We won the toss and elected to field in the game against Real Panthers at Spring Canyon Ground (Small). The wicket was on a firm patch of grass and we knew pretty well batting second would be easy on this pitch given the morning dew on the wicket at the start of play.
Amit picked up two wickets in overs 1 and 3, resulting in Real Panthers going on the back foot right from the start. Ajay bowled a quiet 4th over and Shekhar picked up a wicket caught behind in the 5th over. The Real Panthers squad today seemed weak and it was time to get overs from the 5th bowler through. Real Panthers were 20/3 in 6 overs and seemed to have been started on a wrong note. The next four overs produced 8, 12, 7 and 9 runs respectively and Real Panthers went into the break at a confortable score of 56/3. Fielding was a bit erratic with a lofted drive to long-on resulting in a two when there should have been a single. To make matters worse, an went for a boundary resulting in 6 runs when there should have been a single.
Amit C began well after the break conceding only a single. Hari R, however started badly in the 12th over, going for two boundaries, having been hit for one in his first over, the 10th of the inning. Manish and Veeru had steadied the inning, aided by loose bowling and poor fielding. Shiva however provided the break with the wicket of Manish in the 13th over. Hari then picked up Veeru and Giresh in the very next over, the 14th of the inning. Nitin B, held the second catch this time at mid-wicket, while the previous one he had taken was held at short fine leg. The fielding and bowling thereafter tightened up with Hari and Naman holding good catches square of the wicket on the off side. Hari picked up two wickets in his final over, the 16th of the inning.
The final wicket fell in the form of a run-out. Anup and Anil N, laid a partnership for close to 4 overs to protect the final wicket. Real Panthers scored 95/10 in 19.5 overs. This was a targe t only 10 less than what we could not successfully chase at the same wicket only a week back. This time however the opposition bowling was different and seemed relatively weak with quite a few of their regulars missing.
Amit C had excellent figures of 4-0-9-2. Hari R picked up three wickets despite bowling a few loose balls.
Hari R and Amit opened the batting. Hari lofted Giresh to long-on for a good looking boundary. The first over thus yielded 6 runs of the bat. Amit C played out a quiet over from Veeru who started well. Sanjay bowled a good 3rd over but we were placed well at 19/0 in 3 overs. The 5th over however produced two boundaries and thereby 10 runs. Hari hit one over short cover for a boundary and then lofted one to long on for a two and followed it up with four in the same area. Anil N bowled an erratic 6th over giving away 5 wides a no-ball and two boundaries to Amit C. Amit C seemed to have been set with these hits and enjoyed the hits too. Anup had Hari caught at a deep gully position on the first ball of the 7th over giving Anup his first wicket. Nitin B however walked in and struck a 2, 4 and 6 in four balls of that over. Over pitched balls were hit towards long on and a full toss was hit to mid-wicket for a six. Giresh struck back by getting Nitin B bowled in the very next over. Shekhar played Giresh out bringing in Amit to the bowling in the next over for the Real Panthers.
Amit started with two no-balls that raced to the boundary behind the wicket keeper resulting in 10 runs without a ball being bowled. Amit conceded a boundary to Amit C but struck back to get Amit C bowled. Another 5 runs on another no-ball followed, coupled with 4 wides. Having conceded 23 runs in four legitimate balls Amit had to be replaced by Giresh to just get the over done with. The score raced from 64 to 91 in the 9th over. Shekhar struck Narasaiah for a boundary straight behind the keeper to finish the game giving us victory by 7 wickets and more than half the allotted overs to spare.
Real Panthers were a weak side today. Despite conceding 33 extra and dropping three catches on this day we managed to beat the opposition emphatically.
Hari 22 (18b, 4*4) and Amit 25 (28b, 4*4) did extremely well and displayed good form. Nitin B impressed with 12 runs in just 6 balls. Well done guys, its been a while since we thrashed an opposition to this extent.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArRZKVChcIaXdGxtOEZ6eWNEVjhOMGZ2czJmbVFyTWc&hl=en
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Match 3 against Cricket Communications (Strikers) on 08162009
We won the toss and elected to field in the game played at Spring Canyon Ground. The pitch had good pace and even bounce. It was the only spot where a wicket could be placed. Despite attempts to encourage players to be on time the game began only at 8:45 am.
