Piyush Chawla heroics fire Jolly Rovers to title

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An innings of power and panache from the broad blade of Piyush Chawla (117, 104b, 11x4, 3x6) and percentage cricket in the field from Jolly Rovers (Chemplast) helped them regain the VA Parthasarathy Trophy.

In pursuit of 273 on a sluggish pitch, Globe Trotters (MRF) could muster only 240. Chawla added two wickets and a stunning catch in the deep to walk away with the man of the final award.

Trotters had to preserve wickets against the new ball to stay in the hunt but X. Thalaivan Sargunam’s run out and J. Kaushik trapping Anand Subramaniam and castling S. Anirudha in quick succession made it a near impossible task.

Up against a tall asking rate, Trotters found the tight left-arm spin of Prasanth K Verma tough to get away.

Verma duly deserved the wickets of Y. Venugopal Rao and S. Sriram who was snapped by Chawla at long-on. With wickets tumbling regularly it looked an early finish Chawla accounted for the next wickets to take Rovers closer to victory.

J. Kaushik put down a simple chance at long-off when Y. Gnaneswar Rao (50, 73b, 4x4) mis-timed a lofted drive off M. Prabhu. Rao and the big hitting PK Dharma made full use of the little lapse to add 50 runs in seven overs to infuse life to the contest.

Ashwin Venkataraman’s direct hit from mid-wicket caught Dharma well short of the crease after a mix up. In the next over, Rao hit a short ball from Prabhu straight to mid-wicket. Chawla, Verma and Kaushik finished with two wickets each.

Earlier Chawla’s effort was counter attacking brilliance at its best, after Sunil Sam tore open the top-order with three wickets in 10 balls. Skipper C. Hemanth Kumar (69, 93b, 5x4) resurrected the innings with Gowjith Subash (27) for company. The fourth wicket stand was worth 65 in 13 overs. Dharma accounted for Subash with a bouncer but from that point on the game was dictated by Chawla.

Fluent with his crisp drives and effective pulls, Chawla took full advantage of some listless bowling. Trotters were guilty of providing length to the left-hander to free his arms.

Hemanth on the other end showed fine acumen by rotating strike. The field grew a touch defensive at that stage to allow easy singles and the occasional boundary. It also made the job easier for the batsmen as the line went predictable.

The fifth wicket stand between Chawla and Hemanth was worth 84 (104b). The sixth wicket association of 100 runs (83b) between Chawla and Kudua put Rovers firmly in front.

The last over of the batting powerplay (40th) saw Chawla crack four boundaries off PK Dharma, the innings gained considerable momentum from there. The last 10 overs produced 81 runs. A stunning flick over mid-wicket off Sunil Sam brought Chawla a well deserved hundred.

A straight six that followed stood for timing. Sunil did fox Chawla in the same over with a bouncer but the ugly send off was uncalled for. The seamer finished with enviable figures of six for 50 but there was little support from the other end to stop the carnage from Chawla.

Brief Scores: Jolly Rovers (Chemplast): 272/7 in 50 overs (C. Hemanth Kumar 65, J. Gowjith Subash 27, Piyush Chawla 117, N. Ajay Kudua 30, Sunil Sam 6/50) bt Globe Trotters (MRF) 240 in 48.1 overs (Y. Gnaneswar Rao 50, PK Dharma 32, Prasanth Chandran 25). MoM: Piyush Chawla.