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Journalism of Courage
Forget Twenty20. How about winning a match by playing just 10 balls? Odd as that sounds, Kolkata’s Kalighat Club on Tuesday produced the freakiest result ever at the Eden Gardens.
The in-form first division club, led by Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla, crushed a hapless Dakshin Kalikata Samsad (DKS) in what was supposed to be a two-day quarterfinal match of the JC Mukherjee Memorial knockout tournament.
Kalighat dismissed DKS for just 18 runs in 18.3 overs, Avik Choudhury picking up five for five (including a hat-trick to wrap up the tail) and Sanjib Sanyal chipping in with four for 11 (an expensive spell under the circumstances).
The chase was over in just 10 balls — the only blot on Kalighat’s day being the fact that they actually lost a wicket chasing 19.
DKS’s total is the lowest score ever by a first division team, whereas Kalighat’s win was the quickest chase – it took them just nine minutes to achieve the target — in CAB’s club cricket history.
Pitch fine, says umpire
Said umpire Debu Mitra, who officiated the match: “The freak result has got nothing to do with the pitch. The track was perfectly alright. The DKS batsmen are to be blamed. They looked quite under-prepared.”
Kalighat now play Sporting Union in semi-final at the Eden Gardens on July 3 and 4. The winner will take on East Bengal in the final.
