Result: TITANS won by 26 runs.

A breezy afternoon, cold weather, open ground.. Not very ideal situation for the DECL Finals. But both the teams were determined to make it a great FINAL. The game started One hour late as umpires didnot make it in time. And what a Final. It had everything a Final should have. Great Opening stand; massive SIXes; fine slogging; good run-chase; hat-trick; awesome catches; nail-biting finish. For TITANS it was a must WIN match; firstly because TITANS have never beaten DDCC in any form of cricket and secondly it was the same team to which TITANS counterpart Menard's XI lost in DCX Finals. Anyway, the game started by Vinay calling it right and opting to bat.

TITANS Innings:
Krishna and Bhaskar opened the TITANS batting for the first time together. After the first disciplined over from Parv Singh, Bhaskar took Avinash's over apart. Hitting him for a mighty SIX. Krishna soon followed hitting a sweetly timed boundary in next over. In no time score reached 21 in 3 overs. Parv Singh made the first blow, when Krishna tried to stir the ball towards point and managed a faint nick to the keeper. Main umpire called it a wide, but on appeal, consulted the leg umpire to give him out. Bhaskar soon followed in the next over very first ball, tried to play a ball going down leg and awkwardly edged to covers. All of sudden TITANS were in defensive mode. Mahesh took Avinash out of attack hitting him for another SIX. He didn't stay too long though. He got greedy on one slower one from Sunila tried to pull it on off, completely missed the line and was bowled. Kalyan went in and declared his intentions hitting Prabhu for SIX over long on. But he soon got out on a similar ball from Sunila, meeting the similar fate. Piyush the next man in and Saurav made sure that TITANS go on break without any further loss. Score 50 for 4.

Break did a lot good for TITANS. Saurav and Piyush started playing very sensibily, taking singles and rotating strike. They had a 31 run partnership when Saurav trying hit big, was able to hit the ball high in the air. Ball landed in the bowlers palm, but popped out when Sunila running from mid-off completed the catch. Score 77 for 5. Piyush took the matter in his hands and hit Prabhu for a SIX and then Ramesh for a 4. But was not able to clear the fielder on long-on where Neeraj completed an easy catch. Score 92 for 6. Sreeraj on the other end was in prime form. He played two sweetly timed shots piercing the field for a boundary. But he soon got out stumped when he danced down the wicket to hit big one. Every run was precious at that time. Srinivas came in and did something which we still can't believe happened. He hit the first boundary of his career and that too a SIX, massive over deep-mid-wicket. Vinay ran himself out trying to steal a second run but couldn't beat the throw. Lakshman on the last ball tried to pull but missed the ball, he still ran and keeper had enough time to stump him. So TITANS innings ended at 111 at loss of 9 wickets. Naveen unbeaten at 2. 112 was a challenging score but given DDCC batting strength not immpossible, it remained to be seen how TITANS defend this total.

How They Got OUT:
Krishna- CAUGHT BEHIND, faint nick to the keeper, main umpire consulted leg umpire and gave out.

Bhaskar- CAUGHT at covers, ball on leg stump, awkward edge towards covers.

Mahesh- BOWLED, tried to pull a slower good length ball, took middle stump.

Kalyan- BOWLED, another good length, unnecessary hoike, missed it completely.

Saurav- CAUGHT at bowler's end, ball went high in the air, popped out of bowlers hand, Sunila completed the catch.

Piyush- CAUGHT at deep mid-wicket, tried to clear the ground, fielder took it comfortably.

Sreeraj- STUMPED, danced down the wicket, ball on legs, Vasu taking the bails off.

Vinay- RUN OUT, ran for the second run in the last over, couldn't beat the throw from mid-wicket.

Srinivas- STUMPED, last ball of the innings, swung the bat wild and ran, easy for the keeper.


