Match Report: JECC vs Indus, 05/16 @ Far Hills

JECC lost to Indus by 65 runs.

Chasing 230, JECC were all out for 165 in 37 overs.

Brilliant counter attacking half century by Ananth was the highlight of our chase.

Scorecard:http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=3446

Bowling: Suneel and Mital opened the bowling but were unfortunate to start out as many of the runs cameby edges on a surprisingly fast outfield at far hills. The Indus openers were making good use of the flash hard technique resulting in many edges flying off the bat. A dubious umpiring decision – one of many, judging a gloved catch as not out resulted in a life for the Indus opener off Mitals bowling. Vijay and Sekhar bowled a good tight spell but were unlucky as some catches and half chances were dropped by us. A stubborn 60 run opening partnership lasted well past 15 overs until Dhanu had got the break for JECC, off a true shot off the middle of the bat.

This breakthrough led to a couple of wickets – all for Dhanu and the Indus batsmen were content to coast along without losing wickets. Dhanu and I bowled some tight overs between us but found no support from the field as almost 6 to 7 catches were dropped. This led to a confidence booster for Indus as their batsmen changed to an attacking mode and went after the bowling. Vishal cheruku easily scored 70 courtesy of atleast 5 lives and the support acts were gifted lives off dropped catches and sloppy fielding. Mital came on to get him out but things weren’t looking too good for us as we leaked too many runs. Rishi bowled well to get two set batsmen out but couldn’t sustain his wicket taking spell as the batsmen were slogging in the final overs. The last 10 overs by our bowlers conceded 100+ runs and a couple of injuries left us to score 231.

Batting: To score almost 6 runs an over, Vijay and I set out atleast get some runs on board first. I was out bowled in the fourth over for 14 trying to hit out after getting a couple of fours. Ananth and Vijay settled down to stabilize things for a while when Vijay got out and Mital followed him soon after. Lucky and Sekhar supported Ananth well just when he started to find his touch.

Ananth was brilliant in his attack and made the Indus team to panic that led to a lot of team discussions to stop him. Some of his classy shots stood out – six over cover, one over midwicket and boundaries off flicks and cuts were a pleasure to watch. He ran very well for twos and threes and suddenly, the chase was on. With runs flowing thick and fast, it was a reachable target if Ananth was there.The only strategy that Indus could come up with was to not give him strike and they succeeded well for a while and frustrated him resulting in his wicket with almost 100 runs to get.

With a new found spark in our batting, Suneel carried on where Ananth left off, but soon ran out of partners as no one was there for support him. With Lucky as a runner, Suneel was in the same nick as the previous game scoring at will and finding the boundary with ease, but fell trying for a big shot. With the mounting asking rate, the rest of the batting line up collapsed for 165 in 37 overs.

Verdict: If one is to blame for the defeat, it is our fielding that let us down completely and dropped the morale of the entire team. We lost the match in our minds in the first 20 overs of the match as wickets weren’t coming and catches weren’t being taken. We dropped atleast 10 easily catchable ones and the half chances were too many to count.

Contrast with the Indus fielding, who really were a bunch of old guys, who couldn’t run or throw, but took good catches and converted the half chances to wickets. The dropped catches were all around the field and it wasn’t the weather to blame as we found an excuse for the first two games. Bowling was good overall, but isn’t reflected in the score card as fielding lapses were too comic to mention. Overthrows, giving twos for a non existing single, provided entertainment for the cheering Indus camp.

Ananth’s class batting was a relief and gave us the spark we needed in the batting department. We could have chased down 180-200 with him staying around, but the support acts in the top and middle order need to be there. All it takes is to rotate the strike for the set batsman that we failed to do.

Let’s pick up on the fielding and put some heart into the batting if we are to atleast make something out of the season.

Match report: JECC vs Edison, 05/09/10 @ Thomas Jefferson

CLNJ Div 1 league match

JECC lost to Edison by 127 runs.

ScoreCard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=3416

Batting first, Edison scored 207 for 9 in 40 overs. JECC were all out for 80 and didn't even come close to bat even 25 overs.

Bowling: We Bowled pretty well until their middle of the innings. I and Rushi opened the bowling in windy conditions and bowled 9 overs for 39 runs and took 1 wicket. Then came our pick of the bowlers Asif and Mittal who bowled really well unchanged for 22 overs they were reeling 85 for 5. After changing them no one were able to bowl well and Edison two players started picking the runs easily. After various changes Gana got us the wicket and broke their partnership which was then 145.

After 30 overs they were 133 and last 10 overs with 2 wickets in hand they scored 70 odd runs and ended at 207.

