In the first of a new 4-match series that started on 8th of February between Guadalajara Super Kings and Weekend Warriors, the later came out on top with 4 balls to spare. Did the decision to bat first on a wet field played against the chances of Super Kings?
As quoted by the Super Kings captain Logeshkumar Jayakumar, it was an experiment to test how their batsman can cope with a wet pitch. And the experiment did not yield good results as they were not able to time well with the lack of pace offered by the Weekend Warriors, whose bowlers used the conditions to their advantage and bowled really well. Logeshkumar and Goutham Dhanabalan tried to consolidate the innings but the real lack of pace did not allow them to do so and they ended up with a below par total of 100 runs in 20 overs leaving Weekend Warriors to chase a total that they would have taken before the start of the match.
Notable batting performances for Super Kings were from Selva S 19(25), Logeshkumar 19(21) and Goutham Dhanabalan 16(17) while Sudeep Mishra and Kaviarasu Veerabadrasamy were the pick of the bowlers for Weekend Warriors taking 3/17 and 1/10 respectively.
Defending 100 runs, Super Kings pacer Goutham started superbly with 3 wickets in his first 3 overs. This brought Vivek Chandran and Buddhadeb Banjeree to the crease who came to the rescue of Weekend Warriors to consolidate the innings. They built the much required partnership of 38 runs and laid the foundation for the lower middle order to finish the game well. Some dropped chances and few sixes from Rohit Parmar and Kaviasrasu brought the target well within reach. With some tight bowling in the middle overs from Logeshkumar and Mahesh Nadendla, Weekend Warrios lost their path losing 3 quick wickets for just 1 run. Still having to score 4 runs with only 1 wicket in hand, Weekend Warriors saw the ball running to the boundary through a bye which marked the end to a very exciting and nail biting contest.
Rohit Parmar 26(19) and Vivek Chandran 26(33) were the pick of the lot for Weekend Warriors while Goutham Dhanabalan 3/14 and Logeshkumar 2/20 tried to suffocate the batsmen with good support from Mahesh Nadendla 1/12.