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Nervous chase to beat Deutsche Welle in RL

Venue: Cologne Chorweiler

A successful but nerve-racking run-chase gave CICC back-to-back wins on Saturday (13th April) despite the chilly weather. The home side secured a two-wicket win against Deutsch Welle CC in their second Regionalliga 50-over match.

CICC won the toss and without a second of hesitation decided to bowl first given the combination of 3-degrees temperature, a damp pitch and slow outfield (as usual). Ritvik and Mansoor, leading the attack with their pace and swing bowling, got CICC off to the best possible start to the match by clean bowling the opening batsmen in the Deutsche Welle line-up. Both finished their first spell with a wicket each, leaving the visitors unsettled in their quest to set a target. Unfortunately Ricky got injured while trying for a caught-and-bowled opportunity, which forced skipper to try various spin options later on. Meanwhile our young lad Furqan stepped up to capitalise on the situation and went on to achieve his end 5-wicket haul in two games. Kamran again took 3 wickets with his pace. Furqan went on to complete his 10 over spell and finish the visitor’s innings with a swingy LBW. Again sharp fielding and well-held catches helped CICC to restrict the opposition to 110 all out.

After the break, Wahab and Kris opened the innings for CICC and this time racked up a 50-run partnership, both showing good discipline and consistency. A low yorker sent Wahab back, and Nag fell next ball to an LBW. Tushar started to build the innings with Kris but didn’t last, a yorker costing his wicket. Kris on the other hand managed to hang on, having to watch Kausar and Ricky returned without scoring. Koushik joined Kris to build the innings, but he was bowled by an amazing full length ball leaving CICC under pressure. Two-minded shot selection then sent Koushik back to pavilion. Fortunately Afaq and Furqan once again saved the day with a brilliant rearguard partnership, securing the second win for CICC. After a bad call cost Furqan’s wicket with a runout, Afaq and Mansoor finished the chase for CICC.

Again, a collective team work, good showcase of skills and team spirit lead to the second win for the Hosts. Furqan was the outstanding bowler again for the hosts with 5 wickets from his ten overs, while Kamran picked up 3 wickets off seven overs. Kris was the pick of the batsmen with a consistent 30 runs for the hosts. Still the top order batting unit once again fell short of expectations and will have to improve in future, higher-scoring games!

Man of the match award was shared between Furqan and Kris for their collective approach towards game with both ball and bat. Again, great team spirit was helped by the support of Ahsen, Jani.