We gave away 45 extras with 26 wides 6 no balls and 13 byes.

Kudos to Asif and Mittal for bowling really well.

Batting: With a nice outfield 200 runs was gettable.

There is not much to write here as again our batting was a disaster with 5 ducks 4 single digits. I and Rushi only went into double digits. Their opening bowlers got 7 wickets for 44 runs in 10 odd overs. I and Dhanu stayed at the wicket and kept Edison at bay for 12 odd overs.

Verdict: I do not mind losing games by showing some fight. But if our batting keeps on continuing this way we shouldnt be in Division1. I do not understand how hard is it to stay at the wicket. I am not asking you to score runs at 6 an over. I only expect 20 odds runs in 40 odd balls. All the batsman irrespective of what position your playing should keep this mind and play a patient innings.

There are minor things we could improve like fielding etc etc but if our batting is like this I dont even want to focus there.

Match report: JECC vs Mavericks, 05/02/10 @ Far hills

CLNJ Div 1 league match

JECC lost to Mavericks by 26 runs.

ScoreCard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=3384

Batting first, Mavericks scored 153 all out in 39 overs. JECC fell short in the chase and were all out for 125 in 33 overs.

Bowling: Mavericks won the toss and elected to bat first on a hot and humid day. Our opening bowlers, Rushi and Siddharth struggled to find a line initially which helped the Mavericks get off to a flying start. Mital stepped in for Sid and stuck onto a wonderful line and length, slowing their run rate. Mital got the first breakthrough and ended up with three wickets for the game. Rushi got into a rhythm after changing ends and got a couple of wickets. Karthik stepped in and settled into a nice line and was also rewarded with a couple of wickets. Both Mital and Karthik hurried the batsmen with their pace, beating the bat and made them struggle for runs.
Dhanushka and I bowled some tight overs at the half way mark to suffocate the batsmen. Dhanu got into his merry–go-wicket-taking spell getting three quick wickets, unlucky to get a fiver. Our strike bowlers came into finish the job but couldn’t as the Mavericks tail enders hung around and scratched their way to a 150+ total with the last two pairs scoring 40 odd runs.

Batting: Vijay and I opened the innings, but didn’t have to even touch the ball as the Mavericks bowlers struggled with the swing and leaked plenty of wides. The first 3 overs yielded almost 20 runs in wides mixed with a couple of straight ones. A freakish run out that touched the bowlers hand off a straight drive got me run out at the non strikers end. Their bowlers settled into a line later and Karthik, along with Vijay nicely built up our innings with ones and twos and the odd boundary. With rain predicted, we were well ahead of the run rate and were looking good when Vijay had to retire due to the heat and dehyrdration. Sid also had to retire between because of the heat. Karthik stuck on at one end and rotated the strike well, ticking on the score board. He got out for a classy 22.
None of the batsmen that followed Karthik were able to stick on as we lost wickets at an alarming rate. Mital, Rushi, Ananth, Sekhar, Dhanu, Gana, all got out in a heap – with 3 wickets falling at once. All of them got out to a slow bowler, Sudhir who was just flighting the ball and our batsmen gave easy catches to the ring fielders, gifting him 5 wickets.
Vijay came into bat again and looked in good nick scoring some big hits and running well for ones and twos. He got out for a well made 33, off a blinder of a catch. Sid came in to bat at the end with Dhanu as a runner with Murali. This was the last wicket. They put on a brave fight and got us into striking distance of the target. With good running, they were set to get a come from behind victory, just when Sid got out caught, closing our innings with 26 runs left.

Verdict: This was a game we expected to win. With home field advantage and an opposition like Mavericks, the odds were in our favor. But our lame batting cost us the game. Only 3 batsmen got into double figures while the rest of the batting line up collapsed like a pack of cards. Five ducks in a batting line up doesnt look good. Although we can take heart with the fight at the end by Murali and Sid, this was essentially a total batting failure.We went into the game assuming that we have the best batting line up in the league – but it showed that it was on paper, not on the ground. We just had to stay on the wicket as the reqd run rate was only 4 runs an over.
Bowling was OK, but we lacked a finisher that could have wrapped up the Mavericks tailenders for well under 100. We gave up too many runs at the beginning and end of their innings.
Fielding was OK too, but we could use some improvement with the catching. The heat and exhaustion didn’t help anyone but some very good catches were taken although some catchable ones were dropped. Credit to Murali, Rushi and Gana for taking up the keeping responsibility and not giving any byes or catches in the absence of a regular keeper.

We have to get set for the upcoming games as we will be facing tougher opponents throughout the season.