MCL 5th Match Review: Capricorn Commander earn their first victory

The Capricorn Commander, after losing their opening match, registered their first victory in the MCl after they beat the Sagittarius Strikers by 3 runs in an intense competition between both teams. The Strikers looked on course for consecutive victories but they lost track in the middle overs as the Commanders’ bowlers made late comeback and managed to successfully defend the target and win the match.

The Commanders won the toss and went in to bat first. They had a humble start with a 45 runs opening stand between Ashwell Prince and Andrew Symonds before the latter fell to off-spinner Nathan Hauritz. The Australian was again successful in his following over after removed the other opener Ashwell Prince.

Saleem Elahi and Abdul Razzaq then pushed the run rate a bit, scoring runs more consistently. They added 64 runs for the 4th wicket and took the Commander to a respectable position in the match. The Pakistani duo kept ticking singles and double while hitting the occasional boundaries to keep a healthy run rate going. They batted almost till the end of the first innings until Razzaq lost his wicket in the penultimate over. Razzaq gave a good start to the penultimate over, hitting a six off Yasir Arafat’s first delivery. However, Arafat managed a revenge sort of wicket when he managed to get his former team mate caught by Carberry.

Razzaq departed for a superb 39 off just 25 balls. 10 runs came off the Santokie’s last over to take the Commanders score to 147/5. Saleem Elahi remained unbeaten at 43 and was the pick of the batsmen for the Commanders.

Chasing the modest 147, the Strikers lost their opener, Mahela Jayawardene, in the first over of the match. Yasir Hameed and Adam Gilchrist then shifted the pressure off the team and made a turnaround. However, unfortunately, the smooth 70 runs partnership was brought to an end after Hameed was stumped off the bowling of leggie Upul Chandana.

Jonathan Trott and Gilchrist then tried to resurrect the chase with a short cameo stand of 25 runs. The chase looked on course, until off-spinner Jeetan Patel struck twice in the 16th over with the wickets of Trott and the big fish Gilchrist. Adam Gilchrist looked in his old touch today and laid the foundation for the chase with his entertaining knock of 57 off 47 deliveries. Gilly innings was studded with 6 fours and a stunning six off Ben Laughlin’s bowling. Trott was disappointing and returned to the dugout with a sluggish 14 ball 12 runs against his name.

The Commanders made a good comeback in the match after Gilly’s wicket. However, after a series of miserly overs by Ben Laughlin and Jeetan Patel, the 18th saw Michael Carberry and new batsman Yasir Arafat break free and smash 18 runs off it. The Strikers could manage only 9 runs off the penultimate over by Ben Laughlin to bring down the equation to 9 off the last over.

Abdul Razzaq was the man in the spotlight again. And, he didn’t let his team down and gave away only 5 runs off the last over. This brilliant last over ensured an exciting finish to the match.

Brief Scores:

Capricorn Commanders: 146/5 in 20 overs (Saleem Elahi 43; Nathan Hauritz 2/20)

Sagittarius Strikers: 143/6 in 20 overs (Adam Gilchrist 57; Jeetan Patel 2/19)

Man of the Match: Abdul Razzaq (Capricorn Commanders)