07/12/2021
After a gap of one year due to COVID, it was time for the 22nd edition of July 4th Cricket Festival by Bay Area Cricket Alliance with 12 strong teams competing for the top spot. Having won the championship in 2018 & 2019, Thunderbolts were looking forward to retaining the championship thereby making it a hat trick.
Game 1 (vs Berkeley): After winning their first match against SBS, Berkeley were a confident bunch. They got off to a solid start by grabbing both opening batsmen of Thunderbolts with only 10 runs on the board. But then came the partnership of Rizwan and Venkatesh. Both have contributed immensely over the past few years towards Thunderbolts success in the league matches as well as the tournaments. Rizwan with a masterful inning of 43 from 38 balls and Venkatesh Sirangu with 37 from 21 balls got the innings back on track with a partnership of 91 runs from 9 overs. Saurabh went in next to play a powerful inning of 74 not out from 39 balls that boosted the team score to 211 after 20 overs. Berkeley team was loaded with some attacking batsmen, but Bilal Sadaqat bowled superbly with the new ball getting rid of 3 top order batsmen who were the highest scorers for Berkeley in their first match against SBS. That broke the backbone of Berkeley, and they never managed to recover. Rizwan took 3 wickets and Mohit 2 wickets to wrap up Berkley's inning at 175. With 43 runs to his name and 3 wickets for 30 runs, Rizwan was adjudged player of the match!
Game 2 (vs SBS): This match was shifted to day 2 of the tournament due to bad light on day 1. Bilal and Krithik got Thunderbolts to a solid start with 37 runs from 4 overs when Bilal had to retire hurt. No individual batsman went on to get a big score for Thunderbolts but a combined effort from Mohit (37 from 23), Krithik UdayaShankar (32 from 19), Waqas Zarif (27 from 10), Bilal (23 from 14) and Prince Faisal Sahebzada (15 runs from 12) saw the team score 187 from 20 overs. SBS needed to win the match in 12 or 13 overs to make it to the QF but superb bowling by Adnan (5 wickets for 17) ended SBS inning for 112 and he was adjudged player of the match for this effort.
Quarter-Final (vs Demons): Demons are a very talented team and fight till the end. Thunderbolts knew this would be a tough one. Batting first, Thunderbolts got off to a start they hoped for. Captain Sheraz (37 runs from 22) with Krithik (62 runs from 44) put on an opening partnership of 90 runs in 10.5 overs. Mohit (29 from 14), Faisal (26 from 12) and Raghavendar Varadharaj (14 runs from 9) helped Thunderbolts post a defendable total of 191 which seemed 10-15 runs short taking Demons batting strength into consideration. Game was evenly poised until the 16th over. 17th over saw Thunderbolts losing the grip on the match conceding 25 runs. But like they have done in the past, Thunderbolts fought back to win the match by 5 runs with Bhavesh, Adnan and Faisal bowling 18th to 20th over conceding only 17 runs.
Semi-Final (vs Fresno): Semi-Finals and Finals were scheduled to be played at Fremont Central Park where the pitch favors spin bowling. With a slow outfield and long boundaries, scoring is not easy. Most of the matches here end up being low scoring ones. Due to injury, Thunderbolts went in to the match with one spinner short in the playing 11. But Natwar struck in the first over of the match and Thunderbolts never looked back. Bhavesh M Jain led the show with 4 wickets for 10 runs with Sheraz grabbing 2 wickets for 21 runs. Fresno inning was wrapped up for a low total of 85 runs. Needing 85 to win, Thunderbolts were in a bit of a bother losing 3 wickets for 32 runs but Raghavendar (26 runs from 28), Waqas (21 from 14), and Captain Sheraz (15 runs from 21) took the team to a win. Bhavesh was declared player of the match.
Final (vs Tracy): Tracy has always been a very strong team to play against. With an international player in the playing 11, they were even stronger. They had scored 190 in the semi-final which is a massive score for this ground. They were off to a very good start scoring 22 from 3 overs. But Faisal rose to the occasion striking the first blow for Thunderbolts which brought Ali Raza to the crease. Both Hemi and Ali continued to attack the bowling scoring at a brisk rate. Yet again, Bhavesh provided the crucial breakthrough by getting rid of Ali. Hemi and Dilpreet continued the attack but a brilliant run out by Adnan sent Hemi back. Threat was still looming with international player Ravinderpal at the crease but a fantastic catch by Rizwan from Sheraz's bowling saw the back of Ravinderpal. Thunderbolts continued taking wickets at regular intervals without giving away too many runs. Adnan was yet again peak of the bowlers conceding only 12 runs from 4 overs. Needing 135 to win, Thunderbolts was reduced to 45 runs for 4 wickets, but Rizwan rose to the occasion in yet another big match for Thunderbolts batting and running between the wickets brilliantly. He had excellent support from Mohit who is also known as someone who raises his game a notch higher when the chips are down. A dominating partnership of 56 runs from 5 overs got Thunderbolts back on track. But a game is not over until the last run has been scored. Target was still tough with 33 needed from 24 balls when Mohit got out. Playing his first tournament for Thunderbolts, Faisal let his bat do the talking and announced why he has been picked ahead of others to be part of Thunderbolts in this tournament. He hit a massive six straight down the ground to bring home the championship making it 3 in a row for Team Thunderbolts. He remained not out on 18 from 8 balls while Rizwan playing yet another match winning knock remained not out on 53 runs from 43 balls. Rightly, Rizwan got the player of the match award.
A team is only as good as the leaders. A leader must have the ability to understand the strengths of every team member, keep them united and encourage them to perform at their best. A leader must also set right example through individual performances. Lot of credit goes to the Captain Sheraz Babar and Vice-Captain Mohit Gowda for living up to the expectations and making all this happen.