Amit C, picked up Spandan on the last ball of the first over. Mudit began the second over and conceeded an easy boundary to Shiva. 12 runs were conceeded in the second over, with five of them being wides. Shiva seemed to have started well at the other end. He kept dabbing the ball slow on either side of the wicket, making the fielders run for the ball. Gopal was let down in the next over (in the slips) from Amit when his score was just one. In the very same over from Amit, Gopal edged one over the keeper/slips for a boundary to celebrate his much desired life. Gopal went on to repeat the feat in the next over from Hari hitting one with power, to mid-wicket for another boundary. Samir started well by moving the ball in the air but conceeded a few wides due to the excessive movement that he was able to generate. Gopal then struck Hari, to a wide mid-on position where Amit judged the ball to a nicety and held the ball one handed over his right shoulder. The ball was travelling even as it approached Amit, who did well to judge the trajectory early on, without moving too much or too early, taking his time, followed by a reflex action. Now, this is catching at its best.
In the next over from Samir, Srinivas K lobbed a straight forward catch to Suresh at short mid-wicket. At 41/3 in 6.3 overs, Sumanth walked in to join Shiva, who was batting steadily.
Samir was called for a no-ball in the very same over (due to a suspect action) that annoyed the fielding side but more than enraged Samir. Ajay bowled the 8th and kept the batsmen quiet with his lack of pace and a good length. Ajay was rewarded with the wicket of Shiva (in the 10th over) who was bowled by a ball that moved slightly and knocked the top of leg stump to take out just that bail.
The Strikers went in to the break with the score reading 54/4. Srinivas was unlucky in the first over after the break. A simple catch was hit feebly towards a short fine leg. It was one that Boycott's mom would have caught single-handedly with the right hand. But not for us, our fielding side found this a challenge and dropped that, almost not willing to accept easy chances thrown at us by the opposition. Srinivas K (from Strikers) , struck a short ball towards a vacant mid-wicket for a boundary to rejoice. Srinivas K (of our side) however, struck back to get the same person bowled the very next ball.
Prasad joined Sumanth and hit one good looking shot towards extra cover for a good looking two. In the 15th over from Hari, Prasad hit a full toss towards deep fine leg. Another regulation catch was dropped to give Prasad a life. The bowler to suffer was Hari who let out his frustration in no uncertain terms. Samir bowled Prasad who has a tendency to shuffle towards off even if the delivery is on leg stump. Sumanth was given a life at point as the fielder could not latch onto the ball that was struck not that firmly. Amit C, bowled Pradeep with a peach of a delivery that came in from a fullish length. Pradeep takes a stance outside leg, and moves in as the bowler bowls thereby keeping his options open to loft straight on both sides of the wicket.
Narasaiah struck a full toss from Samir to fine leg for a boundary towards the end of the inning. The Strikers crossed 100 in the final over and reached 104/8 in 20 overs. Sumanth was stumped on the final ball of the 20th over to give Hari his second wicket. Sumanth (20, 30b), Shiva (18, 23b, 1*4) and Gopal (13, 16b, 2*4) were the mainstay of the batting for the Strikers.
Srinivas K (4-0-15-1, 1Y and Ajay 2-0-6-1, 2Y) impressed with the ball in hand. The other bowlers on display were guilty of conceeding quite a few extras.
Our batting in recent outings did not seem stable and we were intent of getting to this target with wickets and overs to spare. The start was good with Parag picking 7 runs of the bat in the first over with a boundary struck towards fine leg on a full toss. Shekhar hit one uppishly on the last ball of the second over, where Sumanth held a good catch at point, to give Shiva his first wicket. Haran did not do particularly well in the 3rd over and conceeded another 8 runs with about four wides. Parag hit a pull towards fine leg on a shortish delivery from Prasad in the 5th over. Runs came at a steady pace for the first 6 overs with Shiva bowling 3 overs on the trot in the search of wickets at the start. At 41/1 in 6 overs we seemed to have started well in the search of the 3rd consecutive win against the Strikers.
