JOIN USLochan’s unbeaten half-century and Abhishek Poll’s bowling effort helped hosts Bishop Cotton Boys School register a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Ebenezer International School Bangalore (EISB) to grab the Cottonian Shield inter-school senior (under-16) title here on Saturday.
Opting to bat first, EISB were restricted to 124/8 in 20 overs with Shreyas (38, 40b, 3x4, 1x6) and Himanshu (31, 26b, 5x4) coming up with handy scores.
Poll scalped four wickets conceding 24 runs while Jerrine Joy (2/23) chipped in with two wickets as the Cottonians kept the target within the gettable range in the rain affected final.
In response, Cottons were home in the 17th over with Lochan (78 n.o., 43b, 7x4) and David (30, 23b, 4x4) leading the charge as the hosts shrugged off the disappointment of losing the junior final on Friday.
Earlier, EISB openers Shreyas and Chinmay batted as an electrifying atmosphere engulfed the ground with Cottons’ and EISB, who had lost to FAPS in the under-16 final last year, supporters cheering on their respective schools from the stands. Cottons’ Joy gave them the first breakthrough when he had Chinmay caught behind in the fourth over.
Himanshu and Shreyas steadied the EISB ship thereafter with the former taking the initiative. Himanshu went after Cottons’ Ayyappa CR in the seventh over carting him for three boundaries to lend some momentum to the snail-paced innings.
But Cottons’ captain Saksham Kaul produced a masterstroke when he introduced Poll in the 12th over. The off-spinner picked up the wickets of Himanshu and Shreyas in the 12th and 14th overs to dent EISB’s hopes of a big score.
Deepak Yadav and Swapnil were the new batsmen at the crease looking to rebuild the EISB innings but Poll put paid to their hopes scalping the latter’s wicket in the 16th over.
At 102/5 and just when it looked Cottons were going to bulldoze through the EISB lower-order, the skies opened up as play was stopped for 40 minutes. 22 runs came off the last four overs for EISB, largely due to Yuvraj hitting a couple of boundaries before Poll castled in the 19th over to signal the end of EISB’s fight.
Brief scores: Ebenezer International School Bangalore: 124/8 in 20 overs (Shreyas 38, Himanshu 31; Abhishek Poll 4-24, Jerrine Joy 2-23) lt to Bishop Cotton Boys School (BCBS): 126/3 in 16.4 overs (Lochan 78 n.o., David 30).