Arjun spins IISc to memorable win

16th May, 2010, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: In a mesmerizing spell of leg-spin, Arjun scalped six wickets to restrict Basvangudi Cricket Academy (BCA) to 221 allout in 40 overs. Aggressive fifties from Ganapathy and Vikram helped IISc canter home with five wickets and almost as many overs to spare.

BCA were in a strong position at 85 for no-loss in the seventeenth over. But once Roy, who took over the off-spinner's mantle in Arindam's absence, got the first break-through, Arjun spun a web around the opposing batsmen. They simply didn't seem to have answers. He got batsmen out in most of the possible ways - bold, stumped, caught, caught & bowled and lbw.

Chasing 222 for a win, IISc went about their job in an unflustered manner in the face of rampant - and at times ludicrous - sledging from the BCA fielders. Ganapathy came out of his lean patch to score a stroke-filled 55 off 44 balls punctuated with ten boundaries. Vikram pulled out his sledge-hammer scoring 60 off 50 balls with six hits to the fence and two towering ones over it. Roopesh also contributed with 35 off 44 balls.

Brief scores:

BCA - 221 allout in 40 overs

(Sukruth 51, Nikhil 42, Varun 38, Ravi 25, Arjun 6/35, Roy 2/26, Dibyendu 1/25, Lalit 1/40)

IISc - 225/5 in 35.3 overs

(Vikram 60, Ganapathy 55, Roopesh 35, Sukruth 2/11, Skanda 2/45, Gaurav 1/21)

Result: IISc won by 5 wickets

Man-of-the-match: Arjun Chiluka