Narasaiah introduced in the 7th over changed the complexion of the game. A few deliveries were tapped down the crease by Parag, who was trying to get used to the sharp decline in pace compared to the earlier overs. Three wides were sent outside off. The next ball on leg stump was hit towards mid-wicket. The bat turned a bit too early in the hands of the batsman, before the delivery pitched and a simple lofted catch was held at wide mid-wicket, on a shot that was intended to travel squarer, to a vacant mid-wicket. At 44/2 in 6.4 overs we seemed in a situation of ascendancy. Suresh played a quiet 8th over but on the final ball, stopped the ball with his hand as it was rolling towards the stumps. An appeal followed and Suresh was adjudged out, handling the ball. Mayank (new player) and Hari played the next couple of overs with caution and we walked into the break with 59/3 on board.
The approach after the break was to pick up runs steadily without taking too many risks with the asking rate being 4.6 an over and 7 wickets in hand. We then lost control of the situation immediately after the break losing the wickets of Mayank and Amit in the 11th over being bowled by Pradeep. Sumanth held a good catch at point and Amit edged one to the keeper. To make matters worse Hari was deceived by Narasaiah who hit a feeble shot to point where Sumanth made no mistake. Narasaiah deceived the second batsmen, with his controlled slow bowling.
Mudit and Samir picked up singles and an ocassional two to ensure the game went along without further loss of wickets but that lasted only a couple of overs. Narasaiah picked another wicket in the 15th over, this time that of Mudit who granted Sumanth his 4th catch of the game in the same position. With Adi, Srinivas and Ajay to follow we did not seem to have the depth in batting to give Samir company in the quest of 30 runs that were required in 5.5 overs. Although the equation in terms of runs and balls seemed in our favor the loss of wickets had placed us in a precarious situation.
Shiva, Haran and Prasad kept Adi quiet until the end of the 17th over. Fortunately for us we did not lose any more wickets. At 83/7 in 17 overs, the equation had tightened a bit with 22 needed in 18 balls. The 18th over yielded two boundaries towards third man. Four byes and an edge to third man brought down the required runs to 12 in 12 balls. Prasad balled an erratic 19th over conceeding 7 runs that also included two no-balls. One of the two was for overstepping, resulting in a free hit and another was a full toss over the waist. Prasad however struck back to get Srinivas bowled and Ajay played down two balls without a loss of a wicket to take the game to the final over. 5 runs were required in the final over from Pradeep. Samir flicked one nicely to fine leg for a two. Samir had been flicking the bowlers well on the leg side for ones and twos. One such shot off the bowling of Haran had yielded him a boundary. Ajay was run out on the second ball at the non-strikers end. Samir played a quiet shot on the third ball thereby resulting in 3 runs required in 3 balls and only a wicket in hand. The ever so accurate Pradeep, then bowled Samir on the 4th ball of the final over to give the Strikers victory by a slender margin of two runs.
It was the first win for the Strikers against our team. We had won the two previous games narrowly and given our previous performances against the opposition, had hoped the inevitable loss does not happen so soon.
Parag (18, 22b, 2*4) and Samir (18, 29b, 1*4) dropped anchor but most other batsmen yielded too easily. The effort from the two could have been better but Samir had only the tail to play with.
We conceeded 23 extras, dropped 4 regulation catches. The dropped catches resulted in 19 runs in favor of the opposition batsman. At the end of the day our own blunders cost us another game, even though we may have won a few with such errors in recent history. It is an indication of our falling standards. We managed to keep the standards high, over a period of the last four years but not so in recent games. Will we be able to rectify our issues and are those only temporary ? Only time will provide an answer over the next couple of months..
