Barbarians had a poor memory, getting restricted to 34 while chasing a score less than 70, 2 years ago. Ghosts of that performance might have just resurfaced when opener Rohit Goyal, in his audacious self, got dismissed for a golden duck in the 2nd ball of this chase.
But Divyendra Singh and skipper Muralidhara Vandhrasi pretty much kept that wicket behind them and pushed on nicely as the 2nd and 3rd overs went for 14 and 15 runs respectively. Himel Rongdi came on for the 4th over and he began with a wide which eased away whatever scoreboard pressure was mounting for the chasing side. Both Barbarian batters were truly barbaric.
It became a Divyendra Singh show as he smashed Himel Rongdi for 3 consecutive fours and a six to bring his side in contention for a bonus point - they needed to finish this within 7 overs. The keeper batter got his 50 in just 23 balls and skipper Al Mahmud brought himself into the attack it had come down to 4 runs from 1 ball for the bonus point! In the end, it was an emphatic win along with a bonus point for the Barbarians.
It was a gut wrenching outing for the Dominators who failed to collect any points today as well.
6.6 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Muralidhara Vandrasi, BARBARIANS CLINCH A BONUS POINT, Mahmud goes over the waist and down the leg side, easy pickings for Vandrasi who helps it on its way past short fine and gets his team across the line
6.6 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Muralidhara Vandrasi, shorter and outside off, the umpire says it is outside the tramline and signals a WIDE
6.5 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Divyendra Singh, PUT DOWN, fuller outside off, smacked straight to cover who puts it down, one run taken
6.4 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Divyendra Singh, PARRIED FOR SIX, goes fuller into the slot, Divyendra hits it to long-on, the fielder cops it on to his wrist and that deflects away over the ropes
6.3 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Muralidhara Vandrasi, one run towards fine leg, an inside edge rolls towards short fine and they get a single
6.2 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Divyendra Singh, FIFTY FOR DIVYENDRA, fuller and straighter, he just gets it over the bowler for a single and they cross over
6.1 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Divyendra Singh, GETS THE RAMP THIS TIME, fuller and angled in and Divyendra goes low and connects on the scoop this time, really fine and goes for FOUR
18 runs needed from 24 balls! The half century stand came up in the last over and Divyendra Singh celebrated the milestone with 3 consecutive boundaries and a six as the Barbarians set their eyes on the bonus point. Rungdi got a bit of a treatment in that over.
Abdullah Al Mahmud comes back for his final over!
6
overs
70/1score
4
4
4
6
0
1
runs
Divyendra Singh*
45(21)
Muralidhara Sai Vandrasi
23(14)
Himel Rongdi
0/27
5.6 Himel Rongdi to Divyendra Singh, flighted outside off, blasted out to deep cover for a single
5.5 Himel Rongdi to Divyendra Singh, slower outside off, Divyendra looks for the paddle but only manages an inside edge
5.4 Himel Rongdi to Divyendra Singh, BIG HIT, tosses up on the stumps again, Divyendra picks it up uppishly this time, clears long on and gets a maximum
5.3 Himel Rongdi to Divyendra Singh, SHABBY FIELDING, tossed up on the stumps, Divyendra swings it along the ground on the leg side, the fielders leave it for each other at mid wicket and give away FOUR RUNS
5.2 Himel Rongdi to Divyendra Singh, FOUR MORE, short again and this time Divyendra picks the gap at mid-wicket to get consecutive boundaries
5.1 Himel Rongdi to Divyendra Singh, drops it short, Divyendra picks the length and hammers it in between long on and deep mid wicket for a boundary
37 runs needed from 30 balls - The fielding side captain coming on almost feels like the last roll of the dice. One of the fielders overran the ball near the boundary line which would really be indicative of the kind of day that the Dominators have had. This chase looks in an auto pilot mode now.
Rongdi returns for his final over!
5
overs
51/1score
2
1
0
0
4
1
runs
Divyendra Singh*
26(15)
Muralidhara Sai Vandrasi
23(14)
Abdullah Al Mahmud
0/8
4.6 Abdullah Al Mahmud to Divyendra Singh, fuller and angling into the stumps, played towards deep square leg for a single