Media cricket kickstarts in Silchar; Jt. Convenor thanks Tarashankar Das, Fenesta and other sponsors for support

It is that time of the year when journalists and others who are associated with media organisations toil it hard on the Cricket field. At Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium in Silchar, the Cricket matches began on Sunday. This year, five teams are participating in Late Kalishankar Das Memorial, BUKSS Media Cricket Fest powered by Fenesta.

At the very beginning, co-convenor of the tournamet, Barak Upatyaka Kreeda Sangbadik Sangstha’s (BUKSS) Dwijendralal Das thanked Tarashankar Das and Zubair Inam Barbhuiya for sposoring the tournament. Tarashankar Das has supported the tournament as the title sponsor while Fenesta has assosiated with the tournament as the powered by sponsor.

“This is a prestigious tournament played at a grand scale. This year, we will conduct the final match under lights. All of this would not have been possible without the support of the sponsors. I thank Tarashankar Das and Fenesta for their support. From the bottom of our heart, we thank all other sponsors who have helped us in organising this media fest this year,” said Dwijendralal Das.

In the first match of the day, E-Media News Rockers played against Rosekandi Press Fighters. After winning the toss, Press Fighters decided to bat first. The team got off to a brisk start as Bishal Das scored a few boundaries making use of the powerplay. However, seasoned campaigner Manoj Roy trapped Bishal (18) with a slower one and from there, the Fighters struggled to get the momentum.

Captain Amalava Das was playing well but Ruhul Amunul (10 of 22) failed to complement him from the other end. E-Media bowlers managed to keep Fighters under pressure. Anirban Roy Choudhury picked up the wicket of Das (18) and Bhola Nath (11). Nirupam Das remained not out after scoring 24 runs and took the team’s total to 100. Anirban Roy Choudhury picked up two wickets for E-Media, Monoj Roy also bagged two while Moksodul Choudhury picked one.

Chasing 101 in 15 overs, Joydeep Das scored at a strike rate of 200 to give E-Media the early advantage. He was playing fluently when Biswajit Dutta’s direct hit got him run out. He scored 18 runs of just 9 balls with the help of three boundaries and one huge six for which he got the super sixer award. Another opener Monoj Roy stitched a partnership with Anirban Roy Choudhury take E-Media close to the target. After Roy’s (17) dismissal, Debashish Shome took the initiative and scored 18 with the help of three boundaries. E-Media won the match by six wickets to put on foot to the semi-final. Anirban Roy Choudhury was adjudged the man of the match for his all-around performance.

In the second match of the day, Valley Strong Media Panthers took on the defending champions Karimganj Media Challengers. Batting first, Panthers lost their skipper Sanjib Singh (4) early. Taher Mazumdar (19) played an aggressive Innings in the powerplay by the team lost on opportunities to score quickly. Satyajit Suklabaidya scored 26 runs of 30 balls and Sibananda Singh scored 28 of 27. At one stage, it looked like Panthers won’t cross the hundred mark but then a cameo from Taposh Nath came handy. With the help of one six and one four, he scored 13 runs to help his team to 115. Sajjad Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Karimganj as he picked up three wickets.

Best Batsman of the previous year, Rahul Das looked in top form today. Opening the innings, he was dealing in boundaries. Humayun Kabir was supporting him well and then came the magical spell of Ashok Raj Kumar. 56-year-old Kumar bowled quality outswing deliveries to deceive the batters. He dismissed Kabir (6) to break the opening partnership. Continued his brilliant bowling to dismiss Sajjad Khan (3), Nabandu Malakar (0). With half the top order back is pavilion, pressure started mounting on Rahul Das. As it happens in cricket so often, pressure got to his nerves. Playing a slog sweep to Sibananda Singh, Das (36 of 26) gave away his wicket and then it was just a matter of time. Ashok Raj Kumar came back with his final spell and picked up one more wicket to end with 2.3 overs, 12 runs and four wickets. Karimganj bundled out for 76 runs handing the Panthers a huge win by 39 runs. Ashok Raj Kumar was adjudged the Man Of The Match for his performance.

Tomorrow, YASE Khabar Heroes will play their first match of the tournament against Valley Strong Panthers. In the second match of the day, E-Media will take on Karimganj to fight for a spot in the Semi Final of the tournament.