Match Report: JECC vs HRCC @ Far Hills - 05/10

JECC beat Hell Raizers by 4 wickets

Hell Raizers were all out for 119 and we managed the target with 4 wickets in hand with 12 overs to go.
It was a pretty easy chase except for some hiccups in the end with most of our batsmen drilling it out cautiously rather than going for an explosive approach.

We had a delayed start due to some puddles on our ground, which had to be drained out with a wet vacuum initially and were covered with some spare mats later on. Nagarjun stepped in for Rushi who had called out because of cramps.

Man of the Match: Suneel for taking 3 wickets in a excellent first spell of 6 overs and scoring 35 runs in the chase.

Bowling: With the moisture around, we opted to bowl first and Suneel justified that with some excellent bowling first up. Himanshu paired with Suneel, but looked rusty.
Mital replaced him and bowled beautifully, with some vicious deliveries. He beat the bat consistently and should have been rewarded with more wickets but ended up with 2 to his name.
Suneel and Mital were totally unplayable and dismissed half the side between them.
The follow up act wasn’t that good though. Rajesh and Dilip leaked some runs in a couple of overs. Ganadeep and Murali got us back on track later on. Both bowled economically, with Ganadeep getting 3 wickets, bowling brilliantly against the left handers. Murali supported him well and got a wicket. The last wicket scratched around a bit and scored 20 runs in the process, mostly extras. Preetham put the final nail in the coffin with HRCC folding out for 119.

Batting: With a previous loss against this team, chasing a similar total, our batting had to be circumspect. Rajesh and Preetham were just that initially and watched their new ball bowlers carefully taking the odd ones and twos. After the initial spell and 25 runs later, Rajesh got going with a couple of big hits but was out bowled off his pads, attempting a big shot. Preetham joined him soon after patting a return catch to the bowler.

Suneel and Mital were left to repair the damage and get us back on track and they did just that. Batting straight with caution, they built up a good platform leading us into the break. They took the runs on offer and kept the scoreboard ticking along. When the secondary bowlers came along, Suneel latched on to the loose balls on offer and made sure they were dispatched – to the boundary. Mital kept a steady head and showed us how he has grown as a batsman, playing according to the situation and supported Suneel well. Both got out with the target in sight. Les scored a couple of big hits to reduce the target even further.

A brief flutter with 20 odd runs to go at the end had Dilip, Ganadeep and Sekhar scratch around to finish the job.


Verdict: With our bowling, HRCC should have been all out for 60-70, which we obviously did not. We gave some freebies after the initial spell with a nice helping of extras (30+). Batting started off well but the set batsmen should have finished the game. Nagarjun's keeping was very good as usual. Fielding was OK, we didn’t drop any catches but could have been a bit more energetic on the field.

Overall, it was a easy going game. A win is good any day and with our NRR, we should be on top of the points table. Lets keep the momentum going for the next round of important games.

Next game against Raiders is an crucial one as they are one of the Div 1 teams that were relegated. A win against them would help us in the play off situation if we were to enter a tied points table.
We should be looking to win every game and I am sure if we play to our potential, we can beat any of the Div 2 teams.

Score card : http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=1776