HOUSTON: Artha Cougars Gladiators (ACG) sealed a 14-run victory over Bulls to complete their unbeaten run in the tournament and win the premier division (Championship exclusively for Divn I teams) of Spring 2026 TCC Taped Ball tournament which is driven by core value of respect for umpires and players of the opponent team.
Winning the toss, ACG decided to bat first, and the decision was immediately validated by Neil who scored a brisk 36 in the powerplay. However, after his departure, ACG batsman found it difficult to time the ball and maintain the same momentum. Despite Bulls bowlers applying pressure, ACG middle order did not crumble and with some good contributions from Moksh (27), Ashwin (13), Naveen (20) and quick 16 from Aradhya, ACG posted a competitive total of 133 from 20 overs.
Just like ACG, Bulls started positively in the powerplay scoring 33 runs and putting ACG on the backfoot. Naveen then picked up the wicket of Hamza, caught by Rajesh and khatwani soon followed it up with the wicket of Kiran, caught by Sanman to pull the game back. At 48 for 2 after 8 overs, Bulls were still the favorites to win the game. However, ACG bowlers Vishal, Subbu, Prashant, Rajesh, Naveen and Khatwani, then started choking the flow of runs and made life difficult for the batsman. Between the 8th and 14th over only 28 runs were allowed to be scored, which raised the required run rate above 9 causing panic amongst the batsmen to follow. ACG Captain Darshan was in his element, making clever changes in the bowling and setting the right fields giving nothing away. ACG fielding was also very sharp cutting down 2’s and supporting the bowlers. Vishal’s direct hit for a run out, Sanman’s two difficult catches at long on, Sai’s ground fielding and sprinting across the field to save runs, Prashant’s catch to dismiss Rajesh were some of the highlights. In the end, Bulls managed to score only 119 runs for the loss of 8 wickets, falling short by 14 runs.
It was a complete team effort by ACG where everyone did their job and helped the team win the championship. Special mention for Aswad and Amit who were unlucky to miss out in the finals but were instrumental throughout the tournament and helped the team achieve this feat.
This was the first time ACG came together as a team (merging previous champions gladiators and cougars along with Artha tech), and their experience in playing some tough games in the league phase helped them navigate through the playoffs successfully.
Following the finale, the traditional presentation ceremony was hosted by tournament organizers Jagadish Biradar and Dinesh Kasliwal (who got special accolades for scheduling of the tournament). Captain Darshan received the Winners’ Trophy for ACG, while the Runners-up Trophy was collected by Bulls’s captain Jagadish. Vishal and Aradhya were the joint man of the series for their bowling heroics finishing top wicket takers in the tournament. On a day where batsman from both sides struggled, Neil Armstrong’s fiery 34 of 16 balls earned him the man of the match for the Finals. Tournament award winners were; Khurram(The Legends) best batsman with 432 runs and all-rounder (432 runs and 10 wickets) and special award for century, Romesh(Tuskers) best bowler with 17 wickets, Pavan (Jaevlinas-Genx) best wicketkeeper with 30 dismissals (Javelinas-GenX). Sukitha(Tuskers), Moksh(ACG) and Bernard(SLCC) got special awards for centuries. Saravana(CSK) and Kavindu(Tuskers) got special awards for Hat-trick.
The game had live YouTube feed made super exciting witty commentary by Subodh from Hindu Cricket Woodlands in a Haryanvi Tadka style. TCC is very thankful for the volunteer effort.
YouTube Feed – Spring 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8aEmJ8cmYQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqhLH4KkED0
Scorecard – https://cricclubs.com/3T/viewScorecard.do?matchId=3089&clubId=8675
CricClubs Article – https://cricclubs.com/3T/viewArticle.do?clubId=8675&articleId=4
