Cricket: Mike Holmes Memorial Tournament

Supercats shock Vijay in final

THE form book was thrown out of the window on Sunday April 18 as much fancied Vijay slumped to their fifth defeat in as many finals, this time at the hands of quick bowling Supercats in the Mike Holmes Memorial Tournament.

In a one-sided encounter played out at Freedom Square, the 'Cats' first tore through the Vijay batsmen, who offered almost no resistance, before piling on the runs to claim a six-wicket victory and the first title of the 2004 season.

Winning the toss, Vijay batted first, but the opening pair of Kaushal and Krishna, who found form to hit 70 the previous week against Luckstars, were quickly snuffed out by the 'Cats' strike bowlers Deepak and Sanjeev. Supercats' skipper Arup Das kept the ball with the two fast bowlers and was repaid as Arvind and Pat Thomas were both quickly dismissed, leaving Vijay 4 wickets down and with only 10 runs scored.

Kerai, Jajith and Vishram staged a mini revival in the middle order, for a combined 26, but were unable to slow the 'Cats' impetus, leaving the tail enders to attempt to slog a few quick runs.

Twenty-five extras helped allay the blushes of the Vijay batsmen when the last wicket fell, Piyush trapped LBW by Samson, with only 72 runs on the board.

Lightning fast Deepak had led the bowling attack, claiming 3 for 6, with Sanjeev's 3 for 28, Deva's 2 for 9 and Samson's 2 for 19, helping to break down the usually stalwart Vijay defences.

As the 'Cats faced a measly asking run rate of only 2 an over – with the final a 35 overs match – the Vijay bowlers were looking for an early break through against the 'Cats top order, and got it as both Samson and Sanjeev fell to Vasudev, for 2 and a duck respectively.

But before the 'Cats' bats crumbled further, Ananda and Deepak began to battle back and laid the foundation for a winning score.

Ananda hit a quick 17, before a Summit delivery beat the bat and trapped him LBW. He was replaced by Daniel, who partnered Deepak to the day's high, 25, before the man-of-the-match winner nicked a catch to Kaushal, off a Summit deliver.

Daniel went on to an undefeated 16 and was joined by his captain Das who finished 4 not out, when the winning runs were scored.

While the 'Cats' celebrated the tournament win there was consolation for Vijay's Nair, who claimed both the player of the tournament and best bowler awards. Best batsman went to national team captain Ramesh Venkateshwaralu for his tournament best of 102 runs.

Without pausing for breath, the cricket season carries on this Sunday with the opening match of the ATC knock-out cup.