SCCG®: Play Green, Play for our Future

The opening match of the Best in Graz (B.i.G) tournament 2020 organized by the GCA and ACA was conducted on 18/09/2020, at 15:00 @Ballpark Graz cricket ground. The GTCC won the toss and decided to field first.

The captain and vikram opened the innings nicely for SCCG, putting up 64 runs for 7 overs. Vikram looked in fine touch as he single handedly carried the SCCG score by consistently scoring boundaries, while wickets kept falling at the other end. Eventually he found support through waqas who dealt with boundaries as soon as he stepped in to the center. Waqas scored 30 runs before getting runout in the last over while vikram remained notout with 83 runs. The SCCG managed to put up a total of 175 in 20 overs for 9 wickets.

In the absence of Adil, Safi and Atef took up roles for the pace attack and gave a really good start for the SCCG bowling in the 2 innings. From the side of GTCC, both the openers played hesitantly with many runs coming off the edge of the bat. Eventually they found the middle and started scoring runs at a considerable pace. The fielding from SCCG looked half hearted, as several opportunities were dropped. Things looked still in control for SCCG with two wickets falling (waqas with the first breakthrough) at regular intervals until Samar stepped in. With several maximums and boundaries, Samar really increased the scoring rate for the GTCC. The sloppy fielding by SCCG fielders didnt really contribute to the situation, as Samar was dropped four times by SCCG fielders. Raman came up and took three wickets in short succession to break the steady partnership. Samar put up 61 runs on the board before he was bowled out by Karthik in the 18th over. Sunny bowled the 19th over in a high pressure situation trying to control the run flow and managed to do a fairly good job. However, it was up to Atef to defend 5 runs in the last over, which he beautifully bowled, but the GTCC managed to score 5 runs and tie the match.

The tournament officials had a discussion with the captains whether a bowl out should be made or each team shares the points. Both the captains agreed to a bowl out and selected 5 bowlers from their teams. The bowl out began with the GTCC players choosing to have a go first. Out of six bowlers in each team, only Waqas and Safi from SCCG hit the target, and the SCCG won the bowlout 2-0. The two winning points were awarded to SCCG.
The SCCG will play Lords CC from vienna in their next match of the BiG tournament on saturday 26/09/2020 if weather permits.