Rakesh Singh's Five-Wicket Salvo Wins the Battle, But Orcas Lose the War to Underdogs
Man of the Match Rakesh Singh takes 5/27 and holds the final catch as Shapoorji Orcas beat Underdogs by 25 runs, but it's Underdogs who advance on net run rate in the cruellest of Group A finishes
Cricket has a way of reminding everyone, every so often, that it is a game measured in the smallest of margins — where a single run can carry the weight of an entire tournament. In a final Group A league fixture that will go down as an absolute thriller, Shapoorji Orcas needed a definitive 26-run victory over Underdogs to keep their Challenger's Cup 2026 dreams alive. For nine overs, they did everything right, executing their plans beautifully and putting qualification well within reach. Then, in the blink of an eye, the cruel unpredictability of the game shattered their hopes.
Man of the Match: Rakesh Singh
If ever a captain gave everything he had for a cause, it was Rakesh Singh. Opening the bowling, he ran through the top of the Underdogs order in a stunning first over, removing New Town Sunny, Puspajit Biswas and Subhasis Garai in the space of a handful of balls to leave the chase in ruins before it had begun. He came back for a second spell and struck twice more, finishing with a remarkable 5/27 from his 2 overs. And then, right at the death, with the innings hanging by a thread, it was Rakesh Singh again — standing at the boundary, calm amid the chaos — who closed his hands around the catch that ended the Underdogs innings on the very last ball of the match. Five wickets and the final catch, all in the same game, all in the hope that it would be enough to send his side through. It was, in every sense but the one that mattered most, the innings and the spell of a Man of the Match.
Prabal Hazra & Saif Ali Set Up a Total Fit for the Occasion
Shapoorji Orcas' innings had been built for exactly this kind of finish. Prabal Hazra played the innings of his life, unbeaten on 68 off just 19 balls with ten sixes, and Saif Ali finished things off in a hurry with an unbeaten 41 off 11, five sixes of his own, to take Orcas to a formidable 169/4. It was the kind of total that, on most days, settles a match by the halfway mark of the chase. This was not most days.
The Nightmare Over
The nightmare began in the ninth over. Tasked with defending a seemingly comfortable 34 runs off the final 12 balls — still well clear of the 26-run cushion they needed — the Orcas watched in horror as the momentum evaporated in a matter of seconds. Three consecutive, towering sixes off the first three balls of the over sent shockwaves through the camp. Then came the heartbreak: a crucial, agonising dropped catch stole away the chance to break the Underdogs' momentum right when it mattered most. And as if that wasn't punishing enough, a short ball was dispatched over the boundary for another maximum on the very last ball of the over. Sonu Mondal (29 off 15, three fours and two sixes) and Purnajitt Debnaath (unbeaten on 23 off just 10, three sixes) were the men doing the damage, turning a target that had looked safely out of reach into a live equation with one over to go.
With the qualification margin slipping away, the game pushed into a nerve-wracking final over. Saif Ali stepped up to defend 14 runs, fighting valiantly to keep the dream alive. But the cricket gods had other plans. A chaotic sequence of costly no-balls, paired with a devastating misfield by Biswajeet Dey that raced away to the boundary for four, ultimately turned the tables. Shapoorji Orcas won the match — but they lost the war.
Orcas won by 25 runs. They needed 26. In that single-run gap, an entire tournament changed hands.
A Bittersweet Victory
When the last wicket finally fell — fittingly, into the hands of the man who had given his all with the ball — Shapoorji Orcas had won the cricket match in front of them. But Group A's net run rate calculations told a different story, and it was Underdogs who progressed to the next round of Challenger's Cup 2026, not the team that had beaten them on the day. It was a result that felt, for the Orcas dressing room, exactly like a defeat: a bittersweet victory that left them knocked out of the tournament by the slimmest, most painful margin imaginable. Orcas won the match, but couldn't stop the heartbreak as Underdogs qualified on run-rate margin.
