NPL 5.0 - Day 5

Day 5 promised to be very interesting with a do-or-die match for BoB. They were playing against Dabangg. If BoB won, they would qualify for the finals but if they lost, the NRR would come into play and decide who would meet LBC in the finals.

However, Day 5 started off with some very sad news. BoB's female player - Gunjan Rani met with an accident while coming to the match. She is injured pretty badly and is admitted at the Fortis Hospital - Sec. 62, Noida. Although she is out of danger but her injuries are pretty serious. Let us all pray and hope she has a speedy recovery.

With the first match getting cancelled, both the teams got 1 point each. This essentially meant that BoB entered the final. However, the mood was pretty grim at the BoB camp.

LBC v/s Flame

LBC squared off against Flame in what was an inconsequential match for both the teams. LBC had already reserved a berth for the finals and since the first match was called off, Flame would not have gained anything except pride on winning this one. 

Flame won the toss and elected to bat. The ever dependable Saroj Pradhan and Ashish Jain started the proceedings with the bat. Girish and Manish were the opening bowlers for LBC. Usually Flame have a very smooth start to their innings. However, this time, Saroj departed very early in the game getting bowled to an excellent delivery from Girish. It got from bad to worse when the next batsman Deepak Goel also went cheaply after facing just 2 balls. Things were looking ominous for Flame before their saviour Ramashankar came into the crease. Together with Ashish, the duo stabilized the innings somewhat. LBC bowlers were merciless with their line and length. They bowled pretty well and dried up the runs to an extent. Flame had scored a meager 15 runs after 5 overs! Ramashankar and Ashish tried to up the run rate and get a partnership going. But soon, LBC were able to break the crucial partnership and looked to wind up things pretty quickly. Raghu came in next and started off with a boundary. However he soon saw himself back to the pavillion getting out to Piyush.  When everything seemed to be going the LBC way, out walked Meenakshi. Up till now, female players did not contribute anything with the bat. Well, here was a lady who was all set to change all that! After facing 2 deliveries, Meenakshi  hit a boundary off Piyush! A boundary from a lady means an 8 because every run is doubled for them. It was the first time in the history of NPL, a female batsmen hit a boundary. And she was in no mood to stop too. She ran a 2 and a 1 after that to end up with 14 crucial runs for her team. She became the 3rd highest scorer in her team. Flame ended up with 81 on the board...a total which was pretty good considering the way their innings was going.

LBC had a nightmarish start to their innings. They lost Sachin and Amit in the first over itself. Deepak Goel who lost out with the bat made up with the ball. With 2 runs on the board and 2 wickets down in the first over, it was left for Piyush and Girish to get their team out of trouble. However, Girish too was sent packing by Ramashankar in his first over! 3 wickets down and desperately needing to hang on, Piyush and Amit Anand tried to play the waiting game. However, tragedy soon struck when Amit was run out after scoring just 3 runs. Piyush and Manish then tried to salvage the innings before Piyush got out in the worst possible manner - a hit wicket. He shuffled too far back while facing Meenakshi and found himself commit Harakiri! A spirited Meenakshi took out LBC's and NPL's most destructive batsman till date. With Piyush out, LBC were really in the dumps. Manish tried his best to save the innings but he ultimately ran out of partners from the other end.

LBC ended up 20 runs short off the target and were handed their first defeat of the tournament. Ramashankar was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 wickets from his 3 overs and ensuring that his team won some pride in this tournament.

The tournament's all set up for an exciting finale on Sunday with BoB and LBC facing off against each other. LBC already beating BoB in the league matches, would be high on confidence. BoB on the other hand would be hungry for revenge. Historically, they both have met each other in the finals of NPL 3.0. BoB won it that time but will they be able to repeat it this time? Or will they get beeped again by LBC. Only time can tell.