The Winning Team

UMBC were pumped up after the win over DCU in the semis. Everyone were excited as we reached the Final of FMS-BOD, a tournament that saw many of our players banned. No one would have expected us to reach the finals but we showed and proved to everyone why we are still the best in the league .

UMBC won the toss and with no hesitation elected to bat. UMBC opened with Eraj and Sumeet. They were cautious in the first over as the wicket was damp but the ball was still coming on to the bat. They also had to negotiate the swing. They saw the first over of "Jonty" through. Eraj who had been in excellent form all season was determined to score and prove in the finals, he started of well with an excellent flick off his pads to score the first boundary of the match. His aggressive style of batting in the initial over saw him back to the pavilion. He played across to a delivery that was drifting towards the leg stump. He was unlucky to be given out. Eraj scored 6.

Anand went in to bat next and the dynamic duo of the semi finals had a task cut out, to see off the new ball and to build a platform for the power hitters that were to follow. They started off well taking the singles and doubles with occasional boundaries. They kept the score ticking with a steady run rate of over 6. As their partnership was blossoming, Sumeet departed for a well made 18. Raghav went in next and his very first ball hit a brilliant square cut to the boundary. Anand at the other end was playing sensibly and was giving a good stand to Raghav. Both of them ran very well taking cheeky singles and Raghav scored the occasional boundary.

Anand tried to up the momentum played an uppish shot to long off and was caught. He did his job by building two crucial partnership with Sumeet and Raghav, Anand scored 18. Ranga came in next and was all pumped up. Ranga and Raghav are good friends and know their game and play well together. Ranga played the first ball over covers to get a boundary. He went on to play some wonderful shots in the cover region. Both Ranga and Raghav ran well and converted the singles to double and double to triples. They had a partnership of around 22 runs which came of 10 deliveries. Raghav on the other side was playing well and had plans to stay till the end. He knew that with wickets in hand and with Rikin, Gurnish and Faisel to follow UMBC could easily reach 150. Next over he tried to pull the ball which kept little low and was judged LBW. Raghav scored 19. Rikin went in next and with the only intention to up the scoring rate from 6 to 7 or 8. His was the most entertaining innings. He scored 16 of 4 balls which consisted of 4,6,6. Gurnish joined Ranga and played well both ran very hard. Gurnish was quick to respond to every call and converted every opportunity.

UMBC somewhat lost momentum at the end after losing Gurnish and Ranga in quick succession. Ranga top scored UMBC's innings with 26. Faisel, Chirag and Wilbur went in the middle and played their part. They ran hard and took runs with every opportunity they had. UMBC ended their 20 overs with a score of 144/9 which was a very good total at William Wirt.

Having set a target of 144 UMBC bowlers had their task cut out. They knew that Vikings would come hard at them and they would have to take all the opportunities thrown at them. Fielding and Catching would be very crucial. Sumeet and Faisel opened the bowling for UMBC and Sumeet struck in his very 1st over. He got their opening batsman out clean bowled. Faisel at the other end bowled really well, swung the ball both ways and kept the pressure on the Vikings batsmen. Vikings had a lot of power hitters who could dispatch the bad balls over the boundary. UMBC got their 2nd wicket with Faisel running out Tahir Ali. Vikings were scoring 6 runs an over easily and after 5 overs they were 30 for 2. Sumeet got his 2 best bowlers to bowl the next 5 overs. Gurnish and Raghav bowled well in tandem. Gurnish picked up wicket in his first over with Chirag taking a good catch behind the stumps. Vikings ran hard and put UMBC outfielders under pressure. They converted singles into doubles and were able to pick up the odd boundaries.

UMBC having bowled 10 overs were still not in a commanding position even though Vikings needed around 76 runs in their last 10 overs. UMBC's trump card was brought to bowl. Austin who was one of the leading wicket takers for UMBC this season knew the importance of his spell and soaked up the pressure by getting 3 very important wickets in his spell. He bowled with good control and changed his pace regularly and was very effective. Anand took a brilliant catch at long on. Wilbur too joined the party with a catch and some brilliant fielding. Wilbur had improved a lot and his commitment towards the team cannot be questioned .

Anand bowled 2 overs and kept the pressure on the Vikings batsmen but was taken to the cleaners at his last delivery of every over. Vikings needed around 42 runs in the last 5 over with 5 wickets in hand. Very gettable score with "Jonty" still to bat. UMBC's think tank pooled in their view as to who needs to bowl the 16th over.

Sumeet, Gurnish and Austin had one over left, Raghav and Faisel had 2 respectively. After a good discussion Summet decided to bowl which turned out to be the last nail in the coffin for the Wikings.

Sumeet got 3 wickets in the over: 1st a run out by Raghav with an accurate flat throw, and then Summet finishing it off with 2 bowled including getting the dangerous Jonty out. 17th over was bowled by Raghav who kept it tight. Vikings had 1 wicket and needed to score 32 runs in last 3 overs. Gunish sealed the victory with the final wicket, Raghav taking the catch.

Every one fielded well and took their catches. Chirag kept really well behind the stumps.

With this sensational win we look forward for next season and American College tournament.

- Raghav Bharadwaj