Red Bull Cricket Campus National Finals 2021: Muzaffarnagar, Jaipur and Ahmedabad start campaign with wins

The Red Bull Cricket Campus (RBCC) National Finals 2021 started on October 18, 2021, in Chandigarh. Four matches were scheduled on the opening day, with only three finding results.

Match 1: MMCC College, Pune vs TKRES College, Hyderabad, Sector 16 Stadium 

The match failed to start on time due to a wet outfield. As the umpires got ready and stumps put in place, further rain played spoilsport. It wasn’t a heavy rainfall, but the drizzle was just enough to not allow the umpires to take the covers off the pitch. There is a possibility of a re-match, but the tight schedule puts some doubts over that. If the match is not re-played, then the points will be shared. 

Match 2: Shri Ram College, Muzaffarnagar vs Jamshedpur Cooperative College, Mullanpur Stadium

Jamshedpur co-operative college won the toss and elected to field first. Keeping the rain in mind, it seemed like the right move at the time. However, once Shri Ram College Muzaffarnagar went to the middle, the move looked to have backfired. Opener Arpit Baliyan got them off to a steady start and continued to march along, forming small partnerships with incoming batters. 

But, the fact that he held one end ended up benefiting the batting unit. He hit seven fours and four sixes tormenting the bowlers of Jamshedpur. Chaitanya Kaushal played a handy cameo of 22 runs from 16 balls batting at no. 5 while the batter in next, Vishal Singh, made 21 runs from 12 balls. Baliyan eventually fell for 82 runs from 56 balls, which helped his team finish on 170 for 7. At the halfway stage, Muzaffarnagar head coach Amardeep Sharma expressed that the score was enough to be defended and his boys didn’t disappoint. 

As far as Jamshedpur is concerned, Shiv Karan was the pick of the bowlers with his figures of 3 for 30 in four overs. He went on to open the batting and make a run-a-ball 15, but couldn’t go on to take on the run chase. Jamshedpur’s innings never really got going as Muzaffarnagar kept chipping in with wickets. Supriyo Chakraborty with his 23 runs and Ujjal Pal making 22 runs could’ve helped but they never helped the required rate come down.

As it turned out, the scoreboard pressure got to them in the end as they lost a flurry of wickets in the second half of their innings, eventually getting bowled out for 107 runs. Sourabh Kushwaha bowled a wonderful spell of two overs in which he picked up four wickets for just six runs. But, it was Baliyan who received the man of the match award for his excellent knock which helped his team to a massive win. 

Brief scores: Muzaffarnagar 170 for 7 (Arpit Baliyan 82, Sourabh Kushwaha 4 for 6) beat Jamshedpur 107 all-out (Supriyo Chakraborty 23, Shiv Karan 3 for 30) by 63 runs. 

Match 3: SS Jain Subodh College Jaipur vs Maharishi College Bhubaneswar, Sector 16 Stadium 

Rain affected the second game at Sector 16 as well. The match was delayed and reduced to a 10 overs affair in the end. The wet outfield and damp wicket played a part from the very beginning. SS Jain Subodh College Jaipur won the toss and elected to bat first. However, Maharishi College Bhubaneswar’s Asis Pradhan picked up two wickets in the first over to prove that decision wrong. Jaipur never really recovered after that. Prashant Yadav the skipper got a 17-ball 20 while a 7-ball cameo of 16 from Aashish Indoria helped Jaipur finish on just 75 for 9. 

There was some consistently good bowling from Bhubaneshwar which didn’t allow Jaipur to enforce the pressure. Hitesh Nayak picked up three wickets while Badal Bola picked up two. Jaipur did get some early in-roads with Umed Meena and Indoria got a wicket each. But, a counter-attacking partnership from Sourav Gouda and Sidhant Jena was enough to bury the hopes of the Jaipur team. Gouda made 28 runs from 19 balls while Jena made 28 runs from 14 balls. Together, they carried their team home to a win with 11 balls to spare. 

Brief scores: Bhubaneswar 76 for 2 (Sidhant Jena 28, Hitesh Nayak 3 for 18) beat Jaipur 75 for 9 (Prashant Yadav 20, Umed Meena 1 for 10) by eight wickets. 

Match 4: New LJ College Ahmedabad vs Jain College Bengaluru, Mullanpur Stadium

The rain came in after the first game in Mullanpur reducing the second game to a 13-overs affair. Jain College Bengaluru won the toss and elected to bat. Opener Omar Abubacker gave a solid but a steady start. After the six-over mark, they had reached only 36 runs, losing a couple of wickets in the process. 

Abubacker went on to get a fifty which helped his team to accelerate and get some vital runs towards the end of the innings. He stayed unbeaten on 51 runs from 39 balls, but there wasn’t too much around him. Bengaluru ended on 94 for 4 in their allotted overs. Left-arm spinner Yash Doshi bowled an impressive three-over spell picking two wickets and shelling only 12 runs. 

Ahmedabad came out firing and were in no mood to waste too much time. Opener Vimal Kumar played his shots and made sure that Bengaluru never got a sniff. His knock of 32 runs came from just 18 balls, in which he hit five fours and one six. His opening partner Dhairav Bharatkumar managed to hold one end, guiding the chase once Kumar was dismissed. 

He was supported well by Rahul Ahuja, who came at no. 3, made an unbeaten 32 runs from 24 balls. Bharatkumar was also unbeaten on 22 runs from 23 balls. The total was knocked off in just 10.4 overs, as Ahmedabad began their campaign in style. 

Brief scores: Ahmedabad 95 for 1 (Vimal Kumar 32, Yash Doshi 2 for 12) beat Bengaluru 94 for 4 (Omar Abubacker 51, Advith Shetty 1 for 23) by nine wickets.