BUKSS Media Cricket: Sunset for Karimganj, Budhu's Hailakandi in Semis; AP Dutta Fighters tops Group B

The league round has come to an end at Barak Upatyaka Kreeda Sangbadik Sangstha organised Jookto Media Cricket. The four teams who made it to the semifinals are Friends Of The Earth News Rockers, AP Dutta Press Fighters, Ganashakti Panthers and Budhu’s Hailakandi Press Club. 

In day-3 of the media cricket fest, the first match was between AP Dutta Fighters and Ganashakti Panthers. Both the teams had already qualified for Semifinals but were playing to decide the group champions. Ganashakti Panthers won the toss and asked the Fighters to bat first. Openers Taher Ahmed and Shyam Sinha gave Fighters a perfect start where Ahmed scored 33 of 19 balls and Shyam Sinha played a steady 25 of 32 balls. Anirban Roy Choudhury got a life when he was dropped at eight. He capitalised on the Panthers’ sloppy fielding and went on to score 34 of 20 balls. The Fighters at one stage looked like they would score around 140 in their 15 overs but they could not up the ante in the final overs and ended their innings at 123.

Ahadul Ahmed picked up 2 wickets for the Panthers while Shibananda Singh, Sumit Shuklabadiya and Ajit Das picked up one wicket each.

Chasing 123, Ganashakti Panthers needed a quick start in the powerplay but their openers could not accelerate which got them under  pressure. Pritam Das scored 27 of 34 deliveries and Binit Nath remained not out at 16 after 14 balls. Ganashakti’s batting line-up failed to deal with Shyam Sinha’s mystery bowling as he picked up three wickets again conceding only 12 of his three overs. Anirban Roy Choudhury bowled three overs and conceded 10 runs picking up one wicket. Sanjib Singh, Biman Sinha also picked up one wicket each to restrict Ganashakti at 77 for 8.

The second match of the day was a virtual quarter-final between Budhu’s Hailakandi Press and SML Karimganj Strikers.The Strikers won the toss and decided to bat first but could not get the desired start as they lost Jasim Uddin early for 4. The other opener Nabendu Malakar looked in good touch as he scored three boundaries but was dismissed by Ashok Uddin at 14. Sajjad Khan (17) was the highest scorer for the Strikers but they could only score 77 in their 15 overs.

Rahul Chakraborty picked up 3 wickets for the Budhu’s Hailakandi and Ashok Uddin picked up 2. Abhijit Das and Abhijit Paul picked a wicket each.

Only wickets could get SML Karimganj back in the game but Abdul Kayum Laskar and Mondeep Malakar ensured they get Hailakandi to a good start. Malakar scored an unbeaten 40 of 33 balls to take his team through to the semis. Apart from him, no other Hailakandi batsman could reach double figures but Karimganj gave away more than 24 runs in extras which did not help them in the low scoring match. Karimganj Strikers got knocked out of the tournament while Budhu’s Hailakandi booked a slot in the semis of the eighth edition of Media Cricket Fest.

The semifinal matches will take place tomorrow at the Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium. The first match between Group A champions Friends Of The Earth News Rockers versus Ganashakti Media Panthers will be played at 9:30 in the morning and the second semi-final at 12:30 in the afternoon is between Group B champions AP Dutta Fighters and Budhu’s Hailakandi.

The BUKSS members invited all cricket and sports enthusiasts to attend the semifinals and final as spectators. In each match, the spectators are entertained by a panel of commentators and their bilingual commentary.