Match against MMM on 09/07/2008

MMM won the toss and elected to field at Cypress Canyon Ground in the 20 over game.

Shekhar and Aravind opened the batting. Aravind was caught in the slips with the score on 11. Gopal joined Shekhar and both continued to bat with caution against tight bowling from Sunil and Hitesh. Pradeep and Pranav took over from the opening bowling pair and bowled reasonably well making it dificult for the basmen to score freely.

Shekhar played a couple of good shots (one for a three and another for a four) up and over point/cover when the bowlers pitched it short outside off stump. MMM fielders dropped a couple of sitters in the slips giving Gopal a reprieve. Shekhar and Gopal took the score to 37 at the end of 10 overs without any further loss of wickets. Gopal was bowled by Bhoopathi in the 12th over bringing Mudit to the crease. Mudit started well with good ground strokes on the off side getting a couple of fours and twos and also ran well between the wickets. Ajay bowled Shekhar bringing Hari to the crease. The second ball that Hari faced from Sunil was dispatched straight over the bowlers head for a clean six (MRF and CA bats have been oiled and knocked recently, so batsmen can trust them to hit balls all the way). Mudit then called for a non-existent run and Hari was unfortunately run-out at the keeper's end. Abhi coming in at the fall of Mudit's wicket played good shots for boundaries off Sunil and Hitesh. Quick running between the wickets and good all-round strokes took the score to 95/6 in 20 overs.

Shekhar (17 in 37b, 1*4), Gopal (10 in 28b, 1*4), Mudit (16 in 15b, 2*4) and Abhi (19 in 23b, 3*4) contributed well with the bat, guiding the team to a respectable score against a good bowling attack.

Saran picked up a wicket on the first ball when Pranav edged one to Abhishek in the slips. Abhinav coming at the one down spot struck loose balls from Saran for a six and a boundary off successive balls towards square leg. Samir got Abhinav to drag one to the stumps on a full ball. Roopesh and Pradeep then played with caution. The two batsmen realized that scoring singles by tapping the ball around and waiting for loose balls was the way to win. Our bowlers continued to bowl well but lady luck deserted the team for a while. Balls kept flying to slip or gully in a vacant spot just as the fielder was switched from one spot to another. The pair took the score to 60 without any loss of further wickets in 12 overs. 36 runs were required for a win in 8 overs and MMM seemed to be in control of proceedings.

What followed thereafter was a period of inspired bowling from Sam, Samir and Ajay. Samir held a one handed catch at short cover/mid-off stretching his hand to the right and latched on to a hard hit. Sam then bowled Ajay in just two balls picking up two wickets in an over. It often happens that both batsmen depart when one of the two involved in a partnership gets out. Roopesh was held in the slips by Abhishek in the next over being bowled by Samir. Bhoopathi lasted for just two balls lofting one to long off where Gopal held a well judged catch. Samir thus picked up two wickets in an over without conceeding a run. Sam followed that up with a fiery over getting two batsmen bowled in the next over. The ball was just thudding into my gloves when it was not knocking the stumps over. The game had literally turned on the heels from one side to the other. With two batsmen to get out it was now Ajay's turn to knock batsmen over.

Four successive overs had yielded two wickets each for a meagre 4 runs. Sam/Samir/Ajay thus knocked 8 wickets in 4 overs for just 4 runs. A bookie would have made millions had he predicted a progression of such sorts.

Sam (3-0-5-4) and Samir (3-1-4-3) had phenomenal figures and together they caused the most dramatic of collapses in recent memory.

We thus won the game with 31 runs to spare. One had to be a part of it to witness what a person on one side would describe as inspired agressive bowling by Sam/Samir whereas another side would call as lackadaisical batting.

It was a great fightback that should last long down memory lane for all on the field today.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpo_AWMmq3igMg&hl=en