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Ceria Komodos win inaugural Indonesian Cricket League
Winning pose: Team members of the Ceria Komodos celebrate after winning the inaugural Indonesian Cricket League in Cibubur, East Jakarta, on Sunday
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inning pose: Team members of the Ceria Komodos celebrate after winning the inaugural Indonesian Cricket League in Cibubur, East Jakarta, on Sunday. The Komodos defeated the Yadavas Chairos Tigers in the final to claim the title.(Courtesy of the Indonesian Cricket League)
The inaugural Indonesian Cricket league (ICL), Indonesia’s first franchise based T20 cricket tournament, concluded on Sunday with the Ceria Komodos comfortably beating Yadavas Chairos Tigers in the final.
The ICL was conceived as a platform for budding cricketers from across the country to compete, learn from each other and showcase their talent. It was only fitting then that the final was played between Yadavas Chairos Tigers, the team that fielded eight Indonesian players every game, and Ceria Komodos, which had in their team the two highest wicket takers of the tournament, both Indonesians.
With the sun blazing down on a dry Cibubur ground in East Jakarta, the Ceria Komodos chose to bat first and the action kicked off in dramatic fashion with Naresh Gupta being put down off the very first ball.
The Tigers were made to pay dearly for that miss as Naresh unleased a fiery “Gaylestorm” with 43 of just 15 balls. Rajeev Kumar bowled smartly to snuff out the ominous looking Naresh, but the mantle was picked up by Syed Kabir and young Rohan Shirodkar, who has been the cornerstone of the Komodos batting in this tournament. At the halfway stage, the Komodos at 102 for 1 were well set for a huge score.
The Tigers, after a tough talking to by their coach Andy Cottam, came back charged up and Budiarta disturbed the timber twice in quick succession. Rajeev’s defensive-reflex catch accounted for William Noronha, but Rohan stayed at the crease long enough to take the Komodos to 162 in their two overs.
The Tigers batsmen needed to do really well to chase the target, especially considering the strong Ceria Komodos bowling attack.
The Komodos opening bowlers were perhaps overawed by the occasion as they made a wayward start, while the Tigers were off to a roaring start to reach 50 for 1 after 6 overs. This is when some poor shot selection sparked a change of fortunes and at the break, the Tigers had lost their advantage, needing 100 of the last 10 overs with 7 wickets in hand.
Subhash, who was holding one end up for the Tigers, was running out of steam, especially as he had to face the brilliant pace-spin combination of Maxi Koda and Maneesh Tripathi. He had to retire hurt and Danielson Hawoe rubbed it in with two further blows to restrict the Tigers to just 120 for 7 and guide the Ceria Komodos to a much deserved win.
“Excellent teamwork and brilliant contributions from all our Indonesian players was the key to our success in the tournament,” said Komodos skipper William Noronha.
Meanwhile, Indonesian national team coach Andy Cottam said, “the ICL was a great platform for us to both unearth and nourish upcoming talent.”
Viraj Bhammar, who had a phenomenal run with the bat, ended up as both the best batsman and the MVP of the tournament.
With 19 wickets at a phenomenal economy of just 4.7 runs an over, Rojherio Maxi Koda emerged as the best bowler of the tournament.
“Maxi, who hails from Alor in East Nusa Tenggara and needs to take a 15 hour boat ride to Kupang to hone his cricketing skills, represents the triumph of spirit that the game of cricket fosters and the depth of sporting talent in this country,” said Aziz Syamsudin, the chairman of Cricket Indonesia.
