Match 7 against Real Panthers on 06062009

As reported by Ajay K:-

This match would probably go down as one with several points of drama during the course of the game.Hari won the toss and chose the bat. We had a slow start and the run rate seemed to hover around 4.00 till the 10 over break. The problem was that we had lost 4 wickets as well. It was during the break that we re-measured the pitch since several of our batsmen had complained that it seemed short. And presto! It was 5 yards short. Several options were put on the table - move the pitch to the correct length and change it back for RP for the first 10 overs, or restart the game. But finally we settled for status quo - we would bat all 20 overs on a pitch 5 yards short. Nothing eventful in our batting and we wrapped up at 74 in the last over.
It was a very small total to defend and the team seemed charged up. Vijay started the attack and got Kailash 2nd ball, to a great catch by Parag behind the stumps. Rosie bowled a wicket maiden at the other end and followed it with 2 more maidens and 2 more wickets. Never before had an opponent's scoreline read 5 for 4 at the end of 6 overs. And not to mention the 3 diving catches that Parag had taken behind the stumps.
RP continued to go at a slow pace, but once Sanjay and Navin C came to the crease, the consolidation started. We also became a little complacent as we sensed a win despite a low score. But a few expensive overs by Hari and yours truly, wrested the initiative away from us and as a result, it came down to the last over and RP needed 3 runs for a win. The writing was on the walls, but Samir did not give up and moved all the sharp catchers into close in positions. Srini walked in to bowl the final over.
Ball 1 - a weak shot towards mid-off and Hari runs back and takes the catch. 1 down, 3 more to goBall 2 - an uncotrolled flick towards backward square leg and Vijay runs back and takes the catch with one hand. 2 down, 2 more to go and Srini is on a hat-trickBall 3 - Ball takes the thick outside edge and balloons towards Samir at mid-off and he drops a sitter. The sun had a role to play, but that also allowed RP to get a single and the in-form Navin C on strike. Ball 4 - RP get the 2 runs needed for victory.
Kudos to Rosie for his 3 maidens on the trot. Kudos to Vijay S for an extremely economic spell and Kudos to Srini for keeping his nerves under control and bowling a great last over.

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