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArRZKVChcIaXdDFnRjNDR1Etek53ZmFoRmtWVG80Q0E&hl=en
Amit C, picked up Spandan on the last ball of the first over. Mudit began the second over and conceeded an easy boundary to Shiva. 12 runs were conceeded in the second over, with five of them being wides. Shiva seemed to have started well at the other end. He kept dabbing the ball slow on either side of the wicket, making the fielders run for the ball. Gopal was let down in the next over (in the slips) from Amit when his score was just one. In the very same over from Amit, Gopal edged one over the keeper/slips for a boundary to celebrate his much desired life. Gopal went on to repeat the feat in the next over from Hari hitting one with power, to mid-wicket for another boundary. Samir started well by moving the ball in the air but conceeded a few wides due to the excessive movement that he was able to generate. Gopal then struck Hari, to a wide mid-on position where Amit judged the ball to a nicety and held the ball one handed over his right shoulder. The ball was travelling even as it approached Amit, who did well to judge the trajectory early on, without moving too much or too early, taking his time, followed by a reflex action. Now, this is catching at its best.
In the next over from Samir, Srinivas K lobbed a straight forward catch to Suresh at short mid-wicket. At 41/3 in 6.3 overs, Sumanth walked in to join Shiva, who was batting steadily.
Samir was called for a no-ball in the very same over (due to a suspect action) that annoyed the fielding side but more than enraged Samir. Ajay bowled the 8th and kept the batsmen quiet with his lack of pace and a good length. Ajay was rewarded with the wicket of Shiva (in the 10th over) who was bowled by a ball that moved slightly and knocked the top of leg stump to take out just that bail.
The Strikers went in to the break with the score reading 54/4. Srinivas was unlucky in the first over after the break. A simple catch was hit feebly towards a short fine leg. It was one that Boycott's mom would have caught single-handedly with the right hand. But not for us, our fielding side found this a challenge and dropped that, almost not willing to accept easy chances thrown at us by the opposition. Srinivas K (from Strikers) , struck a short ball towards a vacant mid-wicket for a boundary to rejoice. Srinivas K (of our side) however, struck back to get the same person bowled the very next ball.
Prasad joined Sumanth and hit one good looking shot towards extra cover for a good looking two. In the 15th over from Hari, Prasad hit a full toss towards deep fine leg. Another regulation catch was dropped to give Prasad a life. The bowler to suffer was Hari who let out his frustration in no uncertain terms. Samir bowled Prasad who has a tendency to shuffle towards off even if the delivery is on leg stump. Sumanth was given a life at point as the fielder could not latch onto the ball that was struck not that firmly. Amit C, bowled Pradeep with a peach of a delivery that came in from a fullish length. Pradeep takes a stance outside leg, and moves in as the bowler bowls thereby keeping his options open to loft straight on both sides of the wicket.
Narasaiah struck a full toss from Samir to fine leg for a boundary towards the end of the inning. The Strikers crossed 100 in the final over and reached 104/8 in 20 overs. Sumanth was stumped on the final ball of the 20th over to give Hari his second wicket. Sumanth (20, 30b), Shiva (18, 23b, 1*4) and Gopal (13, 16b, 2*4) were the mainstay of the batting for the Strikers.
Srinivas K (4-0-15-1, 1Y and Ajay 2-0-6-1, 2Y) impressed with the ball in hand. The other bowlers on display were guilty of conceeding quite a few extras.
Our batting in recent outings did not seem stable and we were intent of getting to this target with wickets and overs to spare. The start was good with Parag picking 7 runs of the bat in the first over with a boundary struck towards fine leg on a full toss. Shekhar hit one uppishly on the last ball of the second over, where Sumanth held a good catch at point, to give Shiva his first wicket. Haran did not do particularly well in the 3rd over and conceeded another 8 runs with about four wides. Parag hit a pull towards fine leg on a shortish delivery from Prasad in the 5th over. Runs came at a steady pace for the first 6 overs with Shiva bowling 3 overs on the trot in the search of wickets at the start. At 41/1 in 6 overs we seemed to have started well in the search of the 3rd consecutive win against the Strikers.
Narasaiah introduced in the 7th over changed the complexion of the game. A few deliveries were tapped down the crease by Parag, who was trying to get used to the sharp decline in pace compared to the earlier overs. Three wides were sent outside off. The next ball on leg stump was hit towards mid-wicket. The bat turned a bit too early in the hands of the batsman, before the delivery pitched and a simple lofted catch was held at wide mid-wicket, on a shot that was intended to travel squarer, to a vacant mid-wicket. At 44/2 in 6.4 overs we seemed in a situation of ascendancy. Suresh played a quiet 8th over but on the final ball, stopped the ball with his hand as it was rolling towards the stumps. An appeal followed and Suresh was adjudged out, handling the ball. Mayank (new player) and Hari played the next couple of overs with caution and we walked into the break with 59/3 on board.
