Report prepared by Mayank

Caltech vs UCLA hosted for the first time by Caltech at El Monte Cricket Ground on Feb 1st 2020.
Caltech won the toss and elected to bowl.

UCLA started off quickly, scoring 51 in the first 6 overs for the loss of a wicket. UCLA was slowed down in the next 5 overs by tight bowling from Vignesh and Nachiket, culminating in the fall of another wicket in the eleventh over by Nachiket. At the end of the eleventh over, UCLA was at 86-2. The last 7 overs bowled by Sumit and Shashank prevented UCLA from accelerating at this point, and UCLA ended at 152-4 in 20 overs with Pratyush scoring 59 runs. Vignesh(22 in 4 overs) and Nachi(29/2 in 4 overs) from Caltech were the star bowlers with lowest economy rates. Despite a few dropped catches early in the match, a spectacular skier take by keeper Jag to dislodge danger batsman Nihar was one of the defining moments.

The start of Caltech's chase was slow and wicket-laden. Caltech was in trouble at 17-4 at the end of the fifth over. Caltech was in need of a partnership at this point, and this was provided by Sumit and Shashank. Shashank(97*) and Sumit(31) played with steely resolve to build a game-winning 100 run partnership. A big break was provided by the tenth over, in which 21 runs were scored. After this over the score was 65-4, which was well within reach due to how well Sumit and Shashank were batting at this point. Sumit finally fell for 31 in the fifteenth over, after which the score was 112-5. The new batsman in fell in the next over, and at the end of it, 36 runs were required off of 18 balls. Such a target was not nearly enough with the way Shashank was batting, who finished the game off in the next 12 balls, scoring 32 of these 36 runs. The remaining 4 runs came off of a crucial four struck by Jag at the end of the 18th over, giving the strike to Shashank for the next over. Shashank ended at 97 not out off of 50 balls, crossing his earlier career best score in the United States.

Post match talks:
Sumit says "Even though I have seen my batting improving with each practice, I am really happy to step up at the situation and contribute to the team win. This innings will be a good sleeping pill for me until the next match. I was also happy that I got a middle stump, credits to Ambuj's inputs (who wasn't there for the match) in getting middle stumps. "