adi Dixit & Faisal Akhtar lost out on a few more wickets for some misfields.
Aided by dropped catches & a deep lineup, the Cheetahs managed to put a mammoth score of 264 in 25 overs.
The real treat was offered by Westlake’s Batsmen who were on the offensive from the very first ball.
Satender Bhatia & Nitin Ranjan built a very strong opening partnership of 85/ 9 overs with some exceptional boundaries. Satender scored a quick 18/16 balls with 3 boundaries, while Nitin Ranjan went on to hit 51/ 32 balls with 9 well timed boundaries.
Then came ace batsman Faisal Akhtar who sent opposition in a tizzy with his masterstrokes in all directions. Nishant Shah & Anurakt Dixit provided him much needed support by rotating the strike regularly while he slammed the opposition. But a controversial catch at the boundary ended his inning in 22nd over. With 13 four’s & 1 six, he ended up making 85/ 43 balls.
With asking rate of over 13 by 18th over, Anurakt Dixit brought in all his experience to play with an unbeaten 47/ 18 balls comprising 3 sixes & 4 fours.
From 41 required off 18 balls, the team was down to 12 off last over. Asif Iqbal Shaikh, who replaced Bhushan in 24th over wasted no time & stole the show hitting a boundary, classic six & then the winning four . He ended up making 14 in the first 4 balls of 25th over itself.
This was the highest ever winning chase by Westlake, and it became all the more special having beaten the #1 team in NTCA T20.