The approach after the break was to pick up runs steadily without taking too many risks with the asking rate being 4.6 an over and 7 wickets in hand. We then lost control of the situation immediately after the break losing the wickets of Mayank and Amit in the 11th over being bowled by Pradeep. Sumanth held a good catch at point and Amit edged one to the keeper. To make matters worse Hari was deceived by Narasaiah who hit a feeble shot to point where Sumanth made no mistake. Narasaiah deceived the second batsmen, with his controlled slow bowling.
Mudit and Samir picked up singles and an ocassional two to ensure the game went along without further loss of wickets but that lasted only a couple of overs. Narasaiah picked another wicket in the 15th over, this time that of Mudit who granted Sumanth his 4th catch of the game in the same position. With Adi, Srinivas and Ajay to follow we did not seem to have the depth in batting to give Samir company in the quest of 30 runs that were required in 5.5 overs. Although the equation in terms of runs and balls seemed in our favor the loss of wickets had placed us in a precarious situation.
Shiva, Haran and Prasad kept Adi quiet until the end of the 17th over. Fortunately for us we did not lose any more wickets. At 83/7 in 17 overs, the equation had tightened a bit with 22 needed in 18 balls. The 18th over yielded two boundaries towards third man. Four byes and an edge to third man brought down the required runs to 12 in 12 balls. Prasad balled an erratic 19th over conceeding 7 runs that also included two no-balls. One of the two was for overstepping, resulting in a free hit and another was a full toss over the waist. Prasad however struck back to get Srinivas bowled and Ajay played down two balls without a loss of a wicket to take the game to the final over. 5 runs were required in the final over from Pradeep. Samir flicked one nicely to fine leg for a two. Samir had been flicking the bowlers well on the leg side for ones and twos. One such shot off the bowling of Haran had yielded him a boundary. Ajay was run out on the second ball at the non-strikers end. Samir played a quiet shot on the third ball thereby resulting in 3 runs required in 3 balls and only a wicket in hand. The ever so accurate Pradeep, then bowled Samir on the 4th ball of the final over to give the Strikers victory by a slender margin of two runs.
It was the first win for the Strikers against our team. We had won the two previous games narrowly and given our previous performances against the opposition, had hoped the inevitable loss does not happen so soon.
Parag (18, 22b, 2*4) and Samir (18, 29b, 1*4) dropped anchor but most other batsmen yielded too easily. The effort from the two could have been better but Samir had only the tail to play with.
We conceeded 23 extras, dropped 4 regulation catches. The dropped catches resulted in 19 runs in favor of the opposition batsman. At the end of the day our own blunders cost us another game, even though we may have won a few with such errors in recent history. It is an indication of our falling standards. We managed to keep the standards high, over a period of the last four years but not so in recent games. Will we be able to rectify our issues and are those only temporary ? Only time will provide an answer over the next couple of months..
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArRZKVChcIaXdDFnRjNDR1Etek53ZmFoRmtWVG80Q0E&hl=en
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Match 16 against Doyle Devils on 08092009
Shekhar ensured that the Miramar College Ground was secured and all arrangements were done at 8 am. Doyle Devils won the toss and wisely elected to field first. Players in our side arrived late as usual with utter disregard for a person like Shekhar who came to the ground about 75 minutes prior to the actual start of the game.
Abhishek and Santosh opened the batting and provided a good start of 16 in 3 overs. Abhishek mis-hit one and was caught by Srinivas square of the wicket on the off side. Abhishek and Santosh were both dismissed in the same over that was shared between Ashwin and Venkat. Shekhar and Rahul B them put on a partnership of about 25 runs between them to take the team to a score of 48/4 in 8 overs. Venkat bowled Rahul B and Shekhar was caught behind to giving Sai his first wicket. The 10 over break was taken with two balls to go in the 10th over. Hari had flicked one to fine leg on the first ball he had faced from Venkat. Hari also lofted Prashant for a straight four over long on. Prashant however bowled Suresh with an over pitched delivery. Vijay S was dismissed in a similar manner by Sai. Hari hit one square of the wicket to give Srinivas his second catch and Venkat his third wicket.
