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BPN beat Sport360 to claim Media League cricket crown

Captain Balaji Narayanan led from the front by claiming four wickets as BPN were crowned Sport360 Media League champions.

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In yesterday’s final, BPN’s score of 56 sealed a comfortably 47-run victory over Sport360, who could only score nine in the eight-over indoor match at Dubai’s United Pro Sports.

Although a one-sided affair, the 12-team tournament served up some thrilling games in the indoor cricket format. With most rules similar to the outdoor format, each player bowled one over and batted as a pair for two overs.

For each wicket that fell, the batting team lost five points but the batsman could still continue until the allotted two overs (termed as sessions) were over. The format is a big success in countries like Australia, England and also the UAE.

Gracious in defeat: Sport360°.
Gracious in defeat: Sport360°.

The eight-man teams from different media companies in the UAE put on a spirited show which saw some closely-fought group and knockout games. But BPN and Sport360° maintained an unbeaten run on the way to the final.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Balaji (10) and partner Chittesh Balaji (11) gave BPN a strong start as the pair scored 21 runs in their session. Ratheeth Narayanan (17) and Naushad Ali (6) kept the momentum going as Sport360° struggled to take wickets.

Sport360° finally broke the deadlock when Thoufeeq Bilal hit Zuhaib Malik’s delivery into the path of captain Clibin Patrick, who reacted with a direct throw to the stumps. Despite some pressure from Sport360°, Bilal (5) and Shamseer Naju (4) helped BPN reach 47.

Batting woes: Sport360° line-up failed.
Batting woes: Sport360° line-up failed.

With one session remaining, BPN’s Prashanth Menon lost his wicket twice, which resulted in 10 runs being deducted from their score. The all-rounder fell to East Springer before hitting Patrick’s ball straight to the captain for the team’s third wicket.

Despite the late fightback, Menon (-3) and partner Kiran Gangadharan (12) ensured BPN finished with a total score of 56. Chasing the daunting target, Sport360° got off to a poor start as opening pair Springer and Matt Burn twice fell to Balaji’s fast-bowling. Their cause was not helped by BPN’s excellent fielding as the duo struggled to score runs.

Trailing by -6, new pair Malik (1) and Hemant Kumar (11) added to the score but ended their session still 50 runs behind the target.

With 50 to win from four overs, Patrick (8), Alex Sebastian (1), Ranjith Lakkan (2) and Ziad Shaukathali (-8) were unable to rescue Sport360° as BPN took four wickets to wrap up a comprehensive win.

Balaji, who was adjudged best bowler of the tournament, said: “Any final isn’t easy as you’re coming up against a top team. We gave an excellent all-round performance by batting, fielding and bowling well and set them a competitive total.

Comfortable victory: The indoor champions.
Comfortable victory: The indoor champions.

It was all down to the all-round performance as 56 runs in eight overs was always good and that put the pressure on Sport360°.”

Despite the huge defeat, Patrick had no complaints and said: “We didn’t take any wickets in the first four overs and that put us back early in the game.

“Their score of 56 was very good and we needed a good start. But we just didn’t start well and we lost late wickets in the end which cost us the game.

“I think they were much more organised in all departments while we were lacking in many areas.”

He added: “We never expected to reach the final. We beat some very good teams in our group and beat a really tough team (Chalhoub) in the semi-finals so it was a good tournament overall.”


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