Red Bull Campus Cricket National Finals India 2022: Delhi defeat Ahmedabad to clinch title

The summit clash of the 11th Red Bull Campus Cricket (RBCC) National Finals India 2022 saw Ahmedabad’s New LJ College square off against Delhi’s Alfalah University at the IS Bindra Stadium (Punjab Cricket Association) in Mohali. Both the teams had been a dominant force throughout the group stage, and last year’s runners-up team Ahmedabad entered the finals with an aim to balance out the previous season’s loss.

The game started with Delhi winning the toss and electing to bat first. The opening pair of Qamran Iqbal and Govind Singh Rathore was off to a terrific start, with the former kicking off the game with a boundary off the very first ball. Rathore took charge in the third over and smashed Dhruvam Patel by hitting him for three fours and a six, thereby taking his team’s scorecard up.

Ahmedabad skipper Bhavin Engle gave his side the first breakthrough when he picked Qamran in the fourth over, thereby breaking the budding partnership. Three wickets fell in the powerplay, and Delhi was reduced to 51/3 by the end of six overs. It was late in the 12^th over when Dheeru Singh took a toll on Aasav Panchal, thereby hitting him for three well-placed boundaries.

The middle order-batters wreaked havoc and added the crucial runs on the scoreboard. Dheeru Singh’s start was slow, but he took his time to settle on the field and gained the required pace to start with his power-hitting. It took a long time for the Ahmedabad bowlers to get him out, but they took a sigh of relief after finally picking him in the 18^th over, courtesy of Smit Patel.

Delhi’s middle-order came into the party

The middle-order boost was exactly what Delhi needed after losing the initial wickets. With three wickets coming off the final over, Delhi finished off scoring 162/8. The chase started with Ahmedabad openers Yashraj Joshi and Dhairav Oza walking into the field with an aim, but the team received a major blow when Delhi bowlers Faizan Alam and Mohammed Sharim provided with early breakthroughs, thereby dismissing the opening duo for low scores.

Rahul Ahuja and Ansh Patel gave their team the required pace and sailed past the powerplay. Their performance was much different than their semi-finals game, as the batters struggled to hit many boundaries, and kept running between the wickets. The asking rate kept increasing, and the batters tried to cover up the chase with more singles and doubles. Halfway into the chase, Ahmedabad batters failed to hit a single six and settled with the seven fours.

The game had completely slipped towards Delhi’s side after Boby Yadav scalped a couple of wickets, and the other bowlers did a terrific job as well by restricting the opposition hitters. The final five overs were miserable for Ahmedabad, and Delhi gave them a taste of their medicine by scalping wickets regularly, breaking the momentum. There was nothing Ahmedabad could do as Delhi snatched the victory, and handed them their second consecutive finals loss, to win by 35 runs.

Brief Scores:

Delhi: 162/8 in 20 overs (Dheeru Singh- 67(43); Bhavin Engle- 2/18 in 4 overs)

Ahmedabad: 127/9 in 20 overs (Rahul Ahuja- 38(39); Boby Yadav- 3/25 in 4 overs)

Awards:

Player of the Match- Dheeru Singh (Delhi)

Player of the Tournament- Dheeru Singh (Delhi)

Best Bowler of the Tournament- Smit Patel (Ahmedabad)

Best Batter of the Tournament- Yashraj Joshi (Ahmedabad)