Results from an action packed first weekend at the RCB Corporate Cricket Championship

FlipKart players celebrate

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GAME 1 – FLIPKART VS ANZ (ANZ WON TOSS AND BAT FIRST)

FlipKart (152/5 in 17.4 overs) beat ANZ (151 a/o in 20 overs) by 5 wickets

With dew and overcast weather delaying the start, the first game of Group A was between debutants FlipKart and ANZ who won the toss and batted first. Their captain, Nikhil led admirably, scoring 29 off 34 balls with 5 fours. The top scorer of the ANZ innings was Krishna Kumar knocking 36 off 32 balls with 4 fours and a six hit to the skies. ANZ finished 151 all out in the last ball of the innings with run-outs being the chief wicket taker. FlipKart’s offie, Nirav took 2-22 including the captain’s wicket.

The chase proved to smooth sailing for FlipKart due to two excellent knocks from MOTM Gaurav and Shabaz, their opener. Gaurav remained not out on 59 off 40 balls with 7 fours and 1 six while Shabaz set the tone for the chase with 51 off 43 balls including 7 fours and 1 six. The lack of chances and dropped catches resulted in ANZ being unable to defend the 152 run target, chased down in 17.4 overs.

FlipKart captain Leenish Kurian had a sound prediction for the ‘Group of Death’. “Whoever tops this group will go all the way in the tournament. Being the newcomers in this wonderfully organized tournament, we can surprise anyone. Our Top 3 batsmen are the key to our success.”

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GAME 1 – AMAZON VS EMC2 (AMAZON WON TOSS AND BOWL FIRST)

EMC2 (104/6 in 17 overs) beat Amazon (101/6 in 17 overs) by 3 runs

In another delayed start to the opening day, the second game in Group A was played between defending champions Amazon and EMC2. In a shortened game of 17 overs, EMC2 managed only 99 runs in their full set of overs with Amazon’s Kaushik taking 4-19. Due to a technicality when Amazon had 12 players on the field, a 5 run penalty was awarded to EMC2 and the target rose to 105 for Amazon.

The defending champions ran into the same problems faced by EMC2 and at one stage with 3 overs to go, they were 78/4 and struggling to get to their target. The last over proved exciting as a six was hit with two balls to spare. Unfortunately, Amazon’s earlier mistake cost them as they fell short of the target by 1 run. Aatif from EMC2 was awarded the MOTM scoring a run a ball 34.

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GAME 2 – SUMERU SOLUTIONS VS EXPERIS IT (SUMERU WON TOSS AND BAT FIRST)

Sumeru Solutions (153/8 in 20 overs) beat Experis IT (55 a/o in 10.5 overs) by 98 runs

In the second match on Ground 2, confident Sumeru Solutions demolished Experis IT with a dominant 98 run victory over them. At the centre of the storm was Durvesh who orchestrated the win, top scoring at the top of the order with 51 off 44 balls including 6 fours. He was especially instrumental in defending the target strongly with him picking up two wickets for 11 runs. No surprise when he was announced as the MOTM.

In contrast to Sumeru Solutions’ strong showing both with bat and ball, Experis IT conceded 36 wides and also were guilty of a slow over rate. When it came to the chase, they folded up pretty quickly getting all out for 55 by the end of the 11th over.

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GAME 2 – ACCENTURE VS NETAPP (NETAPP WON TOSS AND BOWL FIRST)

Accenture (69/7 in 15 overs) beat Netapp (62/6 in 15 overs) by 7 runs

In the second shortened match due to the weather, Accenture won the battle of ‘who can play worst least?’ with a 7 run victory over Netapp. Accenture lost the toss and batted first only being able to put up 69 with the loss of 7 wickets. Netapp began confidently and almost crossed the line but fell short because of a late innings collapse.

While neither team put up a stellar batting display, the bowlers dominated the field. Accenture’s Sai Praveen took 2 for 15 runs in 4 overs to win the MOTM accolade.

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GAME 3 – HCL VS HP ITO (HCL WON TOSS AND BOWL FIRST)

HCL (99/4 in 15.5 overs) beat HP ITO (95 all out in 19.5 overs) by 6 wickets

The final match of the day on Ground 2 ended in spectacular fashion with HCL completely dominating the fixture In the first innings, HP ITO folded for 95 inside 20 overs with Vijay top scoring, 16 off 14 balls with 2 fours. The captain of HCL, Manjunath excelled with the ball, taking 2-13 in 2.5 overs. His words of encouragement after every wicket motivated his bowlers to continuously search for wickets with shouts of “7 more to go” after 3 wickets were taken.

The HCL chase had Anup steering the effort with 33 off 42 balls including 4 fours. HP ITO’s only noteworthy bowler was Madav Sharma;s 1-17 in 4 overs. MOTM was Adithya S. who remained 28 not out in 32 overs with 3 fours. He also took 1-11 in 2 overs in the first innings.

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HCL beat HP ITO comfortably

GAME 3 – TEAM HP VS METRIC STREAM (METRIC STREAM WON TOSS AND BOWL FIRST)

Team HP (88/8 in 15 overs) beat Metric Stream (84/7 in 15 overs) by 4 runs

In the final match of the day on Ground 1, the other HP team in Team HP managed to draw another low scoring match close and win it in the end over Metric Stream. In Team HP’s batting, Vinod top scored 32 off 36 balls while Ram Kishore took 3/22 and Aravind scalped 2 wickets from 12 runs.

Metric’s run chase was worrisome and lethargic, like the weather towards the end of play. Manjunath top scored 22 off 17 balls. The bowlers distributed their work but the real success was in their batting and hence Vinod took home the MOTM award.

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MATCH 1 – ITC FOODS VS SASKEN (ITC FOODS WON TOSS AND BOWL FIRST

ITC Foods (139/8 in 19.5 overs) beat Sasken (138/5 in 20 overs) by 2 wickets

In the opening match of Day 2 of the tournament, ITC Foods began brightly (unlike the weather) with a demolition job of an average target set by Sasken. The ITC bowlers were efficient in the early morning dew after a delayed start. But the real entertainment began in ITC chasing down the target through the performance of one man – Parameshwar who took the MOTM for his 101 off 64 balls with 11 fours and 7 sixes. The first century of the edition and it only took the second day for it to happen!

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MATCH 1 – VM WARE VS NASDAQ (NASDAQ WON TOSS AND BAT FIRST)

Nasdaq (91/8 in 20 overs) lost to VM Ware (92/6 in 17.4 overs) by 4 wickets

In the second and what turned out to be the last match of the day, VM Ware continued the trend of underrated teams beating bigger opposition by chasing a small target set by Nasdaq. With rain looming in the distance, the chase for VM Ware was easy and unhindered simply because of the MOTM Tarun scoring 32 off 46 balls including 3 fours.

Unfortunately the next 4 matches (EMC2 vs ANZ; Amazon vs FlipKart; Netapp vs Experis IT; Accenture vs Sumeru Solutions) were all washed out due to incessant rain. 1 point was awarded to each of the 8 teams.