Centurions CC held their nerves when it mattered as they emerged victorious with a 6-run margin against the Islanders CCC on 06-June at Maple Leaf cricket ground. Having won the toss and electing to bat first in a rain shortened match, Rayyan Pathan and Jash Shah put on a batting masterclass under overcast conditions. While Jash Shah was all about composure and showed off his footwork against the spinners, Rayyan took the attack to the bowlers, swatting bowlers at will – all over the ground.
With runs coming at a steady rate and Centurions CC looking to dominate, Islanders CCC brought in Deepak into the attack, who immediately applied the brakes. Rayyan departed after a fiery 70 and Jash was dismissed shortly thereafter, trying to go after the spinners.
Islanders slowly grew into the game in the middle overs by chipping away wickets at regular intervals. It was a period of attritional cricket with Naresh and Nikhil trying to plug the flow of wickets and kept the scoreboard ticking with the odd boundary. They put on 56 runs for the 5th wicket which was invaluable given the conditions and state of the game. Nikhil did pry open the floodgates at the end with sweetly timed boundaries to finish the Centurions innings at 219/7 after 45 overs. The left arm spinner duo of Shahid Ahmadzai and Raqib Shamsudeen were the pick of the bowlers from Islanders as their combined figures read 18-2-56-3.
Centurions went for spin right at the start and the Islanders started off cautiously. While Raymond was at his economical best, the openers did latch onto Kamileen in the 7th over and scored 21 runs off it. While Tinto removed Rodrigo to provide some impetus to the Centurions’ defense, Islanders looked in control of the chase with wickets in hand while scoring at a decent click. It wasn’t until Eran removed Shahroze that the chase started looking tricky, with Centurions shuffling their bowlers to pile more pressure.
Having taken three wickets through the middle phase, Centurions fancied their chances, and it paid off with Kamileens’s double strike at the 42st over. Islanders never really recovered and botched the chase, and even with Jade’s presence at one end, they could muster only 14 runs off the last 5 overs. With 9 required to win off the last over, Naresh kept his calm and conceded only 2 runs to help Centurions score their second straight win of the season.
