Winter Final 2023 for TCC Taped Ball was played on a beautiful day for cricket on 23rd March 2024. The final was between Gladiators, the 5 time champions in their 11th final and JCC, a one time champion in their second final.
JCC won the toss and elected to bat. Starting the innings JCC was at 14 runs in 3 overs. After cautious start, Ronak got out to Vinayan. Facing disciplined bowling, Narsimha, Tapan and Anand tried to steady the ship but got out with scorecard now reading 34/4. Pragnesh, together with Abhi, started to get some rhythm and began rotating the strike a bit freely. Abhi utilizing paddle sweep to get some 3’s and odd boundaries. On the other end, Pragnesh(20) playing classic square and late cuts to keep the scorecard ticking. Both moved the scorecard to 91/4 in 15 overs. In the end overs, JCC scored 37 runs in last 5 overs by Abhi with support from Hiren, Vismay, Amish and Harpal. Vinayan, Sandeep and Ninad each took 2 wickets for Glads.
Needing a bit over 6 runs an over, Gladiators batters Sanman and Ruvent started confidently scoring 46/0 in 7 overs. However, Anand struck in his first over getting Ruvent. He struck again getting a well set Sanman, thanks to a flying catch by Pragnesh. With some timely wickets by JCC bowlers, Glads were in trouble needing 47 in 5 overs. Aradhya and Suresh, new to crease, hit some timely boundaries taking 23 in next two, bringing the equation to manageable 24 in 3 overs and then 9 runs in last over. JCC’s last over specialist Harpal got Aradhya out on 3rd ball and now Glads needed 5 in the last two balls and one wicket. Sandeep hit one off the middle and skied towards midwicket boundary. Tapan took the catch at the rope to get the final man. A nail biting final!!! JCC won the game by 4 runs, winning the trophy for the 2nd time in the league. Great performances by Abhi (60 runs and 1 wicket) and Anand (5 wicket haul). Good catches under pressure by Sachin, Vismay, Ronak and Hiren. Good tight bowling in middle overs by Amish and Vismay and Narsimha. Anand was adjudged MVP for his performance.
The presentation ceremony was organized by Jagadish Biradar and as always, was enjoyable. Jagadish mentioned contributions by Dinesh from Gladiators for his voluntary efforts in creating league schedules for each tournament and presented a thank you note to him.
He recognized the contribution of all the teams throughout the season for umpiring.
Kastech Kings got a special mention for upholding the spirit of the game. More than once, Kastech Kings were called out for exemplary show of sportsman spirit. They took decisions which were against their team and held the spirit of the game high and aloft and shining brightly!! Kudos to Kastech Kings and let them be a motivation and inspiration to all playing teams of TCC Taped Ball tournaments.
Gladiators’ captain Emad accepted the runner up trophy and gracefully talked about contributions from each team member.
JCC captain Pragnesh in his first season as captain accepted the Finals trophy. He outlined how JCC was undefeated and topped the table out of 37 teams.
Anand from JCC was the MVP for the final for his match winning performance.
Abhinav from JCC was adjudged MVP of the series.
In tournament awards, From RSCC, Sai Kiran was best batsmen with 300 runs and Shashivardhan Reddy was best bowler with 15 wickets. Khurram Khan from Champions CC II was best all rounder for the season(209 runs and 10 wickets). Special awards included Sai Kiran (Royal Strikers), Gagan Nayakwadi (Masters), Sukitha Pallimulla (Tuskers – 2 centuries), Gihan Senanayake (Tuskers) for centuries and Naani Sai Reddy (Royal Strikers) for a hat trick.
Online score card: https://cricclubs.com/3T/fullScorecard.do?matchId=1936&clubId=8675
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/XllHNQIwMKk