The SG Crimsons won the Inaugural Mariners Elite Player 50 Over Series on the 3rd of March 2019 after defeating the SG Stars by 6 wickets and also winning within 41 overs to overcome the Star’s NRR to come out top of the table.
The SG Crimsons won the toss and elected to bowl first on what was thought to be a sticky wicket. The opening bowlers of Janak Prakash and Tafara Chingwara could not curb the flurry off runs as Stars batters Mutreja and Virandeep Singh went on the offensive. The SG Crimsons had no answers as the pair continued their dominance on the flat pitch and put on an imposing 179 run partnership in just 26.4 overs. The breakthrough came off a solitary over from Suryawanshi who took a simple return catch off Mutreja just as he reached his 100 off 89 balls. The breakthrough brought some reprieve for the Crimsons bowlers as they slowly worked themselves back into the game and after dismissing Stars skipper Gaznavi, took the crucial wicket of Virandeep Singh, caught behind after a sharp delivery from Chingwara, bringing an end to a well-crafted 76 off 93 balls. From then on, the SG Stars began their capitulation and were finally all out for 256 in 45 overs. Opening bowlers Prakash and Chingwara coming back strongly to take 6 wickets between them after conceding heavily in their opening overs.
With the SG Stars having a superior run rate as the start of the match and with the SG Crescents out of the equation, a win alone for the SG Stars would have sufficed to take the series. The SG Crimsons however had to chase down 257 within 44 overs to overcome the SG Stars NRR. Things could not have been started better for the Crimsons with the in form Rangarajan taking charge from the word go, hitting his first ball of the day for six over long off. The tone was set for the 19-year-old Rangarajan as he took on all the SG Stars bowling attack had to throw at him while opening partner Motlhanka rotated the strike. Motlhanka departed in the 13th over for an anchor role of 15 (28) but things did not stop there for Rangarajan as now paired with Navin Param, the SG Stars bowlers could not make any headway as the pair took the score to 183 in the 27th over and even as Navin Param left the middle with 34 (44) and a quick flurry of wickets saw Suryawanshi and Prasheen Param back in the pavilion, Rangarajan’s rampage showed now signs of slowing down as he kept the foot on the pedal and saw the game off in 37.4 overs as he walked off to the cheers of his team mates sitting on 153* off 123 balls which consisted of 15 boundaries and 9 sixes. The SG Crimsons taking the series after losing their first two 50 overs matches and then picking up the pace with two commanding wins which saw them leapfrog the Stars and Crescents to the top of the table on NRR after all having been tied on 6 points apiece.
Along with the Player of the Match, Rohan Rangarajan also picked up the Batter of the Series with 208 runs off 3 innings while the lanky Zimbabwean pace bowler from the SG Crimsons, Tafara Chingwara was awarded the Bowler of the Series for his 11 wickets off 4 matches. The SG Stars opening batsman, Arjun Mutreja, did not leave empty handed as he was named Player of the Series for his 226 runs in 3 innings which consisted of two centuries.
The T20 Series will be contested next on the 14th of March 2019 as two more group stage matches remain to determine the finalists. The SG Crescents and the SG Stars will play the SG Crimsons once each in the group stages on the 5th and 7th of March at IA.