Parag hit a full toss from Ashwin towards fine leg for a boundary but was bowled by Prashant as he shuffled across to a delivery bowled from around the wicket. The innings folded in the 20th over with Srinivas and Aravind being bowled by Pankaj. A score of 97 seemed about 10-15 less than what we should have reached given that we were 57/5 in 10 overs.
Srinivas began the bowling well making left-hander Srinivas from Doyle Devils reach for the ball. Srinivas was bowled on the last ball of the final over to give us a fantastic start. Abhishek began erratically conceding 10 runs in the second over but Srinivas kept Anil tied up in the third over. Rahul B held a sharp catch at short square leg that was hit with power and was travelling fast. Hari had Karthik caught behind by Santosh in the 6th over. Vijay S bowled Venkat in the 7th over to place the Doyle Devils at 24/4 in 7 overs. Tushnim was run out in the next over as Shiva called for a non-existent run making the situation worse at 28/5. Shiva was caught behind in the 9th over giving Rosie a wicket in his first over. Doyle Devils went into the break with 6 wickets gone and a deficit of 66 runs. The situation could have been worse but Joy was let down at short square leg. This particular catch was lower down but straight forward in comparison to the blinder that was taken earlier in the inning at the same position.
Saurabh was intent on slogging every delivery he faced but could not last long the moment he changed his approach to play as per the merit of the ball. Saurabh edged one to keeper Santosh giving Rosie a wicket in his second over, the 11th of the inning. Pankaj walked in with a tight equation and a score of 37/7 in 10.3 overs. He seemed nervous but took a liking to the bowling of Abhishek in the 12th over. 1o runs came the way of Doyle Devils but Rosie struck back dismissing Pankaj in the 13th over and worsening the situation for Doyle Devils with a score of 46/8 in 12.2 overs.
Prashant walked in to join Joy at the wicket. It was just a matter for the fielding team to close the game, grabbing opportunities that came ones way without trying too hard. The onus was completely on the Doyle Devils to make a game in this situation. Belief, temperament and application are the factors that play a role when batsmen are faced with this situation. Prashant and Joy did just that and put on a 47 run partnership in the next 38 balls to take the Doyle Devils from a situation of adversity to one of ascendancy. Joy was bowled by Rosie in his fourth over providing us a vital break that came a bit too late. 5 runs were required for a win for the Doyle Devils and 8 balls to go with just a wicket in hand. Sai negotiated two deliveries from Rosie with caution to take the game to the final over.
Abhishek was given the final over and had to bowl a magical over to bring us victory that we deserved until mid-way of the 13th over of the second inning. We helped the cause of Doyle Devils with sloppy catching and erratic fielding. Prashant and Joy ran the singles well, placed the ball for an occasional two or three and ran hard all the time. The runner taken by Joy added to the sloppy fielding by distracting the fielders who threw to the wrong end or were misled by three batsmen around.
Prashant hit one to fine leg for two and then picked up a single on the third ball. A wide was conceded with Sai on the crease. The scores were tied and an easy catch was dropped square of the wicket on the off side to bring delight and a well deserved victory for the Doyle Devils. The partnership for the 9th wicket paid dividends. Doyle Devils walked away with smiles on their faces whereas we walked away wondering how we can avoid such narrow losses.
We had ourselves to blame with about 6 catches being dropped, three of them being fairly easy ones. Fielding at times was shambolic and the lack of bowling options for the captain meant he could not try something different even as he saw certain overs were costly ones. This is where a couple of backup bowlers come handy but we seem to not believe in carrying backups into a game.
