AECK deserving champion in 19th edition – Rafi named man of the match

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: The final of the 19th Prof. Ramachandran Memorial Cricket Tournament (RMC) conducted by College of Engineering Trivandrum Alumini Association (CETAA) and sponsored by GTE Olayan Co was held at the beautiful boulevard cricket stadium in Salmiya on 23rd Dec 2016. AECK deservingly became champions against a below par KEA by 23 runs in a day -night match watched by a large crowd of cricket enthusiasts and team supporters.

AECK started on the right note by winning the toss and batting first. But it was not all plain sailing as AECK lost star batsman Mahesh in the 2nd over for 6. Soon the other opener Nimish too fell in the 4th over lbw to the dangerous Nasif with the score reading just 15. And when in-form Shameer fell in the next over, KEA had the initial advantage. The run rate too was only just above 4 at the end of the 5th over. And when Nithin fell for a duck in the 6th over bowled by Syam, the KEA supporters were “cock-a-hoop”. But this brought in the classy Rafi to join experienced Remon and AECK had the most productive partnership (28 runs) of the innings for the 5th wicket.

Rafi (15) was in his elements driving fluently on both sides of the wicket. They were also aided by a plethora of wides and byes and KEA steadily lost the initial advantage. Another crucial partnership of 16 runs for the 8th wicket between Shabeer and Vineesh took AECK to a challenging score of 77 runs which didn’t seem possible at the half way stage. The plucky display of the AECK batsman and the untidiness of KEA in the field were a telling factor. For KEA Nasif was once again the star performer with 4 wickets while Arjun took 3 wickets. Sibin, Ajin and Syam chipped in with a wicket each to get AECK all out in less than their allotted overs.

In reply, KEA started disastrously loosing their prolific scoring Govind run out for 0 off the very 1st ball. And when Ajin was bowled by Remon in the 2nd over, it was danger time for KEA. Their main remaining hopes Nithin and Renju tried to repair the damage but the accuracy and quality of the AECK attack pinned them down. In the 5th over Renju skied a catch while trying to hit his way out of trouble with the score reading a mere 16. And when the accurate Nimish got Nithin LBW in the 7th over, the writing was on the wall for KEA. Nasif (11) was the only one to reach double figures but his hefty blows were few and far between.

With the asking rate mounting, the lower order could not cope up with the fine all round attack of AECK and KEA were all out for 55 in the last over leaving AECK deserving winners by 23 runs. For AECK, Nimish (3 for 7) and Shameer (2 for 11) were predictably the star performers ably supported by Remon, Munaz and Rinaz with a wicket each. The absence of any productive partnership by the top order while chasing a stiff target hurt KEA and in the final analysis proved crucial.

Rafi (AECK) was named man of the match for his classy innings. Special prizes for the tournament were also awarded to Nimish (AECK — best player), Nasif (KEA — best bowler) and Govind (KEA — best batsman). The chief guests Messers- Tapan Ramesh (GTE), Vipul Patel (Advanced Engineering), Daniel George (GBM) and Shyam Mohan (Al Nouni Est) gave away the prizes while the organizers distributed Christmas cake for one and all.

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