Eagles won the toss and elected for bat first in the 20 over game against the Shadows on 17th Jan 09.
Nitin B and Naman opened the innings for the Eagles with Kapil and Ashwin bowling. The openers did not last long and that brought Hari and Parag to the crease. Kapil grabbed the wickets of both the openers. Naman played on and Nitin B was caught well in the slips by Raju.
The score at the end of 5 overs was 15 runs. The 6th over from captain Yoga yielded 18 runs to place the Eagles at a healthy 33/2. Arul bowled a tight over to Parag that yielded only a single wide and the pressure was back on the Eagles. In the very next over from Wasim, Parag tried to loft a full toss over the in-field on the off side but could only find Kranthi at short cover/mid-off. Hari then lofted one towards his favorite area at long on. Yoga came running in and held a good catch to clinch another crucial wicket for the Shadows. Abhishek hit Wasim for a good looking boundary on the last ball of the 10th to take the score beyond 40. Mudit and Abhishek thus took the team to the break and a precarious position of 44/4.
Mudit was the first to depart after the break and that started a procession of batsmen returning back to the pavilion. For the second time in two innings Sam was run-out needlessly. Sam set out for a run and Abhishek had no intentions to run a quick single. The ball went straight to the fielder at square leg and he made no mistake. Abhishek was bowled by Wasim and Kapil cleaned Srinivas. Suresh edged a boundary to third man but fell very soon. He lofted one to long leg and Yoga held another catch running in. Within the next couple of balls Rajesh was held at the same spot. Eagles folded for 78 with two overs to spare.
Shadows were on a high and knew very well that they would have to try and bat beyond 15 overs to seal an easy win. Eagles however did not have intentions to give up easily. Sam and Vinay started extremely well with Vinay picking up 4 wickets in two overs. The score for the Shadows in 4 overs read 13/4. Vinay picked up a wicket in the second over of the inning and followed that with three wickets in the fourth over. Sam held a sharp catch to dismiss Wasim at point and Kranthi was cleaned up by Vinay by a lethal incoming yorker length ball.
Abhishek then picked up Ashwin and captain Yoga, to excellent catches by Suresh and Hari respectively. Suresh held a low catch standing at the 30 yard circle at mid-off. Hari (did a Yoga on Yoga) by sprinting in from the boundary to hold a high catch at long leg. Sam then held a low diving catch at slips to dismiss the opener Kapil to put the Eagles in a favorable position. Arul and Jay played until the end of 10 overs to take the score to 40/7.
Arul and Jay then played extremely well after the break to deny the Eagles the opportunity to get another wicket. Abhishek was pulled to square leg with force for two fours and so was Hari. Jay played a critical role in taking the Shadows closer to victory. Hari bowled Jay to give some glimmer of hope amidst a narrowing gap in scores of the two teams. Sam and Vinay completed their quota and Abhishek came in to bowl the 17th over and two wickets to get with 6 runs needed for victory. Shivanand then hit one over the in-field on the off side and followed that up with a straight boundary a few balls later to seal victory for the Shadows with 20 balls to spare.
Arul 19* (23b, 3*4) , Jay 10 (20b, 1*4) and Shivanand 9 * (7b, 1*4) played a crucial role with the bat when the Shadows were in a precarious position. Kapil (4-1-4-3) was the pick of the bowlers on either side on the day. Vinay was a close second with figures of 4-0-21-4. His inspired bowling made the Eagles favorites at the end of 30 0vers in the game but Arul, Jay and Shivanand turned the tide instantly in the next 6 overs.
Arul picked up three wickets for a mere 11 runs apart from playing a responsible inning with the bat. He deservedly is MOM for this game.
Shadows have thus won both their games and Eagles are yet to secure any points. Eagles need improvement in all areas of the game and definitely need to bat the full quota of 20 overs. The positives for the Eagles have been responsible batting by the tail in the first game and inspired bowling by all bowlers and a committed effort in the field in the second game. It's just a matter of winning a game from here on and a few more wins may very well follow that. Eagles know what to do, its just a matter of figuring out how and making it happen.
