CVZ registered their second win in CSNL with four matches and moved to 3rd position in the group with a dominating performance in a must-win 40 overs game against ACC.
ACC scored 143 runs all out in 36.3 Overs restricted by fiery spells of pace bowling, particularly from Naveen Malik. CVZ chased down the target with ease in 20.3 overs with the help of half-centurion Ankush Hasani’s composed hitting!
ACC batting woes
CVZ won the toss and asked ACC to bat first to take the advantage of humid conditions at their home ground. Both ACC openers were never at ease and got troubled by the sheer pace and movement of the ball. Ranbeer Singh was struggling to connect the ball and finally got out for a duck in the fifth over. The fall of the wickets continued and by the eighteenth over top order batsmen of ACC were back in the pavilion. The score was 69 for 6.
Amit Shukla and Sachin Bharati did some damage control and put together a partnership of 37 runs. Sachin Bharti was then trapped by Nitish Gandhi at deep mid-wicket. Amit tried to keep one end secured with tailenders and dragged the collapse till 37th overs but couldn’t put together a formidable total on board. Eventually, ACC was all out within 37 overs and put on a mediocre total of 142! CVZ frontline bowlers Naveen (4 wickets), Ranjith (2 wickets), and Ankush (1 wicket) maintained pressure right from the beginning and were very well supported by medium pacers without leaking too many runs - Nitesh Gandhi (2 wickets), Amit Purohit (1 wicket) and Saurabh Verma. Great bowling display to bundle ACC within 40 overs provided CVZ with one bonus point
CVZ Fluent Batting
CVZ started well with the run-scoring but lost wickets at regular intervals. Opener Jithesh Godi showed his intent by hitting a four and a six on consecutive deliveries in the first over. ACC bowlers tried to put on brakes by sending CVZ’s top 4 batsmen in 12 overs back to Pavilion, including Jitesh who scored quick-fire 36 runs with five fours and a six! The score was 68 for 4.
Ankush Hasani and Rahul Swami then displayed a great show of batting with the courage to punish bad balls yet defend good deliveries with a full face of the bat like champion batsmen. Both of them put together a not-out partnership of 78 runs in 8.2 Overs and took CVZ to victory. Ankush controlled the pace of the chase with his hard-hitting but at the same time making sure not to concede his wicket on good deliveries. He scored 66 runs in 42 deliveries with five fours and six massive sixes. Rahul scored crucial 21 runs, easing out the pressure on Ankush by hitting 3 sixes from another end. Both of them made it look like a walk-in-the-park chase and enabled CVZ to gain one bonus point by chasing the target well within 35 overs.
Kudos to umpires Aman Roy and Mohammad Irshad from Zug CC for being fair and dealing with tricky situations throughout the game.
Match Summary: CVZ Won the Toss and elected to field first
Aargau Cricket Club: 142/10 in 36.3 Overs
Naseeb 31 (31), Amit 24 (73), Sachin 20 (23)
Naveen 7.3 – 0 – 18 – 4
Ranjith 8.0 – 1 – 16 – 2
Nitesh 6.0 – 0 – 27 – 2
Cricket Verein Zug: 146/4 in 20.2 Overs
Ankush 66* (42), Jithesh 36 (29), Rahul 21* (20)
Naveen 6.0– 0 – 49 – 2
Raj 3.2 – 0 – 22 – 1
Sachin 5.0 – 0 – 24 – 1
Cricket Verein Zug, CVZ - Won by Six wickets
MoM: Naveen Malik and Anksuh Hasani
Special thanks to Hunenberg Gemeinde and Unicorn Baseball team for providing the ground; this helps us to promote cricket in the Zug area.
(Blog is written by Vaibhav Zirmite, Picture Courtesy - Snehal Zirmite and Sumi Ranjith)