Chandigarh lift 30/30 GCA Macquarie Bicentennial Cup

The Mantra Ryde Chandigarh Eleven celebrated till dawn after winning the first 30/30 GCA Macquarie Bicentennial Cup played on the grounds of Old Kings Oval. Their stunning performance in the finals against much fancied opponent Ford Pro Vibrant Gujarat got in scripted in the history books as they won the match convincingly by 7 wickets.

Gujarat had beaten Mantra Ryde’s Chandigarh in the League rounds.

In the Finals, except for the toss, nothing else went in favour of Ford Pro Vibrant Gujarat. After winning the toss Vibrant Gujarat elected to bat first. They lost wickets at regular intervals and the entire team got bowled out for a meagre total of 123 runs.

Ubaid Khan was the only batsman who played sensibly and scored a fighting 42 before he was trapped leg before by Man of the Match performer Ash. The only other batsman who showed some kind of patience was the captain Jignesh Patel who was not out on 13 runs as he was left stranded at one end and ran out of partners.

Sandeep who has been one of the most successful bowlers in the tournament was very economical and that mounted the pressure on the Gujarat batsman. Ash cashed in by picking 4 for 35 and turning the game in Chandigarh’s favour.

Mantra Ryde’s Chandigarh didn’t waste any time as Navdeep smashed 2 massive sixes and 3 fours in his quick fire innings of 39 runs.

After Navdeep’s departure Gagan powered his way to an explosive innings of 45 not out and also scored the most important winning runs in just 17 overs.

Ford Pro Vibrant Gujarat was outplayed when it mattered the most.

The Gujarat bowlers looked helpless and surrendered in front of Mantra Ryde’s attackingstyle of batting.

For the time being, it’s one win for both the teams and they will get another crack at each other when they play in the 20/20 tournament.

Sanjiv Dubey

Score card