Axis Bank Premier League 2015 ends with a grand finale – Kalinga Warriors lifts the APL2015 trophy

It came to the 4 of the very best in Axis bank. These 4 had an unfinished agenda to be completed but more than that was the curiosity as to who would lift the APL 2015 trophy.

April 5th, 2015 had another question thrown to the 4 teams as to what would be the weather conditions on that day. The wet day on March 1st were still afresh in their memories where not a single ball was bowled on that day. Two of the strong contenders Kalinga Warriors ,Mumbai Axis Rockets, Chennai Circle of smiles have always featured in the last four with Nagpur Navigators joining the fray.

It was slightly cloudy on that day but in no time it was bright and sunny. Even the weather gods could not resist any delay on the proceedings.

First up Nagpur Navigators won the toss and put Mumbai Axis Rockets on a damp and difficult wicket. Rockets were off to a slow and steady start and understandably so as they lost 2 quick wickets with the skipper Abhishek leading the way. Ravi Shinde showed why he is a class act with an unbeaten knock of 45 on a not a easy track. Varun chipped in with 2 wickets and Mumbai Axis Rockets ended up with 113 runs in 15 overs. Amar Padhye reckoned it was enough. The start was electrifying for the visitors. Varun’s blistering strokes all over the park gave the hosts some hiccups. It was left to the spinners Pratap to provide the  breakthrough and he claimed 2 scalps. But the man who turned it on for Mumbai Axis Rockets was Mr. V.Srinivasan. Bowling a tight line and length with his off spinners and  no room allowed to the batsman, Nagpur Navigators innings  started to fall. The ninth wicket pair (Kumar and Nilesh)  put on 25 runs but the visitors innings were stopped at 101. MumbaiAxis Rockets emerged winners by 12 runs and  Man of the Match Varun Shrikhande’s knock of 37 and 2 wickets went in vain.

It was another strong contender Kalinga warriors who took on Chennai Circle of Smiles in the second semi finals. Chennai circle of smiles lost 2 quick wickets at the start but it was that great partnership between tall, elegant Vijaygovind and the skipper Shyamsunder rescued the Chennai team, while Vijay govind (40 runs)was superb with his strokes it was the skipper shyam sunder (40 runs)who won laurels for his batting. Getting a good stride forward, those powerful flicks through midwicket were admired by many on the ground. It was Biranchi who first applied the brakes on the Chennai batting line up with his flat and fast off spins but Dibyesh stole the show with his 3 wickets for 19 runs. Chennai circle of smiles manged 113 runs in 20 overs. Kalinga warriors openers enjoyed the outing at the centre with Anshuman 32 runs and Manoranjon 40 NO batted as if they had all the time in the world. Chennai managed to get both the openers but Kalinga warriors have enough of firepower in their batting line up. Shivaprasad and Parthasarthy with 14 not out and 18 not out ensured the last years champions are yet again in the finals.

Chennai Circle of smiles captain acknowledged they lost to a better team.

The stage was set for the royal finale. Hosts Mumbai Axis Rockets and Visitors Kalinga Warriors had one point of agenda. In fact two of the very best in Axis Bank.

It was a good toss to win for Mumbai Axis Bank who opted to bat first and skipper Subrat of Kalinga warriors was all smiles he reckoned it was a good toss to lose as they wanted to bowl first. The visitors stunned the hosts with 3 quick wickets and with the score reading 21 for 3 against a very good bowling attack, Mumbai Axis Rockets needed stability which was provided by Anand Sharma (23 runs) and Pratap (36 runs). Once again it was Dibyesh with 2 wickets, Biranchi with 2 and Anshuman with one helped the visitors restrict the hosts to 133 runs in 20 overs.

Any chance of Mumbai Axis rockets making inroads were negated by opener Anshuman ( 44 runs). But it was the batting of Parthasarthy which left one and all stunned. Playing an innings according to the need, he firstly got himself in and then  launched on the Mumbai Axis rockets attack later on with some breathtaking shots. He finished with an unbeaten 53 and full marks to Shivaprasad (32 Not out) for supporting him. It was an easy 8 wicket win for Kalinga warriors reaching the target in 15.5 overs and most importantly retained the trophy. Subrat’s team  made it two out of two.

Chandrashekhar and Pratap picked one wicket each for the hosts.

The 2015 edition proved that Kalinga warriors have enough of firepower in their batting and bowling line up. Their dominance in the last 2 years speaks volumes of the same. The rest of the teams will have to come up with something extraordinary to challenge them in the next edition. Until then we need to wait.

Congratulations to the Kalinga Warriors team. Also to the organising committee fromAxis Bank for their efforts on the event.Great Show.