NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun12 – Ghanshyam Mavericks coach Martin Suji said his side could have given Hari OM their first loss of the Ghanshyam Ten10 tournament if they had not dropped several catches in their nail biting match at the Cutchi Leva on Tuesday evening.
Mavericks were punished for their sloppy fielding after flooring two catches and also missed a missed a run out opportunity as Hari OM maintained their perfect record with a six wickets win.
Set a target of 84, Hari OM had a penultimate ball drop catch and sloppy fielding from Mavericks to thank to register their second win.
The result left Mavericks winless in the eight teams event, just two days after going down by 34 runs to Mombasa Cement Giants.
“It’s not the pressure, I think we just didn’t do the right thing at the right time and we were made to pay for it,” Suji said.
Needing seven off the last over, Martin Okoth gave Mavericks the best possible start with three consecutive dot balls to put pressure on Hari OM batters Sachin Bhudiya and Yuvraj Chudasama.
With two balls to win, Hari OM needed six runs but hell broke loose when south African international Janeman Malan spilled an easy catch before Hari OM skipper-Bhudia hit a huge six to finish the match.
“If you look at the match, we played well and I think we deserved to win. From the beginning where we lost two wickets in the first over, I think it would have been fair if the results would be different but we had to pay for the dropped catches,’ Suji said.
Malan had dropped Bhudia earlier on in the inning.
“We dropped Sachin twice. So that sort of gives a little bit of momentum to the opposition,” Suji added.
“If we had taken those catches, we would have been in a much better position. But it wasn’t to be and unfortunately, we have to go home regretting those.”
Mavericks gave Hari OM an easy target to chase but things took a different turn when they lost Dhwanil Patel on the fourth ball of the chase.
Richard Levi entertained the spectators with a cameo 29 off 11 balls but as soon as he was dismissed in the fourth over, Hari OM seemed to have lost the plot.
Sammar Gajjar (33) and Manish Kerai’s unbeaten 28 had laid up a platform for Mavericks as they lost two quick wickets in the first five balls of the match. Francis Mutua (2 for 31) and Amrish Kara (2 for 12) were the chief destroyeers of Mavericks batting.
In the second match of the evening, Maasai Warriors needed a last over bowling show from skipper Dhiren Gondaria to secure a six runs victory over Ndovu Crushers.
Chasing, 129, Crushers were poised to victory with 10 to win off the last over, but the skipper who had earlier scored 63 conceded only three runs.
Gondaria and Kyle Verreyne (32) had given their side a good platform with a second wicked stand of 77 in 31 balls.
