Assupol TUKS crowned campus cricket champions again
It took just 16.5 over for defending champions, Assupol TUKS, to outscore Loughborough Marylebone Cricket Club University and win the Red Bull Campus Cricket World title by eight wickets at the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Dehradun on Saturday.
ESPNcricinfo staff
24-Oct-2015
Murray Coetzee was the Man of the series for scoring 289 from five matches • Ali Bharmal/Red Bull Content Pool
It took just 16.5 over for defending champions, Assupol TUKS, to outscore Loughborough Marylebone Cricket Club University and win the Red Bull Campus Cricket World title by eight wickets at the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Dehradun on Saturday.
TUKS had a poor start to the tournament and lost their first Group match against International College of Business and Technology by two wickets on October 19.
The loss didn't dent TUKS' confidence as they regrouped to win three-straight matches to lift the title for the second-year running.
TUKS won the toss and put their opponents from England in to bat first. Their opening bowlers, Corbin Bosch and Lungi Ngidi, kept a strong LMCC top order in check.
Anish Patel, LMCC's captain, fell in the third over for just eight. Irfan Karim and Nitish Kumar then added 31 runs for the second wicket, before the latter departed in the seventh over.
LMCC hoped to build partnerships thereafter, but they failed, as medium-pacer - Vincent Moore - ran through the middle-order by claiming three wickets. Dustin Melton added to LMCC's woes and picked up two wickets.
Karim was LMCC's top-scorer with a solid 42. His departure in the 17th over cost his side, who managed just 120 in their 20 overs.
TUKS batsmen, buoyed by a strong show by their bowlers, began confidently. Openers Aiden Markram and Murray Coetzee added 88 runs for the first wicket.
When Markram departed in the 11th over, TUKS was just 32-runs adrift from winning the title. Coetzee remained unbeaten and took his side home in the 17th over.