INFINITY CRICKET STAR PERFORMER - ARJUN ARORA (THE BOYS) 115 off 45 balls (10 fours, 10 sixes) v Sultans. S/R: 255.56 Sunday October 5th 2014 Arjun Arora blasted the tournaments first hundred (115) in emphatic fashion on Sunday against the Sultans in the Asahi South Group clash. It was also Aroras second highest ever score. Arj otherwise known as Pinky has had a reputation for being an aggressive opening batsman who on his day can tear any attack apart. Blessed with supreme confidence and terrific hand eye coordination he keeps batting really simple following the old adage: see the ball, hit the ball. And boy do they stay hit. In his innings yesterday, Arora clubbed 10 sixes and scored exactly one hundred runs off boundaries. Later after the game he would say with a grin, the small boundaries did the trick. He had to change the way he batted in this innings as opposed to the previous week in Dandenong- however Arora had experience of playing at Fairbairn Park in the MYCA competition. These Ascot Vale pitches have no life. I was probably batting a good meter outside my crease to make sure I was getting to the pitch of the ball because there was low bounce compared to Dandenong. Prior to this innings, Arora had failed to live up to expectations in the previous two Infinity T20 Cricket Tournaments he was part of. A high score of 47* in his last two tournaments before this one did not do justice to the immense talent he has. This was about to change. On Sunday, Arora seemed intent to bat through the innings and was almost circumspect at the start. He was five runs off his first six balls faced, but that would be the only time his strike rate would dip below 100. He raced to his fifty in just 22 balls. His second fifty was even quicker coming off an incredible 13 deliveries, which included a six ball sequence that read: 6, 4, 6, 6, 4, 4. He didnt pre-meditate any of his boundaries. So what was his secret? Just tried to really get under the ball. Anything that comes out of the middle will be 6 or 4. Was just aiming to middle everything really. The Sultans attack looked lost amidst the onslaught with no bowler conceding less than 9 runs an over. The Boys needed a massive win against the Sultans in the hope of a remote possibility to qualify to the next round. Batting first, they were originally intent on posting 150. That would eventually become 250, which was The Boys highest Infinity T20 score. After 10 overs, The Boys were coasting at 0/160. Overs 6-10 were hit for 19, 27, 12, 18 and 17 runs respectively as Arora and his English batting partner Brad Earls ran amok. They (Sultans bowlers) were just putting it on the pitch without any sort of plan hoping to get a wicket, said Arora of the Sultans bowling display. The Sultans didnt offer much resistance with the bat either folding to be all out for 69 to lose the match by a mammoth 181 runs. Even this massive win was not good enough on this occasion for The Boys, who have had a reputation of somehow sneaking their way to the next round. Yeah we ****** up last week. Just a bad day at the office, said Arora of the Boys performance last week where they lost to both the Melbourne Lions and the Bosses. However, despite that- it was well and truly Arj Aroras day with the bat as he cleared boundaries at will and put on a clinical display of power hitting. It is an innings he can be mighty proud of. It may just be the kind of boost that will buoy the Boys on as they seek to make amends and look ahead to the Summer T20 Tournament starting in December.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 08:37:41 +0000