AZTwenty20 Summer Cricket Tournament progressed into its fifth week and saw top spots in the BLUE and RED groups getting settled and some teams fighting hard to make into the quarters, with 1 or 2 of the group games for them still remaining. This week however would be known for what could be called the upset win of the tournament so far as Valley eagles having only one win against Metro champs, registered a 10 run win against Ocean's blue who were topping the blue group just a week ago

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Game 1: Spartans Vs Tucson Cricket Club @ Chandler Ground:
Batting first, Spartans once again posted a huge total of 182/5 in 20 overs as their batting line up clicked to perfection. Mahendran was the top scorer as he slammed his first fifty of the tournament (50 off 48, 5x4, 2x6). Madhusudan (16 off 11, 3x4), Senthil (37 off 27, 6x4), Manohar (22* off 16, 3x4) and Praveen Kumar (20 off 12, 4x4) contributed significantly for Spartans as they hoped for their quarter chances to remain alive. Sayeed from Tucson claimed 2/25.

Tucson Cricket club was no where near the chase as they succumb to the tight line and length of Spartan's bowlers especially Mahendran (2/9). Only Osaf Ahmad (32 off 43, 5x4) and Shadhin Shiraj (21* off 22, 4x4) stood up to the challenge but it was too late for them thanks to a collapse at the top of the order. Captain Shankar for Spartans claimed 3/26 and Praveen bowled a tight spell of 0/14 in 4 overs. It has boosted Spartans NRR by quite a bit and might turn out to be a deciding factor when it comes to deciding the 4th spot in the RED group.

Brief Scores:

Toss: TCC won the toss and elected to field first.
Spartans Cricket Club - 182/5 in 20 overs.
Tucson Cricket Club - 99/7 in 20 overs.
Detailed Scorecard: Click here to view.
Result: Spartans won by 83 runs.

Game 2: Metro Suns Vs Kingfishers Veerans @ Washington Park (E):
Veerans won the toss and elected to bat first, however they couldn't get to a perfect start as they lost 4 of their top order batsmen with about 20 runs on the board thanks to an excellent seam bowling on display by SUNs openers Ravi (1/21) and Naveed (3/14). Veerans' most reliable batsman Srikanth then came to the rescue act as he batted through the innings scoring 30 off 30 balls getting valuable support from newcomers Praveen Gorthy (16 off 14 balls), Sridhar (25* off 27) and Shankar (9* off 11) helping Veerans post a formidable total of 120/6.

Chasing 121, even though SUNs lost their reliable run scorer, Sanjit, in the tournament so far and Prabhat early on, the middle order batted well under pressure as Krishnan (29, 2x4), Vivek (38, 3x4, 1x6) and Naveed (19, 3x4) used their experience and talent together to make the task look even easier. Praveen Gorthy once again was Veerans' best bowler who bowled beautifully under pressure and claimed 3/19 in 4 overs. By beating Veerans, Metro Suns became the only team to register 4 wins in a trot so far in the tournament.

Brief Scores:

Toss: Veerans won the toss and elected to BAT first.
Kingfishers Veerans - 120/6 in 20 overs.
Metro Suns - 122/5 in 18.5 overs

Detailed Scorecard: Click here to view.
Result: MSU won by 5 wickets with 7 balls remaining.

Game 3: Metro Champs Vs KINGS @ Washington Park (W):
This game witnessed the win by largest margin in the tournament so far (162 runs) as Champs again ended on the losing side. Winning the toss, Kings elected to bat and their openers once again provided a solid start (42 in 6.1 overs). However Digambar, the best bowler from Champs in the absence of Abhijieet, cleaned Gopi (15 off 18) and removed Viral in quick succession to halt KINGS progress for a while. However, the other opener Praveen was in a mood to replicate what his partner had done a week ago against Veerans as he was least bothered about the happenings at the other end as well as to the pitch being on the slower side and kept on hitting almost every bowler he faced and quickly got to his half century in style. He didn't stop there as he added a massive 111 runs with his partner Venkat off a mere 61 balls and at one time he threatened to score the maiden century of the AZTwenty20, only to be undone by a mix up resulting in his run out in the 17th over. He only bettered his partner in a week's time by scoring 87 off 49 balls (8x4, 7x6) proving records are indeed meant to be broken. Venkat scored a patient 31 off 34 balls and a late firework by Karan (34 off 13 balls, 4x6) who was promoted up the order, took KINGS to the highest total of the tournament, 212/6.

Champs feeling the pressure succumbed to the tight line and length to which Kings Bowlers bowled. When the runs were hard to come by, the mounting pressure forced them to go for quick singles only to see 5 of their batsmen being run out. Apart from Danesh (11 off 27) and Rakesh (8 off 17), no one stood up to the challenge. Mitul from Kings claimed 2/13 in 3 overs. Champs, having lost 4 of their games would now try to prove some point by winning a few of the remaining 2 games.

