After an exciting and hard fought season where all the teams gave their best, it’s ultimately boiled down to two of the best teams left to pit against each other in the finals at the one and only The Iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 7th of January, 2024. Sapient Leopards and Balasinor Tigers showed that they have it in them defeating quality opponents time and again while putting up a great team work whenever it was required.
Even in the semi- finals, Balasinor Tigers gave a tough fight to All Season Panthers. Balasinor not only gave a tough fight while defending a total of 146 where the match ended in a tie but they also got the upper hand in the SUPER OVER where they pipped All Season Panthers to quality for the finals. It was a match which had everything! Action, ups and downs, team work, brilliant individual performances and some quality cricket played with great spirit.
In the other Semi-finals as well, Jaguars of Triumph Knights, a team which dominated throughout the season was favorites for the finals but Sapient Leopards took the challenge head on and restricted Triumph Knights to a modest total of 113/7 in 20 overs which was chased down successfully by Sapient Leopards in 17.3 overs where they won the semis by 3 wkts.
It was a day when two teams namely Balasinor Tigers and Sapient Leopards proved, that no matter how strong or favorite the opposition is on paper, with determination, teamwork and fire, you can always become a champion!
Now the question boils down to, who will win the ultimate finale? Will the Tigers roar or will the Leopards take over? Both the teams look balanced and they have some in form players as well. Sapient Leopards has Shahen Mistry who can change the game with the ball as well as with the bat on his given day, they also have the likes of Huzefa Saifee who has showed how impactful he can be with the bat at the middle order. Bowlers like Dhrumil, Ripal, Mishit and others have also been pretty reliable making a strong bowling unit.
On the other hand, Balasinor Tigers have very aggressive batters like opener Dinesh Patel or Amit Dassani who has been a revelation in this tournament or even in that case youngster Aarish Mansuri who can whack a few in the death overs. While Sapient has a compact and solid batting unit, Balasinor tigers have batters who can change the game in a matter of few overs.
It will be an interesting finale yesterday and you can watch all the action live on GCH Cricket Youtube Channel. You can also come to the ground and cheer for your favorite teams fighting it out for the prestigious GSL 2.0 Trophy!
Kudos to Mohit Chaturvedi, Chairman, Cricket and Sports Committee and the team for organizing this tournament in a grand scale in Professional Execution. Being a cricket lover himself, Mohit has ensured GSL 2.0 becomes a blockbuster success and a brand which will keep on getting bigger in the coming years.