Choked in semifinals

Semifinal between IISc and Christ Univ. in progress at the picturesque IIMB ground

16th January, 2010, IIM-Bangalore: After having looked like the best team in the fray, one bad day in the field cost IISc a berth in the finals of the ongoing IIMB invitational cricket tournament. It was a combination of some good cricket from Christ University, some poor cricket from IISc and above all, some atrocious umpiring that handed IISc their first (and last) defeat in the competition.

Batting first in damp conditions due to overnight dew, IISc started of well with openers Ganapathi and Vikram scoring 39 of the first 4 overs. But after that IISc lost wickets at regular intervals and simply lost their way. Several top order batsmen got starts but did not convert them to bigger scores. Of course the umpiring howlers did not help IISc's cause. The innings closed for an inadequate yet competitive score of 155/9 in 25 overs.

Christ University were efficient in their chase scoring boundaries at critical junctures. The fact that IISc conceded 24 runs in extras also made the chase easier for Christ. The finals will be played between BMS College of Engineering and Christ University on Sunday, 17th January, 2010. Upcoming assignments for team IISc include the tough YSR Cup and a one-off game at Infosys-Mysore sometime in last week of January.

Brief scores:
IISc - 155/9 in 25 overs
Christ University - 159/3 in 23.3 overs

Result: Christ University won by 7 wickets