Match Report
NCA Winter League Final - November 19th, 2006

UNLV coast to a thrilling 5-wicket victory as they are crowned the 2006 NCA Winter League Champions
Result: UNLV win by 5-wickets and win League Championship:: Scorecard

Sunday, November 19th 2006:

Jahangir's valiant effort was not enough against UNLV's batting line-up as the 'Rebels' coast to a 5-wicket win. Sriram hit a patient half-century to lead his team to an incredible win.

LVCC once again continued their streak of winning the toss, but the gamble of batting first did not favor them on a calm winter morning. Lenin and Nasir were were anxious to get their team a good head start, but a poor shot selection by Lenin in the first over created a setback to a favorable start. The UNLV bowlers tighted their line and length earlier on, but a short stint of extras favored the Xpress to help them gain a formidable lead. Aurangzeb continued to show good form with the bat, but a lazy shot ended his inning. Anupam, coming under pressure, was unlucky as he was given out off a delivery that knicked his shoulder.

Nasir was the next to go off a skiddish delivery by Solomon, putting heaps of responsibility on Jahangir and Ankit. Jahangir(72), second on the batting leaderboard, crafted his inning with Ankit (27) by putting a 62-run partnership. Jahangir was well supported by the tail-enders as the final total for the inning resulted in a formidable 189 runs.

UNLV did not waste any time in bursting to a flying start. Ragha (23) and Bala (18) put on an excellent opening partnership and looked comfortable against a mediocre Xpress bowling. Jahangir, who can be considered the player of the game, bowled some fiery delivers to earn four scalps for the inning. Adnan, aided in majority of the wicket-taking deliveries and ended up with four catches for the day.

Sriram, who had struggled with the bat throughout the league match-play found great form with the bat. His superb inning of 55-not out was the highlight as he played some excellent shots around the ground. Vamsi (35), played a great supporting role in his team's win as he too joined Sriram in a batting frenzy.

The Xpress' bowling and fielding performance was below par as they dropped three key opportunities, one involving a simple catch at deep third-man which was dropped by Jahanzeb. UNLV's great performance showed their dominating presence during championship situations as they won their second league championship in a row.

Submitted by: Adnan Khawaja