Bangalore recover from 0/3,bag University title

The day began on a disastrous note for the Southern Champs Jain University Bangalore but an all-round performance by Shreyas Gopal

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The day began on a disastrous note for the Southern Champs Jain University Bangalore but an all-round performance by Shreyas Gopal 83 n.o,62b,8215;4 amp; 2/16 powered them to a thrilling two-run win and the inaugural title of the Toyota University Cricket Championship at the Jamia Milia University ground on Sunday. Gopal not only anchored the innings from 0 for three to 123 for six,but also picked up the wickets of Northern Stars Jamia Milia University two top-scorers to trigger their downfall.

Bangalore won the toss and elected to bat,and were 0/3 within two overs,with seamers Abhay Negi and Aashish Chopra looking hostile,carrying on the work they had done in their semifinal against Jiwaji University,in which they had also picked up three wickets in just two overs.

Bangalore skipper Kaunain Abbas and Shreyas Gopal began sedately and eased their teams nerves. While Abbas rotated the strike,Gopal dispatched the odd ball to the fence. Jamia left arm spinner Deepak Sharma and Anuj Choudhary finished their spells,giving away 24 and 29 respectively. Dew made it difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball,and Gopal cashed in by using the pace of the skidding ball to score boundaries.

After 17 overs,Bangalore were on 98 and it looked like they might reach 130. But against a field set to medium pacer Atif Ahmed with fine leg in the circle,Gopals repeated attempts to scoop over the fielder for four only worked once. At the other end,Abbas mistimed one straight to a fielder in the deep in the eighteenth over. The momentum dropped with Abbass fall,but Gopal dispatched Chopra for ten runs in the final over to take Bangalore to 122.

Jamia lost in-form opener Amit Verma off the final ball of the first over bowled by seamer HS Sharath. Jamia captain Praveen Yadav then departed first ball and Jamia were 9/2. Surinder Dahiya and opener Shivam Sharma added 65 runs to take the score to 70 in the eleventh over.

Bangalore introduced Gopal to bowl his part time leg breaks. He broke the partnership,dismissing Sharma for 35. In his next over,he got rid of Dahiya as well.

Tense finish

In the end,Jamia were left to score 27 off two overs but tight bowling by left arm spinner Suchith and offie Samarth managed to restrict Jamia. Abhay Negi and Deepak Sharma managed 11 off the last over but they still fell short by two runs.

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Brief scores: Jain University Bangalore 122/6 in 20 overs S Gopal 83,K Abbas 33,A Negi 3/18,A Chopra 2/22 bt Jamia Milia 120/7 in 20 overs S Sharma 35,S Dahiya 31,S Gopal 2/16.

UCCs roll of honour

Batsman of the match: Shreyas Gopal

Bowler of the match: Abhay Negi

Man of the match: Shreyas Gopal

Batsman of the tournament: Kevin D Almeida Mumbai University

Bowler of the tournament:

Abhay Negi

Bowler of the match: Abhay Negi

Promising player of the tournament: Prashant Mavai Jiwaji University

Player of the tournament: Kaunain Abbas captain Bangalore