One of the most enthralling seasons of intramural cricket at UTM ended with United 6 beating Pk Tun in the Division 1 final. These two teams had developed a rivalry since their game in the semi-final last semester, in which United 6 came out on top, and their final season game that determined playoff rankings, which put Pk Tun at the top of the division going into the playoffs.
Both teams remained at the top of the division throughout this semester and deserved a spot in this year’s final. Both the previous encounters had gone down to the wire and more intensity was expected in the final, but unfortunately it did not go as expected.
Having won the toss and electing to field first, United 6 dominated from the start and never took their foot off the gas. Mit Patel, the most consistent bowler this season, conceded only three runs of his first over.
Mian Kamal, Pk Tun’s bowler, repeatedly attempted to outduel Patel by varying his pace to deceive the batsmen. Pk Tun’s batting had put up an exceptional performance throughout the season, but a combination of some tight bowling, phenomenal fielding, and sloppy running had Pk Tun in all sorts of trouble at 13 runs with the loss of three wickets after four overs.
Shayan Hemani provided a glimmer of hope by hitting a six of the first delivery of the fifth over, but his hard work was undone when he became the third batsman in the innings to be run out. This was followed by the dismissal of Ehsan Sardar, who was caught brilliantly by Mian Kamal. Shayan Shamim was the last man left and he helped Pk Tun to achieve a modest total of 44 before he too was dismissed, PK Tun having failed to play a full eight overs.
United 6 needed to score 45 in eight overs to win the game against a side not known for their bowling. Their openers, Viraj Sutaria and Manmeet Singh, batted sensibly, varying according to the needs of the situation. They took a little time to get their eye in and settle down, scoring 16 in the first three overs. Once the foundation was laid, they began scoring at more than a run a ball, with six balls in an over that means United 6 were scoring more than six runs an over, working the ball around for ones and twos and hitting the odd boundary every now and then. Manmeet and Viraj scored 23 and 13 respectively, and with the aid of nine extras, United 6 chased down the target in six overs without losing a wicket.
Manmeet Singh, who was also the president of the UTM Cricket Club for the year, was proud of his team’s performance.
“It was a great performance from the team. Really happy to score the last run and take the team to victory,” he said. “This was my last match as a United 6 player and it was a perfect ending to my cricketing career at UTM.
“Winning Division 1 in both the semesters is more than a dream come true for all of us,” he added. “I am going to miss playing with United 6.”
