Entering the tournament as underdogs, Sri Krishna Institute of Technology (SKIT) emerged victorious against St. Xavier’s College in their first fixture of the BOSM 2019 cricket tournament. 

St.Xavier’s won the toss and chose to bowl first, looking to restrict SKIT to a chaseble target. It seemed that they had made the correct decision as three of the opposition’s top-order batsmen were dismissed in just the first couple of overs. The following overs saw Yogesh and Mohammad from SKIT trying to build a partnership and cover some lost ground. However, just as they as they seemed to start gaining some momentum, Mohammad departed to a fairly simple catch in the outfield. By the end of the 7th over, the score was 34/4, and SKIT were in trouble. Their top order had completely failed, and their opening batsman, Yogesh, was the only one holding the innings together. 

Thanks to Yogesh’s good form and support from Pinank at the other end, runs started to flow steadily for SKIT. The morale of the team was now boosted and they believed that they could put up a defendable total, especially if this partnership continued to grow. Yogesh proceeded to bring up a well-deserved half century, which received thunderous applause from his teammates. However, their partnership came to an end in the 15th over when Yogesh departed after making a remarkable 56-runs leaving SKIT in a precarious position at of 85/5. With another wicket falling immediately, the pressure was on Pinank to guide his team to a respectable total.

After playing a number of quality shots, Pinank got out to an easy catch at square leg, and it was then the responsibility of the tail-enders to finish the innings with a flourish. They managed to score boundaries at regular intervals, resulting in a substantial total of 142 for the loss of 8 wickets. This was a truly exceptional total, especially after the clumsy start they had. 

After a short break, the players walked out to play the second innings. St.Xavier’s had a mountain to climb with a target of 143, while SKIT were confident that they had the game in the bag. The pressure seemed to get to St. Xavier’s early on, as they got off to a slow start and also lost a wicket in the second over to an outside-edge safely caught-behind by the keeper. 

In the next few overs, St.Xavier’s made several attempts at big shots, with only a handful of them resulting in boundaries. Meanwhile, SKIT continued to put pressure on them with some clinical bowling and stunning efforts in the field, resulting in a couple of crucial wickets. With a score of 38/3 at the end of the 9th over, things looked grim for Xavier’s and they had to get a move-on quickly if they were to make a comeback. Although they showed some intent, they failed to consolidate a partnership and lost wickets far too frequently. With the innings progressing in such a slow manner, the witty commentary provided by the BITS Pilani cricket team kept up the entertainment. Xavier’s had managed to score only 77 runs in 14 overs and the required run-rate had climbed up to a demanding 11 runs per over.

The team chasing the target continued to lose more wickets to SKIT’s exceptional bowling. By the 18th over, they had lost 9 wickets and still required 40 more runs. At this point, it was only a matter of time before SKIT were declared victors. Aware of their imminent victory, SKIT were eager to finish the match as soon as possible. They put things to an end in the 19th over, dismissing the last batsman in his attempt to play a glorious shot on the onside. Xavier’s fell short of their target by 40 runs and were eliminated from the tournament, while SKIT showed that they were a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the tournament.