2nd T-20 Manipur Veteran Cricket Tournament : CHAMP down MODEL to walk into semi-final
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 05 2014 : With the frontline batsmen rising to the occasion and chipping in with their bat ably supported by some incisive bowling a tight fielding, CHAMP (Khagempalli) did not have much of a problem in beating MODEL Club (Chingamakha) by 6 wickets to enter the semifinal stage of the 2nd T-20 Manipur Veteran Cricket Tournament.

On winning the toss, MODEL Club elected to bat but this move misfired as the bowlers of CHAMP managed to capitalise on the early morning dew and extracted life from the pitch.

Though Homeshor with 32 runs off only 33 balls, not out and Ranjit 27 runs off 33 balls did put up some resistance, the bowlers of CHAMP managed to regularly send the batsmen of MODEL Club back to the pavilion at regular interval.

Bisheshwar, Ratan and Ibobi led the charge, bagging two wickets each while Tejbanta chipped in with one wicket.

Chaoba of MODEL Club chipped in with a valuable 17 runs off 26 balls to lend some respectability to the score.

With wickets falling at regular interval and with the batsmen of MODEL Club going in for some rash shots, not judging the line and length of the ball, the innings of MODEL Club folded up at 101 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Set a modest target of 102, the frontline batsmen of CHAMP took to the field in a positive frame of mind.

Though Cherish of MODEL Club did well in picking up two wickets, it was not enough as runs flowed freely from the blades of the CHAMP batsmen.

Playing the ball with merit, Bapin led the charge of CHAMP to come up with a top score of 25 runs off 29 balls, not out.

With Bapin holding fort at one end, the other batsmen chipped in with the bat.

Tejbanta scored a commendable 23 runs off 30 balls, followed by Ninghor who notched up a score of 17 runs off 24 balls and Kangjamba who made a quick fire 14 runs off 13 balls.

The other wicket takers of MODEL Club were Bhorot and Sekhar who bagged one wicket each.

With the bowlers of MODEL Club unable to check the run flow, CHAMP reached their target of 102 runs for the loss of only 4 wickets in 18.3 overs.

It was an all round show from all the players of CHAMP which carried them the day to reach to semi-final stage.

Dominating the match in every department of the game, the bowlers first did the good work of restricting MODEL Club to 101 and then the batsmen came good when it mattered, with all its frontline batsmen coming up with commendable scores, repeatedly finding the gaps on either side of the wicket.

For his fine show of 23 runs off 30 balls and for picking up a valuable wicket, Tejbanta of CHAMP walked away with the man of the match award.

Tomorrow IWVCC will take on NAPSA in another quarter final match of the tournament.

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