DDCC Innings:
DDCC innings started just like TITANS have started other opposition innings. Krishna as usual produced a good length outswinger for the left hander Dilip taking his middle stump. Bhaskar did his part taking out Vasu on a low ball, when Vasu took his eye off it. Neeraj and Nilesh played very sensibily after that not taking any risk. Mahesh bowled a disciplined line. Kalyan in his first over was very erratic. Vinay brough Naveen into attack. That change didn't work either, Naveen went for 8 runs. Meanwhile Mahesh in his 3 over bowled a beauty, Neeraj tried to pull played all around it, and ball landed on his legs, right on middle stump. Umpire didn't hesitate to give him out. Neeraj was unhappy with the decision, since he thought it took his bat. Ramesh was the next man in. Mahesh had a pefect plan for him, and he executed it to perfection. He bowled the first ball over his chest, which Ramesh left for the keeper, followed with a low good length ball, and as expected Ramesh took forever to bring his bat down, clean bowled. Suddenly TITANS were back in the game and DDCC reeling at 35 for 4. Nilesh played two awesome shots in Mahesh's next over hitting one boundary over point and one towards fine leg boundary. At the break they were 49 for 4 wickets. Same situation as TITANS were.

Bhaskar came back after the break. Inspite of troubling the batsman, he didnot get any breakthrough. Breakthrough came in the next over from Vinay, when he bowled a little short of overpitch ball turning away from left hander. Nilesh tried to drive towards long on, but spin made it go towards mid-wicket, Bhaskar from nowhere plucked it from the thin air. A great catch and TITANS took a sigh of relief. They knew they are home now. Next ball was a wide and the one after Vinay balled a perfect ball on the off stump which turned in and hit Sunila on his back leg. Umpire called that absolute plumb. Vinay's Hat-trick ball turned sharply, Avinash moved outside the crease to play it, but Naveen missed a difficult stumping chance. But HAT-TRICK was on papers for someone in the team. Kalyan was brought back into the attack and bowled a uneventful over. His next over he changed the field placement completely, bringing everyone on the off and third man region. Vagesh who was trying to cut everything towards thirdman, continued to do so, even after the field change and edged a simple one to the Keeper. Next ball, even before Parv Singh could think about what to do with it, was clean bowled. Prabhu completed the HAT-TRICK for Kalyan, clueless on a similar ball taking out the off stump. TITANS were elated. DDCC once looked like will make a game of it, were now reeling at 76 for 9 wicket. Avinash showed some resistence hitting Vinay for a SIX. Vinay brought Krishna into attack, and Krishna took Avinash's middle stump just like that. TITANS brough the victory home by 26 runs.

In the prize ceremony, Avinash thanked TITANS for a great game and acknowledged the strength TITANS have become this year. Piyush and Kalayan were the heros of the game. Unfortunately since there can be only one MOM, Kalyan was adjudged for that. Nilesh from DDCC also won the MOM award. Vinay received the trophy on TITANS behalf and the whole team celebrated. There couldnot have been a better way to end the season. TITANS DECL 2005 CHAMPIONS.

How They Got OUT:
Dilip- BOWLED, regulation wicket for Krishna, out swinger for the lefty, off Krishna.

Vasu- BOWLED, first ball he missed sight off, kept low, off Bhaskar.

Neeraj- LBW, missed the line of the ball, right on middle stump, batsman thought it came off bat but umpire was convinced, off Mahesh.

Ramesh- BOWLED, a low ball followed after a bouncer, batsman played around it, off Mahesh.

Nilesh- CAUGHT at mid-off, beautiful ball turning away, good shot, Bhaskar showed sharp reflaxes, off Vinay.

Sunila- LBW, pitched on off stump, turned in fast, absolutely plumb, off Vinay.

Vagesh- CAUGHT BEHIND, delibrate edge to the keeper, off Kalyan.

Parv Singh- BOWLED, good length ball, swung around it, off Kalyan.

Prabhu- BOWLED, hat-trick ball, right on spot, batsman didn't know what to do, off Kalyan.

Avinash- BOWLED, good length, had to swing to score big, missed it, off Krishna.


Sporting moment of the match : "Kalyan came back after a not so good first spell and produced a HAT-TRICK, getting Vagesh, Parv Singh and Prabhu on consecutive balls, breaking the backbone of DDCC batting. Beside Kalyan Mahesh and Vinay also came close to taking an hatrick, both taking 2 wickets in 3 balls."

Funny moment of the match : "Srinivas hit a massive SIX off Avinash, his first ever boundary. After that everyone from the pavilion was shouting Naveen to give strike to Srinivas. A very rare occassion indeed."