Nitin B and Naman opened the innings for the Eagles with Kapil and Ashwin bowling. The openers did not last long and that brought Hari and Parag to the crease. Kapil grabbed the wickets of both the openers. Naman played on and Nitin B was caught well in the slips by Raju.
The score at the end of 5 overs was 15 runs. The 6th over from captain Yoga yielded 18 runs to place the Eagles at a healthy 33/2. Arul bowled a tight over to Parag that yielded only a single wide and the pressure was back on the Eagles. In the very next over from Wasim, Parag tried to loft a full toss over the in-field on the off side but could only find Kranthi at short cover/mid-off. Hari then lofted one towards his favorite area at long on. Yoga came running in and held a good catch to clinch another crucial wicket for the Shadows. Abhishek hit Wasim for a good looking boundary on the last ball of the 10th to take the score beyond 40. Mudit and Abhishek thus took the team to the break and a precarious position of 44/4.
Mudit was the first to depart after the break and that started a procession of batsmen returning back to the pavilion. For the second time in two innings Sam was run-out needlessly. Sam set out for a run and Abhishek had no intentions to run a quick single. The ball went straight to the fielder at square leg and he made no mistake. Abhishek was bowled by Wasim and Kapil cleaned Srinivas. Suresh edged a boundary to third man but fell very soon. He lofted one to long leg and Yoga held another catch running in. Within the next couple of balls Rajesh was held at the same spot. Eagles folded for 78 with two overs to spare.
Shadows were on a high and knew very well that they would have to try and bat beyond 15 overs to seal an easy win. Eagles however did not have intentions to give up easily. Sam and Vinay started extremely well with Vinay picking up 4 wickets in two overs. The score for the Shadows in 4 overs read 13/4. Vinay picked up a wicket in the second over of the inning and followed that with three wickets in the fourth over. Sam held a sharp catch to dismiss Wasim at point and Kranthi was cleaned up by Vinay by a lethal incoming yorker length ball.
Abhishek then picked up Ashwin and captain Yoga, to excellent catches by Suresh and Hari respectively. Suresh held a low catch standing at the 30 yard circle at mid-off. Hari (did a Yoga on Yoga) by sprinting in from the boundary to hold a high catch at long leg. Sam then held a low diving catch at slips to dismiss the opener Kapil to put the Eagles in a favorable position. Arul and Jay played until the end of 10 overs to take the score to 40/7.
Arul and Jay then played extremely well after the break to deny the Eagles the opportunity to get another wicket. Abhishek was pulled to square leg with force for two fours and so was Hari. Jay played a critical role in taking the Shadows closer to victory. Hari bowled Jay to give some glimmer of hope amidst a narrowing gap in scores of the two teams. Sam and Vinay completed their quota and Abhishek came in to bowl the 17th over and two wickets to get with 6 runs needed for victory. Shivanand then hit one over the in-field on the off side and followed that up with a straight boundary a few balls later to seal victory for the Shadows with 20 balls to spare.
Arul 19* (23b, 3*4) , Jay 10 (20b, 1*4) and Shivanand 9 * (7b, 1*4) played a crucial role with the bat when the Shadows were in a precarious position. Kapil (4-1-4-3) was the pick of the bowlers on either side on the day. Vinay was a close second with figures of 4-0-21-4. His inspired bowling made the Eagles favorites at the end of 30 0vers in the game but Arul, Jay and Shivanand turned the tide instantly in the next 6 overs.
Arul picked up three wickets for a mere 11 runs apart from playing a responsible inning with the bat. He deservedly is MOM for this game.
Shadows have thus won both their games and Eagles are yet to secure any points. Eagles need improvement in all areas of the game and definitely need to bat the full quota of 20 overs. The positives for the Eagles have been responsible batting by the tail in the first game and inspired bowling by all bowlers and a committed effort in the field in the second game. It's just a matter of winning a game from here on and a few more wins may very well follow that. Eagles know what to do, its just a matter of figuring out how and making it happen.
Happy, victorious captain Yoga, Santosh to the left and Hari to the right (Photo taken on 03/14/2009, Panthers defeat Mavericks in the semi-final and Yoga is being thanked for sparing time to be a neutral umpire on the day)
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