Congratulations
Centurions Red delivered another win in clinical fashion as they successfully defended 166 runs against Ahmadiyya Cc in the 2022 TDCA T20 final (Group A) and won by a margin of 49 runs.
Put into bat first, Srimantha and Mihir started off cautiously with an eye to read the conditions. Ahmadiyya got their breakthrough, thanks to their probing lengths, by dismissing Srimantha at the end of the 5th over. However, Mihir counterattacked the very next over with 3 boundaries flying off his bat to put Centurions at a respectable 45/1 after the end of powerplay.
Mihir continued his fine form and supreme rhythm and scored his 4th fifty of the season playing for Centurion Red. It did look like he might carry on till the end, only for Zargham to pull things back by having Mihir stumped at the end of 11th over. Mihir’s wicket put the brakes on the Centurions run rate and they endured a couple of overs without boundaries.
Just when the loss of momentum loomed large over the batters, Naresh and Sahib plundered 44 runs off the next 4 overs and skewed the balance in Centurions’ favor. Ahmadiyya could never recover from the onslaught, and even after Naresh departed in the 17th over, the remaining batters put their foot down to power Centurions to a competitive total of 166/9 after 20 overs.
Ahmadiyya Cc’s approach to the chase followed a similar pattern to Centurions, as they raced to 45/0 by the end of powerplay. Sahib broke the opening stand with his very first ball coming into the attack and dismissed the dangerous Islamsafeer. However, the game turned on its head when Naresh came into bowl and effected two quick wickets to leave them reeling at 78/4 after 12 overs and RRR rose to 11 RPO.
Talat and Touseef looked in powerful form but couldn’t stay at the crease long enough to tilt the game in Ahmadiyya’s favor. All bowlers were unforgiving with their plans and offered no room for the batters to swing their arms. Tinto’s control and precision during the death overs proved to be the difference as Ahmadiyya Cc could only score 15 runs off their final 5 overs and ended up scoring 117/8 after 20 overs.
