[edit] West Indian cricketer Clayton Lambert inaugurates popular charity tournament.
The drama of a historic upset marks this year’s competition.

Pankaj Bolaki

Every year during the month of May, Atlantans who love cricket gather at Georgia Tech for the FutureTech Vibha Cricket Cup, and this year the contest was between 46 teams involving over 400 players and participants.

The tournament started on May 9th, and was inaugurated by Clayton Lambert, a former West Indian cricketer and current coach of the USA cricket team. A total of 32 games were held during the first weekend with the first match starting at 8 AM and the last match ending around 9 PM each day. During the first weekend, usually not many upsets are expected, and the best teams breeze through the early rounds without much hassle.

However, this year was different and defending champions Alpharetta Monsters Kings lost to Rapid IT. Monsters needed to chase 75 runs in 10 overs which is a par score but a really good bowling and fielding effort from Rapid IT caused the biggest upset in the history of the tournament and the former champions remain that only. Unfortunately, RapidIT’s victory took all the gas out of them and were defeated by Chattanooga Titans, a team that is playing this tournament for the ninth year.

[edit] Javed Miandad’s legacy of a memorable upset evoked

The most exciting finish to the match was between Rebels United and Marietta Invincibles. The Rebels needed nine runs in three balls and with 2 overthrows and a wicket in the next two balls, the equation was six runs in from the last delivery! Opening batsman, Viraj Karnik stepped up to the challenge with a miraculous six over the square leg fence—evoking memories of Javed Miandad’s famous six that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the 1986 Australia Cup final between India and Pakistan in Sharjah. As they say, anything can happen in the game of Cricket and the first week of the tournament had all the drama!

[edit] The Quarterfinals: The Monsters, Predators and the Dragon Slayers:

With the Alpharetta Monsters Kings out in the early rounds, pressure was on the Alpharetta Monsters-Challengers to step up the competition. They posted a challenging total of 88 runs against ACC in the quarterfinals but Eshwar Gowda from ACC stamped his class on the tournament with a 53 not out. His batting was a pleasure to watch with shots all round the field.

The best chase of the tournament was provided by Amigos, who restricted the strong batting lineup of Predators to 78 runs in their quarterfinals. The Predators team, in Syed Mujtaba, had the best bowler from last year’s tournament, but Naren Sahoo from Amigos had other ideas and controlled the chase very well. His pull shots were effortless and effective and the Amigos turned into predators. The underdogs of the tournament showed what true team effort is. All the teams that reached the semifinals had never won the tournament and hence a new champion would be crowned.

[edit] The Semifinals: Eight Amigos charge, and the lions roar

In the semifinals, ACC, who were last years semifinalists were now the favorites to win the title. During their run chase, they needed 13 runs to win from 12 balls and Jibran of Lanka Lions did a Munaf (of Rajasthan Royals against Mumbai Indians) and bowled a very tight over causing many run outs. In the end, ACC ran out of steam after they beat some of the favorite teams to win the tournament.

In the second semifinals Chattanooga Titans competed against a charged up Amigos, who till now were just having fun with no expectations to win. They stepped up to the plate and put a challenging 88 runs on the board, which was their highest total of the tournament. The Titans tried valiantly and put in a spirited effort but in the end could not surmount the runs and bowed out of the tournament.

[edit] The Finals: Lakkitha Silva’s (a.k.a Sangakarra) day

There were many highlights in this year’s matches, but none compared to match winning performance by Lakkitha Silva, the captain and wicketkeeper of the Lanka Lions team, who took five wickets in the finals. The Amigos were off to a blazing start with 43 runs in five overs. Naren Sahoo from Amigos, who was declared “The Best Batsman of the tournament” was tearing apart the Lions’ bowlers. That is when Lakkitha Silva (a.k.a. Sangakarra) brought himself on and bowled out Naren Sahoo with his first ball. This triggered a collapse and the Amigos were all out for 61. The Lions openers gave a solid start to the chase and achieved the target pretty easily and capped off a remarkable victory.

Lakkitha Silva, won the Man of the Match for the Finals and the Man of the Tournament for taking 12 wickets and contributing 63 runs along with captaining the winning team. Naren from Amigos captured the Best Batsmen of the tournament with 108 runs in 4 matches and Chirag from ACC won the Best Bowler of the tournament award for getting 10 wickets.

The event was sponsored by Futuretech, Pyramid Consulting, Primus, Rapid IT, EIS, Hope Dental, ObjectNet, and Sanket Systems and a big thank you to “Swathi Indian Cuisine” for providing delicious food for all the days of the tournament.

Jaimin Modi, who organized the tournament for the first time and had this to say: “I tried to do the best I could. This really goes without saying, but I couldn't have done this without the help of all the volunteers and umpires that put in hours of time into making this tournament successful. Thank you so much for all that you've done for this tournament and in the end for the under-privileged kids back home!”

Vibha, a charitable organization serving underprivileged children in India, has successfully organized these tournaments for over a decade. This year, the event raised $30,000 for its noble cause. Please email coordinator@atlanta.vibha.org if you would like to volunteer with Vibha