BUKSS Semi-Final: Ganashakti upsets Friends Of The Earth; AP Dutta Fighters beats Budhu’s Hailakandi

The penultimate day of Barak Upatyaka Kreeda Sangbadik Sangstha (BUKSS) organised Jookto Media Cricket was nothing short of a thriller. It was the day to find out the two finalists in the eighth edition of the Media Cricket Fest played in Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium in Silchar. 

In the first Semifinal, Ganashakti Media Panthers won the toss and decided to bat first. Openers Pritam Das and Sumit Suklabaidya got the Panthers to a steady but slow start. Sumit was caught and bowled by Rishab Purkayastha when he was at 14 after playing 17 balls. Captain Amalava Das scored 10 of 13 and Shibananda Singh was the only other batsman to reach double figures as he scored 13 of 12 balls. Pritam Das played  the anchor’s role and scored 46 of 39 balls and took his team to a fighting total of 107 at the end of 15 overs.

Veteran cricketer, Biswajit Dutta bowled an exceptional spell three overs and picked up 4 wickets conceding only 17 runs. Rishab Purkayastha was the only other bowler to get his team a breakthrough, he picked up one wicket.

The unbeaten team in the tournament so far, Friends Of The Earth News Rockers started their chase with flamboyance from Manoj Roy in one end and class on the other from Aniruddha Laskar. At one stage it looked like the Rockers will chase down the total within 12 overs but then Manoj (21) was dismissed by Rajesh Das and Binit Nath picked up Aniruddha Laskar while he was at 27. The Rockers needed one more partnership to win the match while for Panthers only wickets could get them back in the match. Ganesh Nandi from Panthers turned up with the Golden arm as he kept picking wickets one after another. He stood between Rockers and Finals and ended his spell of three overs picking four wickets for 13 runs. Ganashakti Panthers got back into the match and won it by 7 runs to be the first finalist of the 2020 edition.

In the second Semifinal, AP Dutta Fighters, the other unbeaten team so far in the tournament took on Budhu’s Hailakandi. Fighters won the toss and decided to bat first. The start was bad for the Fighters as they lost Shyam Sinha (2) early. Anirban Roy Choudhury and Taher Ahmed managed to stitch a partnership at the slow and low pitch. Taher got dismissed after scoring 17 runs from 18 balls and he was replaced by Bishal Das who scored 15 of 13 balls. Off-spinner Rahul Chakraborty used the pitch well and lured Anirban to sweep a delivery that pitched on line and was hitting the middle. Anirban (23) missed the ball and it hit him at his back leg which was adjudged as leg before wicket by the umpire.

Rahul Chakraborty picked up 4 wickets conceding 14 runs. Apart from him Abhijit Das, Joydeep Malakar and Bidhan Sen picked up a wicket each to restrict the fighters for only 91 at the end of 15 overs.

Chasing what is considered as a below-average score in this tournament, Budhu’s Hailakandi got off to a good start. Abdul Kayem Laskar and Mandeep Malakar got the scoreboard ticking but the latter was dismissed by Pintu Suklabadiya in the third over of the match. Dangerous Anupam Singha replaced him to hit one boundary after another and it looked like he was taking the game away from the Fighters. However, he was bowled out by Anirban and the damage was restricted to 18 runs. The other opener Kayem was scoring quickly but got foxed by the mystery bowling of Shyam Sinha while he was batting at 16. Sinha ended his spell of 3 overs with 17 for 2 while Anirban Roy Choudhury conceded 13 runs and picked up 2 wickets. Biman Sinha bowled his 3 overs and got three wickets while 58-year-old Ashok Rajkumar bowled a crucial over and picked up one wicket. The team effort helped the Fighters defend their 92 runs as the Budhu’s Hailakandi innings ended at 82 for 9 at the end of their 15 overs.

The final match between Ganashakti Panthers and AP Dutta Fighters will be played tomorrow at 10 AM at Satindra Mohan Dev stadium. Like previous years, this year too the final will be a T-20 match for the audience to cherish.