Match Report Division 1 – 12 Stars Vs Exiles

Author: Anshul Gupta

On Sunday, 27th of August, 2017, history was made when 12 Stars scored their highest single innings score of 435. It was a mammoth total for any team to chase and a defeat looked inevitable for Ostende Exiles whose chances were already jolted by fielding a 9 sided team. 12 Stars’ encounter with Ostend Exiles appeared to be like a pre-scripted Bollywood flick in which the protagonist can never lose. Ostende Exiles went on to lose by a massive 367 runs and their weak batting line up bundled up in less than 20 overs at a paltry 67. This ended up a long streak of losses which 12 Stars incurred over the last few weeks and kept their chances of winning the Division 1 championship alive.

Although, it was a much-awaited victory for 12 Stars, Ostende Exiles looked terribly weak in their approach and skills in all departments. This made the competition extremely boring but refreshingly so for 12 Stars.

 Key highlights:

1)     100 run stand between Ashish and Swaroop for the opening partnership

2)     Ashish sledging his way through an important 81

3)     Asijit’s continued consistency with the bat – the rising (not shooting) ‘star’

4)     Bhushan’s and Ganesh’s long hop to 180 run partnership

5)     Bhushan’s 130 on captaincy debut put him on the top of BCF tally of most runs in the season and the bagged him the man of the match award – captain’s knock

6)     Rohan’s 49* and Sajjad’s quick fire batting steered 12 Stars to the massive total – 2 small Bahubalis made sure the big one was not missed

7)     Such a big total made the job easy for bowlers and fielders – highlight was Sajjad’s 4 wickets with a display of aggressive fast bowling.

The results of this match show that our batting is going full guns and we need to keep up the good work. Although it was not a great test of our bowling/fielding capabilities, it provided the bowlers the much-needed confidence which they lacked as a unit. They can now build on this to prepare themselves for the approaching bigger and crucial competitions.

Post victory, the dressing room atmosphere was very joyous and the round of drinks very relaxing. However, it is important that we keep backing each other not only in victories but also in our losses. If we want to win as a unit, it is important that we learn cope with failures as a unit. Let’s approach the remaining three matches with this spirit and prepare our best to bring the trophy home.

Cheers,
Best regards,
Anshul