Brief Scores:

Toss: KINGS won the toss and elected to BAT first.
Kingfishers Kings - 212/6 in 20 overs
Metro Champs - 49 all out
Detailed Scorecard: Click here to view
Result: KINGS won by 163 runs.

Game 4: Kingfishers Nawaabs Vs Cavaliers@ Chandler Ground:
Winning the toss, CAVs opted to bat first, despite rain interruptions at the start and on a pitch where the bounce was very uneven. Naveen started off good for the KCCN by grabbing in form Dhananjay early. CAVs struggled early on to accelerate the run-rate but Prasad coming in at no. 5 provided the much needed boost with a rapid fire 23 of 16 (1X4, 2X6). He put on a vital 42 with opener Chandra, and later Dharmesh added a vital 30 with Chandra who stayed the entire innings for a well made 54 (6X4, 1X6). Naveen was the pick of the bowlers with 3/23 and Sanjay was the most economical with 1/18. CAVs posted a respectable 127.

Chasing 128 under the lights was always going to be a tough ask and KCCN found themselves in a spot of bother against opening pair of Makesh and Dharmesh as they were soon reeling at 3/15 in 4 overs. Nawaab's captain Krishna joined Vinod in re-structuring the innings and they both added 40 before Krishna (18 of 26) played Amit back on to his stumps (KCCN 4/55 in 12). Vinod and Srujal (24 of 17) stepped it up a notch with 33 balls 36 stand for 5th wicket as CAVs operated with Spin from one end and pace from the other. Vinod kept KCCN in the hunt with equations changing from 37 in 18 to 27 in 12 and finally to 18 in 6. CAVs handed the last over to Nikhil's off-spin. The last over read 4,6,0,W,1,W. 10 came of the first 2 balls but CAVs held on their nerves to give away only 1 run of last 4 balls and grabbed 2 wickets. Nawaab's Vinod played a valiant knock of run-a-ball 49 (7X4, 1X6) before being stumped off Nikhil on 4th ball of the last over. For CAVs, Makesh was the pick of the bowlers with 2/18.

Brief Scores:

Toss: CAVs won the toss and elected to bat first.
Cavaliers - 127/6 in 20 overs
Kingfishers Nawaabs - 121/8 in 20 overs
Detailed Scorecard: Click here to view.
Result: CAVs won by 6 runs.

Game 5: Arizona Cricket Club Vs Phoenix Cricket Club @ Washington Park (E):
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, ACC posted 120/9 in 20 overs thanks largely to Ankit (41 off 28 balls, 4x6, 1x6) and Jateen (30 off 28, 1x4, 2x6). Rehan Kazmi and Andy Payne claimed 2/18 and 2/19 respectively for PCC.

PCC chasing the target well, slumped towards the end, but Amit Sood came good right at the time and scored an unbeaten 64 (4x4, 3x6) and saw PCC through in the last over. Souvir from ACC was the best bowler (5/8) and could have won the game for ACC had there not been any Amit.

Brief Scores:

Toss: ACC won the toss and elected to BAT first
Arizona Cricket Club - 120/9 in 20 overs.
Phoenix Cricket Club - 121/8 in 19.4 overs.
Detailed Scorecard: Click here to view.
Result: PCC won by 2 wickets with 2 balls remaining.

Game 6: Oceans Blue Vs Valley Eagles @ Washington (W):
This game has to be the first big upset of the tournament as the BLUE group topper so far slumped to a 10 run defeat against a team that had only one win against their name so far. Batting first, Valley Eagles posted a respectable total of 129/8 in 20 overs thanks largely to a well compiled half century (54 off 45, 8x4, 1x6) by their best batsman Atul Ranjan Prasad, playing only his first game, and a good support knock by Vishnu (37 off 32, 3x4, 1x6) lower down the order. SAI claimed 3/15 for oceans and Sachin claimed 2/18 as Oceans lacked fire in the middle overs and allowed Eagles to escape through the tight line and length bowled by the openers early on.

While chasing, Ocean's blue raced along to 47/1 in 5 overs and it looked like a piece of cake for them but Valley eagles came back into the game as their bowlers in the middle overs stuck to a good line and length claiming vital breakthroughs at the right times. As Ocean's kept on losing wickets at regular interval, it became harder for them. They needed 11 off 12 balls with only last wicket at the crease, but Eagles veteran bowler proved his class by foxing the number 10 batsman with his extra pace and bounce as Eagles registered a surprise win against Ocean's blue, which was topping the group so far.

Brief Scores:

Toss: Oceans Blue won the toss and elected to field first.
Valley Eagles - 129/8 in 20 overs.
Oceans Blue - 119 all out.
Detailed Scorecard: Click here to view.
Result: Valley Eagles won by 10 runs.

Metro Suns is still number 1 in the BLUE GROUP followed by Oceans Blue, KINGS and the surprise team of the week, Valley eagles. Cavalier tops the RED GROUP followed by Phoenix Cricket Club and Metro Stars. Metro Champs and Tucson Cricket Club are at the bottom of the BLUE and RED groups respectively and they still have to win a game. Click here to see the points table.