MCL 7th Match Review: Gemini Arabians win a high scoring contest

The Capricorn Commanders fell short by just 10 runs chasing a tough target of 191 runs set by Gemini Arabians with the help of brilliant knock by Virender Sehwag (59 from 27 balls) and Kumar Sangakkara (65 from 40 balls) . The Commanders were off to a wonderful start after Prince (44 from 34 balls) and Symonds (30 from 14 balls) plundered the Arabians bowlers but thing soon things began to fall apart for them and they eventually failed to chase the target.

The Arabians came out to bat first after winning the toss. Skipper Virender Sehwag and Richard Levi came out to start the proceeding with the former taking the strike. Things got off to a very sparkling start for the Arabians as Sehwag belted two boundaries off the first two balls off the bowling of Rikki Clarke. But, the Arabians were struck with an early blow after Richard Levi got run prematurely in the 4th over.

Sehwag went on to bat with the same intensity and brought up his half-century in just 25 balls. However, he could not last much long after the milestone after he was clean bowled by Abdul Razzaq in the 10th over.  Kumar Sangakkara, who came in after Levi got out, then took things further and batted with solidity. Brad Hodge (29 from 25 balls) had a short but useful appearance where played the supporting role to the Lankan legend. However, the bulk of the scoring was done by Sanga around whom the Arabians innings revolved after Sehwag’s wicket. He was eventually dismissed for a commendable 65 runs from 40 balls. The South African duo of Justin Kemp and Jacques Rudolph then gave the final thrust to the team’s score and took it to a formidable 190/4 after 20 overs.

There were still fireworks left in the match as Commanders’ openers Andrew Symonds and Ashwell Prince started off with a bang and batted fiercely at a strike rate of over 12 runs per over. Both brought up the team’s half-century in no time. However, the partnership could not thrive long as Andrew Symonds failed to connect a slog hit and missed a length delivery from Kyle Mills which cleaned him up,  eventually bring the first breakthrough for the Arabians.

The task at the hand for the Commanders was still very big. The match began to slide into Arabians’ favor slowly after the fall of first wicket. The introduction of off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq added further troubles for the batting team.

The Commanders suffered further heavy setback to their chasing efforts after two quick wickets fell in the 9th and the 10th over respectively in the form of Rizwan Cheema and Ashwell Prince. The former fell to Naved ul Hasan while the later was dismissed by Saqlain. The off-spinner bowled unchanged for three overs in the row and left a big impact on the match.

The Commanders’ soon kept losing wickets regularly. Abdul Razzaq (33 from 22 balls), who showed some grit but his efforts weren’t enough. Rikki Clarke (13 from 8 balls) and Upul Chandana (13 from 5 balls) tried to save a lost battle. In the end, the Collingwood led side could manage 180/8 after 20 overs. They lost this clearly in the middle over where the spin twins Saqlain and Murali made their presence felt.

Brief Scores:

Gemini Arabians: 190/4 in 20 overs (Sangakkara 65; Razzaq 1/25)

Capricorn Commanders: 180/8 in 20 overs (Prince 44; Muralitharan 3/29)

Man of the Match:  Virender Sehwag (Gemini Arabians)