Joy (28, 2*4) and Prashant 26 * (2*3) were heroes on the day with the bat. Srinivas, Hari and Vijay S bowled economically and Rosie continued his dream spells at this ground with the ball. In the end, fortune favored the brave and the team that maintained a stable head under adverse conditions won.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArRZKVChcIaXdC1KQldFdmczTEo4RjYyNXZhaDJNaHc&hl=en
Abhishek and Santosh opened the batting and provided a good start of 16 in 3 overs. Abhishek mis-hit one and was caught by Srinivas square of the wicket on the off side. Abhishek and Santosh were both dismissed in the same over that was shared between Ashwin and Venkat. Shekhar and Rahul B them put on a partnership of about 25 runs between them to take the team to a score of 48/4 in 8 overs. Venkat bowled Rahul B and Shekhar was caught behind to giving Sai his first wicket. The 10 over break was taken with two balls to go in the 10th over. Hari had flicked one to fine leg on the first ball he had faced from Venkat. Hari also lofted Prashant for a straight four over long on. Prashant however bowled Suresh with an over pitched delivery. Vijay S was dismissed in a similar manner by Sai. Hari hit one square of the wicket to give Srinivas his second catch and Venkat his third wicket.
Parag hit a full toss from Ashwin towards fine leg for a boundary but was bowled by Prashant as he shuffled across to a delivery bowled from around the wicket. The innings folded in the 20th over with Srinivas and Aravind being bowled by Pankaj. A score of 97 seemed about 10-15 less than what we should have reached given that we were 57/5 in 10 overs.
Srinivas began the bowling well making left-hander Srinivas from Doyle Devils reach for the ball. Srinivas was bowled on the last ball of the final over to give us a fantastic start. Abhishek began erratically conceding 10 runs in the second over but Srinivas kept Anil tied up in the third over. Rahul B held a sharp catch at short square leg that was hit with power and was travelling fast. Hari had Karthik caught behind by Santosh in the 6th over. Vijay S bowled Venkat in the 7th over to place the Doyle Devils at 24/4 in 7 overs. Tushnim was run out in the next over as Shiva called for a non-existent run making the situation worse at 28/5. Shiva was caught behind in the 9th over giving Rosie a wicket in his first over. Doyle Devils went into the break with 6 wickets gone and a deficit of 66 runs. The situation could have been worse but Joy was let down at short square leg. This particular catch was lower down but straight forward in comparison to the blinder that was taken earlier in the inning at the same position.
Saurabh was intent on slogging every delivery he faced but could not last long the moment he changed his approach to play as per the merit of the ball. Saurabh edged one to keeper Santosh giving Rosie a wicket in his second over, the 11th of the inning. Pankaj walked in with a tight equation and a score of 37/7 in 10.3 overs. He seemed nervous but took a liking to the bowling of Abhishek in the 12th over. 1o runs came the way of Doyle Devils but Rosie struck back dismissing Pankaj in the 13th over and worsening the situation for Doyle Devils with a score of 46/8 in 12.2 overs.
Prashant walked in to join Joy at the wicket. It was just a matter for the fielding team to close the game, grabbing opportunities that came ones way without trying too hard. The onus was completely on the Doyle Devils to make a game in this situation. Belief, temperament and application are the factors that play a role when batsmen are faced with this situation. Prashant and Joy did just that and put on a 47 run partnership in the next 38 balls to take the Doyle Devils from a situation of adversity to one of ascendancy. Joy was bowled by Rosie in his fourth over providing us a vital break that came a bit too late. 5 runs were required for a win for the Doyle Devils and 8 balls to go with just a wicket in hand. Sai negotiated two deliveries from Rosie with caution to take the game to the final over.
Abhishek was given the final over and had to bowl a magical over to bring us victory that we deserved until mid-way of the 13th over of the second inning. We helped the cause of Doyle Devils with sloppy catching and erratic fielding. Prashant and Joy ran the singles well, placed the ball for an occasional two or three and ran hard all the time. The runner taken by Joy added to the sloppy fielding by distracting the fielders who threw to the wrong end or were misled by three batsmen around.
Prashant hit one to fine leg for two and then picked up a single on the third ball. A wide was conceded with Sai on the crease. The scores were tied and an easy catch was dropped square of the wicket on the off side to bring delight and a well deserved victory for the Doyle Devils. The partnership for the 9th wicket paid dividends. Doyle Devils walked away with smiles on their faces whereas we walked away wondering how we can avoid such narrow losses.
