[edit] Coverage of Ahluwalia Law & Ecom Consulting Cricket Cup 2008

An Intramural Cricket Showdown

Students ruled the roost on the big final day of Vibha Cricket Cup 2008. The University of Texas teams stole the show away from 22 other teams and pave the way for an exciting final. University of Texas at Dallas deservedly won the championship and clinched the trophy from the defending champions University of Texas at Arlington.

UTD won the final by chasing the target without loosing a wicket. They dominated team UTA in all departments. While the bowlers limited the UTA to a competitive score of 69, it’s the UTD batsman that drove the team home. Star batsman Raghu destroyed the UTA bowling attack and scored a half century (Second in the tournament) and won the Batsman of the series award. Teams Cowboy Cricketers and Pandemonium Gang put up great performances and reached the Semi finals.

Four Women’s teams also played their first matches in this tournament on the final day. Team Incredibles with their professional performances won the championship. They defeated a very enthusiastic Team Hurricane Rush in the finals.

Youth teams also made their presence felt. Many kids played the game for the first time and quickly fell in love with it.

Along with exciting cricket matches crowd also enjoyed melting music from DJ Monty, delicious food from Ruchi palace, Mehndi, kite flying, water balloons and group performances by kids. Winners celebrated in style with a customary victory lap on car tops. Trophies, individual performance prizes and participation souvenirs were given to the finalists by the sponsors of the event.

Team statistics, individual performances and other highlights will be posted very soon.

Day 1 and Day2

The official Vibha Cricket Cup 2008 tournament kicked off in style on Saturday July 12th. In the eventful first round 24 teams have competed with each other in sweltering sun and showcased a full range of cricketing talent. Many players described it as a delightful "fun in the sun" day and commended the Vibha team for organizing such a great cricketing event for a noble cause. Spectators witnessed a full range of cricketing action from cruising victories to absolute nail-biters.

Video Highlights of Day1 and Day2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ofJYrfhI0

Batsman Sai from team ETC scored 40 runs and became the top scorer of round1.

Bowler Mithun from team Plano pioneers took a hatrick against team UTA1.

Team Cowboy Cricketers chased their target in less than two overs and clinched the Quarter finals berth as the number 1 ranking team.

Defending Champions UTA2 cruised to the next round and secured a place in the top 4 teams.

Batsman Shyamal from team UTA2 scored an explosive 38 (not out) including 3 sixes and 1 four.

Team valley ranch Indians tactically scored 4 runs in the very last ball to bring team score to a total of 60 runs and took advantage of the Bonus point system.

Team "Andhra Pirates" with their sharp fielding managed to get 4 opposition batsmen run out.

Teams "Indian aces" and "Valley ranch Indians" went for "Bowl out" for rank 5 and team "Indian Aces" won the "Bowl out"

On Sunday 13th July, the last eight teams played with each other in the pre-quarter final round to secure places in the quarter finals.

Pre-Quarter finals highlights

UTD2 set a whopping 84 run target and became the top scoring team of the tournament in 8 overs. UTD2 clinched the quarter final berth by winning against UTD1.

Team "Hurricane Rush" won against "Plano pioneers" with the help of their passionate supporters.

Team "Titans" won against the "valley ranch Indians" and secured a place in the Quarter finals.

Team Pandemonium Gang won a close match in the last over against "Indian Aces" and reached quarter finals.

Review the final 8 teams and their rankings after Pre quarter finals..

Based on the players in the final teams, this Saturday could be very eventful. Will the Cowboy cricketers continue to maintain their supremacy and retain their top spot? Will the Defending champions UTA2 win this year again? Will team ETC continue to surprise with their performance? or is it going to be an all student affair between UTD and UTA? We will have to wait and see it on Saturday.

Whoever wins or looses, we definitely are in for a wonderful cricketing feast. Review the schedule of the exciting final day of this tournament here. http://wiki.vibha.org/Dallas:Cricket_Schedule_2008

We thank all the volunteer umpires and umpires from various teams for providing quality umpiring services. We thank all the generous players and spectators who contributed at the vibha booth also who donated online using the team fundraising pages. Please visit your teams fundraising page here. http://wiki.vibha.org/Dallas:Cricket_2008_Pledge

PS: Women's Vibha Cricket Cup 2008 will start on Saturday at 8.00am. Team "Cisco" will be playing against "Hurricane Rush".

Please stay tuned for more coverage of this tournament. We hope to see you at the Marcus Cricket Ground on Saturday.

If your team and player has any special highlights to add, please let us know.