THIS IS SPARTA...: Redbirds vs. Spartans

Detailed scorecard and videos coming soon...

On a rainy and overcast day Spartans turned in an emphatic performance to spank and thrash the Redbirds by 108 runs, the biggest margin the Redbirds have lost by and probably the biggest margin any team has lost by in the Super 12 stage this year. Sateesh and Madhu Reddy set up the victory for Spartans with rambunctious half centuries and a partnership of 119 runs for the 3rd wicket. This partnership helped Spartans amass a score of 205 from their allocated 20 overs. Kiran and Madhu wiped out any opportunities that the Redbirds might have had of chasing such a mammoth score by claiming 3 wickets each during the Spartans bowling spell.

After having moved the game to the following day, Spartans and the Redbirds took the field on Sunday morning. The Redbirds loss the toss again and Spartans elected to bat under overcast conditions. Dheeraj and Imran opened the bowling for Redbirds and failed to control the batsmen from scoring runs. The bowling was not consistent and the batsmen took advantage of this from the first over itself. Saravanan and Vijay put together an opening partnership of 46 runs for the first wicket. Imran broke the partnership again with a slower full-toss delivery that bowled Saravanan.

Sudheer was brought into the attack in the 8th over and he had Vijay caught behind as Dheeraj took a brilliant low catch moving quickly to his left. Madhu and Satheesh were at the crease after that and what happened next can only be described as the worst spanking any team could have received. They both put together a partnership 119 runs for the third wicket in 9 overs. None of the Redbirds were able to trouble these two batsmen and they scored at will hitting power shots all over the ground. Sudheer was able to break the partnership as he had Satheesh bowled on 56.

Ashish, who was playing his first game of the year for Redbirds, was brought in to bowl in the 19th over. This was the most entertaining and productive over for the Redbirds. It almost made it appear as if Ashish should have been brough on to bowl in the 9th over rather than the 19th over. He picked a wicket right off the first ball of his spell and kept doing so pretty much for the rest of the over. He picked up 4 wickets in his over and gave away only seven runs. He sent the dangaerous Madhu Reddy back by bowling him out with a slower delivery and earned the wickets of Kiran, Desigan and Joel.

However, the damage had already been done at this stage. Kedar bowled the final over in which two more batsmen were out, one to a run out and the other caught brilliantly by Imran who took the catch sprinting from wide long-on to deep mid-wicket. Deepesh closed the innings for Spartans by hitting the final ball for a six deep square leg as the Spartans raced past the 200 mark, scoring 205 from their 20 overs.

Facing a ginormous target of 206, the Redbirds lost a couple of quick wickets as both the openers, Neeraj and Kedar were out in quick succession. Dheeraj and Mani (new batsman) provided a sense of decency to the Redbirds batting with a 51 run stand for the third wicket. Except for Mani (scoring 29 from 23 balls) and Dheeraj who scored 13 runs, none of the Redbirds were able to even reach the double figures. Madhu Reddy continued his excellent form and picked up 3 wickets and was declared Man of the Match. The redbirds were bundled up for 97 runs in the 20th over and consequently lost by 108 runs, their largest margin to have ever lost by. The Redbirds were outdone by Spartans in every department on the field and the Redbirds had no answer for the attack of the Spartans !

With this loss, the Redbirds made a hurried exit from the tournament, while Spartans earned the much deserved 2 points and also the critical run-rate. This victory that the Spartans have earned by such a huge marging poses problems for Beetles now, who have to do their best in order to qualify for the semi-finals ahead of Spartans.

A few weeks ago, the Redbirds thrashed Spirit and scored 203 runs in 16 overs to storm into the Super 12 stage and now the Redbirds were thrashed by Spartans who scored 205 runs in 20 overs to storm into the semi-finals. Oh the irony...