It was a perfect Monday for Calicut Globstars captain Rohan S. Kunnummal. He won an important toss and saw his bowlers exploit the conditions to bundle out Alleppey Ripples for an under-par total of 131. Rohan then rode his luck during the chase, dropped on three and 49 by Akshay Pillai, to smash a blistering 47-ball 94 (6×4, 8×6) to turn the run chase into a breeze.

Calicut’s win was set up by left-arm spinner M.U. Harikrishnan, whose double-wicket maiden over delivered a sucker punch from which Ripples never really recovered. He scalped Jalaj Saxena and skipper Sachin Baby off successive deliveries in the second over of the innings to push Ripples onto the back foot.

Early strikes

Akhil Scaria tightened the screws by dismissing the in-form Mohammed Azharuddeen (16) and K.A. Arun in the third over to leave Ripples struggling at 16 for four. There was a brief recovery when Abhijith Praveen (24) and Sibin Girish (17) added 30 runs for the eighth wicket. Ashiq Ali’s cameo at the end (33 not out, 17b, 4×4, 1×6) boosted the total.

Jalaj Saxena struck twice in the PowerPlay to reduce Globstars to 18 for two to give Ripples hope. However, Rohan capitalised on his early lifeline and batted aggressively to put the Ripples bowlers under pressure. Rohan, who celebrated a second reprieve by clubbing Ajinas for three consecutive sixes, missed out on a century while trying another big hit, but Akhil Scaria (31 not out) was there to guide Globstars home.

The scores: Alleppey Ripples 131 in 19.3 overs (Ashiq Ali 33, M.U. Harikrishnan 3/12, Vignesh Puthur 2/25, Akhil Scaria 2/27) lost to Calicut Globstars 135/4 in 16.5 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 94, Akhil Scaria 31 n.o., Abhijith Praveen 2/8, Jalaj Saxena 2/13).

Sunday’s match: Calicut Globstars 195/6 in 20 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 58, Akhil Scaria 56 n.o., Krisha Devan 39 n.o, Vijay S.Viswanath 2/22) bt Aries Kollam Sailors 129/6 in 15 overs (Arun Poulose 37, Arjun Venugopal 27 n.o., Akhin Sathar 2/12). Calicut won by 21 runs under VJD Method.