Eagles-Panthers Tri-Series Summer 2008 :- Game 2

Eagles took an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the Tri-Series by winning the second game by 19 runs.

Panthers chose to field despite having failed to chase targets against the Eagles on two previous occasions.

Vijay S (19 in 28 b, 2*4), Rupesh (20 in 36b, 1*4) and Parag (18 in 25b) held the batting together for the Eagles. Vijay S opened the innning with Rajesh and provided a good start for the Eagles. Abhi and then Samir were hit for exquisite boundaries on the off-side over cover. Rupesh walked in the 7th over after the dismissal of Vijay S and held fort until the 20th over of the inning.

Vinay held a good catch in slip to dismiss Mudit and Ajit held one good one at deep square leg to send Parag back to the pavilion.

Eagles scored a decent 95/7 in 20 overs which seemed a good enough target to defend against the Panthers.

Vijay S bowled three overs on the trot along with Siva who bowled two in the opening spell. Rupesh and Rosie continued until the 10th over bowling 5 overs amongst them. Saran bowled the 11th over of the inning. Eagles had the Pathers on a leash allowing only 25 runs to be scored in the initial 11 overs but also picked up 4 wickets in the process. In the 10th over Hari struck one huge six over long on but Rupesh had his say by dismissing Hari and Suresh of consecutive balls. Earlier Vijay S had Abhi caught behind and held a sharp catch to dismiss Shekhar of his own bowling.

Samir had begun slow but played a lone hand after the initial 11 overs to try and reach the target. Aravind was hit for a good looking cut on the off side for a four in the 12th over. In the very next over Saran was hit for a magnificent six over long on. Cheer returned in the Panthers camp but the question was would one player be able to take the Panthers to a win? Samir played on until the 18th over with 31 required in 3 overs. He hit the second six of his innning in the 15th over being bowled by Rupesh and followed it up with a boundary in the 16th over bowled by Rosie. Vijay S was struck for a boundary in the 18th over but the very next ball Samir was caught behind and victory for the Eagles seemed imminent.

Samir played a valuable knock of 37 (43b, 3*4, 2*6) but lacked support at the other end. Also the slow scoring in the initial 11 overs was too much to overcome in the final nine overs, even for a Samir on the rampage.

Vijay S had magnificent figures of 4-0-9-4 which by itself are enough to get a Man of the Match award. Add to it the good start at the top and a well judged catch of his own bowling there can be no debate as to who gets the non-existing award.

Parag held five catches behind the stumps for a second time on the trot and also featured in two run-outs and a stumping. Rupesh picked two wickets in two balls, Rosie picked up a wicket and Saran bagged two. Siva was as accurate as he has been recently.

Eagles teamed up well and complemented the efforts of each other. Panthers were thus dismissed for 76 runs and fell short by 19 runs.

We go into the final game of the tri-series with the intent to impart opportunities to all who have had less than expected opportunities. Let's enjoy the game and try and display decent behavior at all times. Being non-professionals this is even more of a reasonable expectation.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqAb09_31QCXQ&hl=en