Match against Sony on 10/04/2008

We fielded a well balanced team against team against Sony after two successive losses and were confident of doing well on the day. The wicket at Nobel Recreation Centre (Big) had good bounce and pace and was dry. We chose to field to test ourselves in a chase. Little did we know as to what the turn of events over the next few hours would be.

Sony started with Amit and Narayanan who provided a start at almost a run a ball. Amit hit a couple of fours but was bowled by Sam. Pankaj struck a quick 13 (8b, 1*4, 1*6) but was run out when he glided one to third man and went for a sharp second run. The sixth over being bowled by Vijay S yielded 12 runs but a good throw by Abhi had provided an opening with Pankaj being dismissed. Boundaries however were being hit with fair regularity on the occasional loose ball being bowled every odd over.

Sony progressed from 30/2 in 5 overs to 45/3 in 7 overs and 52/4 in 10 overs. Bala came in after 10 overs and struck 15 runs in the 13th over being bowled by Siva. This over tilted the momentum of the inning heavily in favor of Sony. Three successive boundaries were followed by a huge hit off Amit towards mid-wicket in the very next over. Amit however struck back to get Bala bowled.

After 14 overs we were kicked out from the ground and moved to the nearby small ground in the same park. The 20 over game was reduced to a 16 over affair. Sony finished with 92/8 in 16 overs which was a very healthy score on a bowler friendly wicket with odd bounce and pace.

Samir and Parag held a couple of good catches. Shekhar came up with a direct hit to dismiss Narayanan but the ground fielding was loose on a few occasions.

Hari and Samir opened the inning. Hari went after the bowling from the first ball but Samir at the other end played with caution. Hari was caught in the deep at long on after scoring 9 (8b, 1*4). Abhi joined Samir and both could not overcome the uneven pace and bounce of the wicket. The scoring rate hovered around 4 an over when a run-a-ball was required. Samir finally decided to lash out but was bowled (7 in 21b) by Pankaj. Abhi too got held in the deep on the leg side as the ball took the edge when he lashed out on an overpitched ball (4 in 21b).

At 29/3 in 8 overs, an RPO of 8 was required to win the game which was a tough ask on that wicket. Every new batsmen that came in thereafter had to go after the bowling without taking a good look at the bowling and the wicket.

Sam struck a huge six straight over the bowler's head on the off side but was bowled by Pankaj (11 in 10b, 1*6). Sam, Suresh and Vijay S were all dismissed in a single over from Pankaj. Parag (15 in 18b) and Siva were dismissed by Pankaj as well.

Sony struck our bowling for 10 fours and a six, whereas we were able to hit only one four and a six. We eventually were dismissed for a paltry 65 in 15 overs. 54 dot balls by us in the 16 over game meant we were required to score 93 in 42 balls which is a quite an ask at any level of the game. Pankaj bowled exceedingly well to dismiss 6 of our batsmen in four overs and was the performer of the day.

With three successive wins in three games Sony seems to be on top at this time. We on the other hand seem to be not maintaining our high standards and expectations with no combination yielding any results.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcprL29BLK2hfIg&hl=en