Friends11 took the victory away from Global

 Friends 11 had their first win of the league in a grand style by beating the reigning cup holders Global by mere 3 runs in the opening match of UKMCL 2016. It was a heart wrenching match for Global especially because it was a jab at their feeling of invincibility following last year’s final win. It was a low scoring match after Friends 11 were bowled out for a meager score of 77 runs and in reply Global could only manage 73. 

After losing the toss, Friends 11 got sent to bat first with the weather definitely not on our side. It was one of those days when you only think about snuggling on a cozy couch watching the tele. The first 30 minutes of the innings was far less than ideal for Friends 11 as it was a procession of batsmen back to the pavilion. Global struck it rich thanks to some master-class show from their spearhead Jiju Scaria who ripped through the top order. Jiju’s bowling was like a metronome who kept bowling at the same spot with much swing enough to trouble the batsmen. Joxin Vincent was the only batsman with double figures in the first innings and I guess that tells the story of the whole team. Joxin was clearly at his best, picking the right balls at the right time to hit it over the boundary. He was the saving grace for Friends 11 as far as their batting was concerned. At the end of the first innings the score sheet was completed with Pravas Prabhakaran and Binu Viswambharan taking two apiece.

Friends 11 started their bowling in a stunning fashion led by our superstars Midhun Sebastian and Riju George. Global swashbuckling batsman Binu V was the first one to go when he missed an in-swinging delivery which made the bails go for a walk. It was a sight every fast bowler wish to see. Soon after the fall of the wicket, there was some patient innings by Tiss Jose and Ashok Nanu who, with some luck on their side, slowly but steadily built a partnership. The partnership was broken after a smart bowling change by our captain, Arun Krishnan, when he gave the bowling duties to his deputy. In his very first delivery of the season, Justin took Tiss out of the equation, thanks to a stunning one handed (the one that reminded us about Stokes’ catch of the summer) catch at the slip by Sumit. It was so fast that the whole ground was silent for a couple of second before realizing what they had just witnessed. Murali Nair along with Ashok Nanu tried revamping their innings. Brilliance of the captain was shown again he re-introduced the best bowler of the innings, Riju George. Cruising at 52/2, Global was not just ready to face the music. Riju depredated the middle order batsmen with his pure speed. Riju removed Ashok when the latter holed one to long off to Joxin. It was the other ‘showman’ of the team, Midhun Sebastian who took the lead from the other end when he bowled Mishal Francis. The rest was just a formality when the tail-enders got entangled in the spin-web created by Antony who made the most of a sluggish pitch. 
It was a good morale boosting win for the team, who at one stage was without the shadow of a doubt, was stuttering. The win was a combination of some individual brilliance, brilliant captaincy and team support.

Report by Antony Jose