Shapoorji Orcas — Batting (169/4 in 10.0 Ov)
| Batsman | Status | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piyush Singh | c New Town Sunny b Gopal Rajbanshi | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 112.50 |
| ABHISHEK KUMAR | run out (New Town Sunny) | 28 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 186.67 |
| Prabal Hazra (not out) | not out | 68 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 357.89 |
| Atanu | c Pankaj Jaiswal b Gopal Rajbanshi | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Biswajeet Dey | c Dheeraj Singh b SONU MONDAL | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 150.00 |
| Saif Ali (not out) | not out | 41 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 372.73 |
| Extras (wd 7, b 3, nb 2) | 12 | |||||
| Total: 10.0 Ov, 4 Wkts | 169 (CRR 16.90) | |||||
Did not bat: Anindya Hazra, Rakesh Singh (c), Akash Choudhary, Towseef Ahmad War, Rahul Singh, Abhinav
Fall of Wickets — Shapoorji Orcas
36-1 (ABHISHEK KUMAR, 3.2 ov), 44-2 (Piyush Singh, 4.1 ov), 48-3 (Atanu, 4.4 ov), 78-4 (Biswajeet Dey, 6.4 ov)
Bowling — Underdogs
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | WD | NB | Eco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pankaj Jaiswal | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11.00 |
| Gopal Rajbanshi (c) | 2 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 |
| ANKUSH RAJ | 2 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18.50 |
| Dheeraj Singh | 2 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18.00 |
| SONU MONDAL | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24.00 |
| Purnajitt Debnaath | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.00 |
Underdogs — Batting (144/8 in 10.0 Ov)
| Batsman | Status | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Town Sunny | c Atanu b Rakesh Singh | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Puspajit Biswas | c Atanu b Rakesh Singh | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| RAJU ROY | c Atanu b Abhinav | 26 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 200.00 |
| Subhasis Garai | b Rakesh Singh | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 300.00 |
| Dheeraj Singh | c Abhinav b Akash Choudhary | 35 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 233.33 |
| Gopal Rajbanshi (c) | c Saif Ali b Rakesh Singh | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 175.00 |
| ANKUSH RAJ | c Atanu b Rakesh Singh | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 300.00 |
| SONU MONDAL | c Rakesh Singh b Saif Ali | 29 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 193.33 |
| Purnajitt Debnaath (not out) | not out | 23 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 230.00 |
| Extras (wd 8, nb 3, b 1) | 12 | |||||
| Total: 10.0 Ov, 8 Wkts | 144 (CRR 14.40) | |||||
Did not bat: Pankaj Jaiswal
Fall of Wickets — Underdogs
1-1 (New Town Sunny, 0.1 ov), 4-2 (Puspajit Biswas, 0.3 ov), 10-3 (Subhasis Garai, 0.5 ov), 45-4 (RAJU ROY, 3.2 ov), 66-5 (Gopal Rajbanshi, 4.2 ov), 75-6 (ANKUSH RAJ, 4.4 ov), 92-7 (Dheeraj Singh, 6.3 ov), 144-8 (SONU MONDAL, 10 ov)
Bowling — Shapoorji Orcas
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | Eco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏆 Rakesh Singh (c) — MOM | 2 | 0 | 27 | 5 | 13.50 |
| Abhinav | 2 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 18.00 |
| Towseef Ahmad War | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 11.00 |
| Akash Choudhary | 2 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 18.50 |
| Saif Ali | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 10.50 |
Result
Shapoorji Orcas won by 25 runs — Shapoorji Orcas 169/4 (10.0 Ov), Underdogs 144/8 (10.0 Ov) — but Underdogs advance on net run rate
- Man of the Match: Rakesh Singh (c) — 5/27 (2 Ov, Eco 13.50) + the final catch 🏆
- Orcas Top Scorer: Prabal Hazra — 68* (19b, 1×4, 10×6, SR 357.89)
- Orcas Finisher: Saif Ali — 41* (11b, 2×4, 5×6, SR 372.73)
- Underdogs Fightback: Sonu Mondal — 29 (15b, 3×4, 2×6, SR 193.33)
- Underdogs Finisher: Purnajitt Debnaath — 23* (10b, 3×6, SR 230.00)
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