Match Report: JECC vs Miracle @ Far Hills - 07/19

JECC lost to Miracle by 4 wickets

Batting first JECC scored 125 all out in 39.5 overs. Miracle got to the target in 38 overs losing 6 wickets in the process.

Scorecard:http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=1958

Man of the Match: Amit for scoring 36 not out in a fighting knock to get us to a respectable total. His keeping was brilliant as usual.

Batting: We won the toss and elected to bat first on a hot sunny day. The filed miraculously dried up and a few wet spots were covered with tarps to get the match started on time.

Rajesh and Preetham opened the batting starting off well but found it difficult to judge the left arm swing of their main bowler – Jagannath and got out cheaply. Mital and I stepped in to steady the innings a bit but Mital was soon out to a chipped catch to mid off. Sekhar was run out without facing a ball in bizarre circumstances when he grounded his bat but lifted it as he thought the throw to the keeper was about to hit his head.

Suneel, coming down the order hit a big six but was soon out bowled to a straight ball. Dhanuskha followed him immediately and we were looking down the barrel with six down and plenty of overs to go. Amit and I played out some quiet overs but my resistance of 22 ended with a thin edge to the keeper. Murali (12) put up a good fight with Amit(36*) to get us closer to 100 but was unfortunately out when a edge lobbed up off his head to gully. With Asif being judged out off his shirt, the last wicket of Srinath and Amit were left to play out the overs and pile on the runs.

Amit batted intelligently to farm the strike and got some big hits at the end. He remained not out on 36 but ran out of partners in the penultimate ball of the innings.

Bowling: 125 was fighting if not a winning total on our ground provided we fielded and bowled with discipline.. Suneel got us to a perfect start with a wicket off his first ball with a maiden to follow up. Mital was equally up to the task and bowled with fire and intent. The batsmen were not up to the caliber to even edge the balls and were beaten repeatedly, wasting both of their overs. The batsmen Kunal and Rohan played watchfully too, more than content to leave the balls off Suneel’s bowling and block out Mital..just when Mital got a big inswinger to tip the off stump to get us our second wicket. Both Suneel and Mital were brilliant with the new ball but were very unfortunate not to get many wickets they deserved. Their spells ended at 9 overs and 15 runs with only 2 wickets.

The change of bowling did exactly the opposite of what was required and spoiled the good work by the opening pair. A lot of extras and loose balls were on offer and in a span of 4 overs we leaked almost 30 runs. Change of bowling didn’t get us the wicket we wanted. My overs of spin and faster balls got us the breakthrough of Kunal, but I too proved to be expensive considering the total we were defending. A couple of easy dropped chances didn’t help our cause either.

Dhanu and Preetham were able to restrict the flow of runs but we as a bowling unit couldn’t rip through their batting line up. Wickets weren’t falling regularly enough to our liking and we kept losing ground by the total and a demoralized fielding unit. Suneel and Mital came back to get a couple of wickets , but it just wasn't enough.

With last 10 overs, their batsman Raju launched into Asif’s bowling hitting some big sixes reducing the total and getting to the required 125 with 3 overs to go. He got the winning runs with a mighty six to seal the victory for Miracle.

Verdict: Batting was below average from most of our players. Except for a couple of unplayable deliveries, the rest of them got out due to a lack of concentration and application.

The basics of cricket to occupy the crease and play 40 overs seems like a big ask for us. Miracle’s bowling wasn’t great but was simple and effective. All they had to do was to land the ball and test our patience. Except for Amit, supported by Murali, Srinath and a bit by myself, none of the other batsmen seemed to have the focus.

Its not a question of talent, skill, conditions or form. All the batsmen are proven match winners on their days and it is just to apply themselves and fight as a team, as a unit, which seems to be missing. It was missing all season except that easy wins off big contributions from Les, Rushi and chasing some low totals masked our deficiencies.

We have defended small totals in the past and the key to that is good fielding and catching. Miracle dropped some catches too, but our dropped catches cost us the game.

Suneel’s spell of 8 overs and 5 runs without wides is the way to bowl in any game. Suneel and Mital bowled their heart out and did it believing that they can win the game. The rest of the backup looked lost and bowled as if they had a luxury of 250 runs to defend.

The hard work of the bowling is lost if easy catches are dropped but it happens in cricket and we have to learn to learn from the mistakes.

The points table is looking very crowded at the top with us fighting for a 2^nd place and Crescent and Edison breathing down our neck. There is no option to lose now and we have to win them all. USCA is a tough opponent next week at Far hills, and we have to win it at any cost.