We had ourselves to blame with about 6 catches being dropped, three of them being fairly easy ones. Fielding at times was shambolic and the lack of bowling options for the captain meant he could not try something different even as he saw certain overs were costly ones. This is where a couple of backup bowlers come handy but we seem to not believe in carrying backups into a game.
Joy (28, 2*4) and Prashant 26 * (2*3) were heroes on the day with the bat. Srinivas, Hari and Vijay S bowled economically and Rosie continued his dream spells at this ground with the ball. In the end, fortune favored the brave and the team that maintained a stable head under adverse conditions won.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArRZKVChcIaXdC1KQldFdmczTEo4RjYyNXZhaDJNaHc&hl=en
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Match 15 against Doyle Devils on 08012009
The game was moved from Doyle Park to a school in the same area beside Genesse Ave. The ground had a thin covering of grass and seemed to be a hard field, characteristic of a fast outfield.
Rahul B won the toss and elected to field first. On just the second ball Amit C struck by getting Sourav caught behind by Parag. Srinivas, the other opening batsman however struck a few boundaries behind the wicket on the leg side. Shiva tried to hit a short one from Amit over the infield, square of the wicket on the leg side but lobbed a simple catch to Rahul B. Left hander, Srinivas had managed to not allow any of our bowlers settle into a rhythm with unconventional shots on the leg side. Samir however bowled one in the corridor and Srinivas edged to Parag behind the wicket and out walked the batsman. Venkat and another new batsman (unfamiliar name) however felt the need to consolidate. Both were given a reprieve early on by the bowler. Samir could not latch to a low and hard shot by Venkat. Sam could not hold one that came at a good height and straight to him on the off side. Suresh dropped two catches at long on to give the new batsman two lives. One of those was a slightly difficult one, since the ball was to the right and high over Suresh's shoulder. Doyle Devils went into the break at 56/3. Parag held a sharp low catch to his left, behind the wicket to finally dismiss the new batsman, who had three lives. Mudit struck back after being hit around for a few runs. The new batsman, played quite a few good shots mostly towards mid-on and mid-wicket region where he struck at least 2/3 boundaries.
After 14 overs Doyle Devils were around 80/4 and seemed set to hit at least 110 runs. The game was interrupted as the little league soccer team had reserved the ground. This then forced an abandonment of the game as no grounds were available in the UTC area.
It is time that we realize that we either play in the afternoon on Sunday or make it a point to pay and obtain a permit to play at other times of the weekend.
Rahul B won the toss and elected to field first. On just the second ball Amit C struck by getting Sourav caught behind by Parag. Srinivas, the other opening batsman however struck a few boundaries behind the wicket on the leg side. Shiva tried to hit a short one from Amit over the infield, square of the wicket on the leg side but lobbed a simple catch to Rahul B. Left hander, Srinivas had managed to not allow any of our bowlers settle into a rhythm with unconventional shots on the leg side. Samir however bowled one in the corridor and Srinivas edged to Parag behind the wicket and out walked the batsman. Venkat and another new batsman (unfamiliar name) however felt the need to consolidate. Both were given a reprieve early on by the bowler. Samir could not latch to a low and hard shot by Venkat. Sam could not hold one that came at a good height and straight to him on the off side. Suresh dropped two catches at long on to give the new batsman two lives. One of those was a slightly difficult one, since the ball was to the right and high over Suresh's shoulder. Doyle Devils went into the break at 56/3. Parag held a sharp low catch to his left, behind the wicket to finally dismiss the new batsman, who had three lives. Mudit struck back after being hit around for a few runs. The new batsman, played quite a few good shots mostly towards mid-on and mid-wicket region where he struck at least 2/3 boundaries.
After 14 overs Doyle Devils were around 80/4 and seemed set to hit at least 110 runs. The game was interrupted as the little league soccer team had reserved the ground. This then forced an abandonment of the game as no grounds were available in the UTC area.
It is time that we realize that we either play in the afternoon on Sunday or make it a point to pay and obtain a permit to play at other times of the weekend.
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