{"id":27924,"date":"2024-04-29T00:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T15:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cricket.or.jp\/?p=27924"},"modified":"2024-05-01T19:18:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T10:18:53","slug":"%e3%83%ac%e3%83%9d%e3%83%bc%e3%83%88%ef%bd%9c%e3%83%95%e3%83%a5%e3%83%bc%e3%83%81%e3%83%a3%e3%83%bc%e3%82%ba%e3%83%aa%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b0-2024-%e5%a4%a7%e4%bc%9a2%e6%97%a5%e7%9b%ae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cricket.or.jp\/en\/%e3%83%ac%e3%83%9d%e3%83%bc%e3%83%88%ef%bd%9c%e3%83%95%e3%83%a5%e3%83%bc%e3%83%81%e3%83%a3%e3%83%bc%e3%82%ba%e3%83%aa%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b0-2024-%e5%a4%a7%e4%bc%9a2%e6%97%a5%e7%9b%ae\/","title":{"rendered":"Gorillas Retain Futures League Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nikhil Pol put on a series of outstanding individual performances to lead the Gorillas to their second successive Futures League title, claiming the tournament MVP award along the way.<\/p>\n

He was player of the match in the Final as his two for 26 alongside three for 27 from fellow all rounder Declan Suzuki-McComb helped restrict the Vipers to 128 for seven after 20 overs.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Vipers, playing their first final, came in unbeaten were indebted to Dylan Fujioka-Fletcher for his 36-ball 53 which helped them recover from 37 for four.<\/p>\n

Pol then led the way with the bat, making 46 from 50 balls before being caught and bowled by his opposite captain Charlie Hinze, a which moved the left-arm spinner past Pol at the top of the wicket-taker charts to a Futures League record of 10 wickets.<\/p>\n

The middle order had enough to see the Gorillas home, giving Coach Vinay Iyer a much cherished tournament win as the total was passed with seven balls and four wickets to spare<\/a>.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Pol had also come to the fore in the morning match, scoring a maiden Futures League half-century as they defeated the Dragons by nine runs<\/a> despite a battling 31 from Max Yonekawa-Lynn.<\/p>\n

For the third year running that meant the Dragons would enter the third-place playoff without a win to their name, and they would make it a hat-trick of third place finishes as they put previous struggles behind them to to beat the Turtles by 26 runs<\/a> thanks to wickets and runs from Shotaro Hiratsuka.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

That defeat ended a tough day for the Turtles who had started the tournament well only to get bowled put for 70 when attempting to chase 93 against the Vipers in order to earn a place in the final. Three for seven from Charlie Hinze was key to the 22-run victory<\/a> that kept up the Vipers 100% record, until Pol intervened.<\/p>\n

Match Summaries:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n