MIT beat BU in cricket semester opener by 17 runs
BU captain Shrey Rajgaria won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast, swinging conditions. MIT opener Anirudh Nambiar G began the proceedings with a crisp on drive to get four runs. Other opener Vaikkunth Mugunthan G also drove a couple of deliveries through the packed off-side field before the opening partnership was broken. Usman Ayyaz ’17 knicked a feather edge to the keeper. Keshav Gupta ’21 and Vaikkunth Mugunthan G then had a brief partnership of 32 runs before Mugunthan mistimed one straight to midwicket. Gupta fell soon to an outswinger that took a thick edge and was pouched safely by Caen Healy, BU’s wicketkeeper. Jehangir Amjad G and Nanda Ponnambalam G looked set to produce a big target when Ponnambalam top-edged a delivery trying to sweep. Amjad and Manish Chaubey brought up some very handy runs that gave MIT’s score some substance. Murthy Arelekatti G and Sumit Agarwal G then exploited the field that was now brought in and gave MIT runs that ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Going in to the innings break, MIT felt 159 was at least 15–20 runs below par, given that in the last meeting between the two sides at that venue, MIT scored 264 in 20 overs. MIT’s strategy for scoring was to restrict the flow of runs to mount pressure on the batting side and force them to make errors. In the opening spell, Ponnambalam kept a tight line and length, being very miserly with runs. Ayyaz bagged three crucial top-order wickets in his opening spell to cripple BU’s scoring. Vedant Agrawal, BU’s last recognized batsman, then scored some important runs while Amjad knocked down stumps time after time on the other end. His resistance finally ended when he failed to keep out a yorker from Gupta. Manraj Gill G and Chaubey then cleaned up the tail to give MIT a victory in their semester opener. It was a wonderful team effort in the batting, bowling and fielding departments from MIT!