Dainik Bhaskar AMCL 2010: Powerful display by Advert Communications; records highest total of the tournament

Kashif shines for NewsX once again, with scoring a half-century again

Excellent weather conditions greeted the players on the morning of Sunday, January 24. But the first match was a walkover for Red FM, as opponents Zenith Optimedia didn't turn up on time.

The second match was between hot favourites for the Delhi League, Advert Communications against Dainik Bhaskar. Dainik Bhaskar won the toss and decided to field first.

Advert openers, Ashish Ranjan and Rishabh Vashist started the innings on a strong note. Rishabh was more aggressive, hitting two huge sixes. Advert reached the 50 mark in just four overs.

Rishabh scored his 50, when he pulled Lokesh at backward square leg for a boundary. He was finally caught at the deep, trying to clear the ropes one time too many. Rishabh scored 74 off 26 balls, with 11 fours and 4 sixes.

Rishabh's partner, Ashish picked up the rate after that and dealt in boundaries. Ashish remained unbeaten on 85 off 30 balls, with 11 fours and 4 sixes. With these two stellar batting performances, Advert put up a huge total of 174 in 10 overs.

Bhaskar had a daunting chase ahead of them, but they couldn't have had a worse start. Half the side returned to the dressing room by the third over itself. Rishabh, standing behind the wickets, showed his prowess with the gloves too. He stumped two batsmen, to break the back of Bhaskar's top order.

Piyush and Lokesh got two wickets each, as Bhaskar was bundled out in the ninth over for 46 runs, losing the match by 128 runs.

In the third match, NewsX faced Pioneer Publicity. Batting first, NewsX opened with its star pair of Manoj and Kashif. Both these batsmen were fresh from unbeaten half centuries in the previous match, and they started from where they'd left off.

They added 50 by the fourth over and were looking to break through, when Pioneer Publicity's Amit provided the first break, dismissing Manoj for 19.

The fall of wickets stalled the run rate as well. It was left to Kashif to put up a good score for his team, and though cramped and visibly in pain, he used the long handle to register his second consecutive 50 of the tournament.

Kashif was finally removed by Amit for 78 (32 balls, 9x4, 5x6) in the final over, as NewsX set its opponent a target of 125 to win.

Pioneer Publicity needed to score at the rate of 12.5 runs per over, but started disastrously. None of their batsmen could stay at the wicket for long. Manoj snared three wickets, while Kashif accounted for two, as NewsX won by 51 runs.

In the final match of the day, Outlook India faced Red FM. It was a contest between evenly matched teams.

Red FM batted first, but fell to some strong bowling display by Rajwant and Vishal. Opener Varun stayed till the very end, scoring 31 off 27 balls with five hits to the fence.

Vishal took four wickets for Outlook and conceded 24 runs, as Red FM finished at 91 all out. Red FM was also helped by some ordinary bowling from Vijay, who conceded 47 runs in three overs.

Needing 92 to win, Outlook began well, scoring 10 in the first over. However, the second over turned out to be the turning point of the match.

Bowler Avinash was clearly out of sorts, conceding 10 wides and 3 fours and a six -- a total of 30 runs - in his over. For Red FM, that was literally the end of the match. Matured batting display by Outlook captain, Pankaj, who remained not-out on 33, took his team to a comfortable win.

Meanwhile, at the Kamla Nehru College Grounds, where another four matches were played on Sunday, Dainik Jagran played the first match against Dentsu in which Jagran were humbled by Dentsu. Batting first, Jagran could only muster 70 runs in ten overs. With the help of a polished 34 from Shubhendu, the target was achieved by Dentsu easily.

The second match was also a low scoring contest between Group M Media and Studio Thorn. Group M put up 693 in ten overs and Studio Thorn achieved the target in the 5th over itself, helped by 22 extras that GroupM conceded.

In the 3rd match, Dentsu were playing their second game of the day, and this time the opposition was Starcom. Dentsu once again staked their claim for the knock out league with a professional display. Starcom were bowled out for a measly 59 and Dentsu achieved the winning runs in the 5th over losing just 2 wickets.

The last match of the day saw some heavy scoring courtesy team Lintas.

Bating first Lintas set their opposition Turner International a huge target of 120 to achieve in 10 overs. Lintas were helped by some long hitting in the late order by Siddharth, who remained not out on 51 of just 17 balls.

Turner International was no match for Lintas as it was bowled out for just 43, handing Lintas a big win.

For score details, click here.

Dainik Bhaskar AMCL-2010 is being supported by associate sponsors including Open Media, STAR News and All Sports Magazine. Radio partner for the cricket tournament is Red FM and outdoor partner is Bright Outdoor Media. Online support to the AMCL-2010 has been extended by Cricketnirvana.com.