Bowled out for 105, and Spartan Wizards stroll it

Spartan Wizards won the toss and asked us to bat, and by the halfway mark of the innings that looked like the right call. Maninder Singh top scored with 43 from 56 balls, five fours, and was still there when the middle order went one after another: Charanpreet Singh for 3, Sukhjit Singh for 7, Amit Kumar for 6, Rohit Sharma for 1 off 3, Ishaan for 5, Subodh Mahajan for 2. Rahul Turan did the early and late damage with 3 for 30, and Krishna Venkat chipped in with two wickets for just 11 runs off his four overs. Sameer Malhotra's stay lasted two balls for nought.

The last pair put up the best partnership of the innings almost by default. Amit Malhotra made 13 not out from 13 balls, a four and a six in there, while Mabrur Ahmed got 13 off 13 at the other end before falling to a catch. Tajinder Singh had already gone for nought off eight balls, run out, so the two of them were the last pair, and their 25 was the best stand of the innings. The innings folded on 105 in 24 overs.

In reply, Spartan Wizards were never troubled by the rate. Tamim haji Mohammad made 31 off 38 with three sixes, and Iqbal Arham added 18, sharing a second wicket stand of 33 that took the game away from us. Amit Malhotra picked up 3 for 22, including Tamim, and Charanpreet Singh and Amit Kumar took one apiece, but Harman cheema finished it off unbeaten on 19 from 16 with four fours as Spartan Wizards got home in 19.4 overs for the loss of five. Rahul Turan's 3 for 30 with the ball made him man of the match.