By Jeremy Burks
Contributing writer
A massive 109 from Indian Lions captain Prem Subramanian crushed Broughton's hopes in the KCA Adidas League Cup.
Put into bat by Broughton's captain, Matt Hobden, the Lions survived an early hiccup as they lost Satya and began to build a solid foundation. A patient start was helped by loose bowling which fed the score with extras. Into the middle of the innings, the Lions began to accelerate and Maidul and Subramanian had added 50 before Maidul went. With the Lions skipper anchored solidly at one end, the new batsmen tried to accelerate the pace and for a while, it looked like the Broughton's bowling attack might gain the upper hand as they took quick wickets.
However, Subramanian would have none of it and endured a sustained period of hard hitting, finally holing out with just a couple of overs to go. By then, the Indian score was looking very commanding and with the batting bonus in the bag, they closed on 176 for six in their 20 overs.
Facing such a huge tally, the Broughton's batsmen opened with purpose and with Raja in aggressive mood for the first few overs they were definitely in the hunt. A couple of wickets dampened the enthusiasm but when Ben joined Raja at the crease, they steadied the ship and began to build a very valuable partnership. By the time the score had reached the 80's, it looked like Broughtons had done enough to provide a decent platform for a final charge.
However, an adroit bowling change saw Rohidas enter the attack and he quickly captured the prize wicket of Raja. Ben continued though, going on to a handsome fifty but by then, Rohidas had been joined by Nitin and as wickets fell, the Broughton chase petered out at a creditable 142-9.
Man of the match was India's captain Subramanian for his big score which enabled the Lions to chalk up their first victory of the season.