In pictures: Third edition of Indo-British Heritage Cup at Eden Gardens was a cliffhanger

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For the third time in a row, Team India in the UK took home the HSBC Indo-British Heritage Cup by getting the better of Team UK in India — their second victory in as many years at the Eden Gardens. UK in India comprised players from the British High Commission and the British Council while India in the UK was made up of players from the Bengal Heritage Foundation and the Indo-British Scholars' Association. Defending a total of 176 in 20 overs, India in the UK just about held their line and length, as well as their nerve, to secure a win by nine runs. The match was a stark contrast to last year, when on the same day of December 28, India in the UK had coasted to the finish line by 10 wickets. The first edition of this competition was held in 2019, since when it has been a landmark event in the annual calendar of Bengal Heritage Foundation (BHF), a UK-based charity

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UK in India got off to the perfect start in their pursuit of a stiff target, with a smooth opening partnership between Alex Ellis and Timon Basu. But as the middle order crumbled after their openers retired (in the spirit of a charity match, no batter was allowed to continue after they crossed 25), UK in India lost their way, before a late flourish from Nazir Khan brought them back into contention. Ultimately, they needed 13 off the last over, but could manage only four, good enough for the runners-up trophy on the day

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“The contest ended up being much tighter than we expected, but it was well-balanced right till the last over. Our strategy was that we didn’t want the retired batters from UK in India to come back! Which could only have happened had we continued taking wickets,” said Koushik Chatterjee (right), the captain of India in the UK, whose personal highlight of the game was a brilliant stumping off the bowling of Kaustav Mazumdar

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“Heartiest congratulations to India in the UK on their hat-trick of wins in this competition. Both teams came up with some stellar performance, and it was a privilege for me to be a part of this event for the first time as a player, “ said Amit Sengupta (right), skipper of UK in India, who featured as a middle-order batter for his side

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“Emotions were running really high, especially towards the end. It turned out to be a really close affair, and it wouldn’t have been unfair for both teams to share the winners’ trophy. Having played all three editions of the Indo-British Heritage Cup, I can safely say that this was the most nail-biting one,” said Judhajit “Jude” Mukherjee, a former Bengal cricketer, who was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his quickfire 25 with the bat and for his nerves of steel when bowling the final over to settle the tie in his team’s favour

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Timon Basu, the flamboyant opener from UK in India, collected the Fairplay Award for his scintillating innings of 30 off just 18 balls, featuring two fours and three sixes. All present at the ground agreed that his was the innings of the day, made even more memorable by the fact that knowing he would have to retire after crossing 25, Basu hit a maximum on 24 to end with the highest possible score in the game

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“We lost by virtually the same margin as England to Australia on the same ground 35 years ago (England had lost by seven runs). At one point, it was being gently suggested by India in UK that I keep on batting since I was batting so slowly. They didn’t want to get me out! I don’t suppose that counts as sledging… I really enjoyed my time on the pitch today and to have played on the same surface that has been graced by so many of the game’s greatest was an absolute privilege,” said Alex Ellis (right), the British high commissioner to India, whose neat 25 off 32 for UK in India was not as slow as his opponents would have him believe

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“On a winter afternoon of bright sunshine and mild breeze, this was a wonderful cricket match with a climax almost as good as an IPL encounter. A big thank you to HSBC for making this event possible and also to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), represented on the day by vice-president Amalendu Biswas and honorary joint secretary Debabrata Das, for their unstinting cooperation and support. We hope to be back with the fourth edition of this competition at the same time, same place, next year,” said BHF’s Sourav Niyogi, who also pitched in as a lively commentator for the afternoon

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UK in India were curtailed in their chase thanks largely to the discipline of the India in the UK bowling lineup, led by Subhojit Lahiri and Yash Gopal, both of whom bagged a couple of wickets

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Earlier, India in the UK had posted 176 on a decent batting track, with useful contributions from Jude Mukherjee, Anirban Aditya, Kaustav Mazumdar (who was also a handful with the ball) and Vedant Paschia. UK in India’s bowling efforts were helmed by Rohit Gurung and Nadir, who shared four wickets between themselves