JECC lost to Warriors by 7 wickets.
Batting first, JECC scored 216 all out in 39.5 overs and Warriors easily chased down the score losing only 3 wickets and 4 overs to go. Durale forest scored 100 and Anoop scored 50 in their chase.
Scorecard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=3604
Batting: Karthik and I opened the innings to a reception of short pitched deliveries one of which hit Karthik on the shoulder causing a bad bruise. Karthik had to retire early and Ananth stepped in to face the music. The bowling continued in a similar vein and we were facing a barrage of fast short pitched bowling fro both ends by their Caribbean bowlers Shane and Durale. After negotiating a tough spell, Ananth and I picked up on the pitched up deliveries and good running. We picked up the scoring rate without any additional damage, managing 65 runs for the opening partnership in 15 overs.
After the initial spell, the slow and very slow bowlers came on. Ananth was in his groove, scoring freely and was looking set for a big score when he fell caught in the deep off a tempting delivery by Anoop. Karthik came on again with a bruised shoulder and a bandage, and both of us settled down to punish the spinners. After a couple of big overs, I was run out for 34 in a mix up. Suneel and Lucky were soon out too and we were facing a similar collapse situation.
Nagarjun came in to play some quiet overs but settled down soon after. He rotated the strike well and built a 60+ run partnership with Karthik, who was fighting on bravely and was scoring off classy whips and drives all around the ground. Karthik got out for a well made 50. Sekhar stepped in together with Naga, raised the tempo with some big shots. He rotated the strike well and hit the loose balls for boundaries with impeccable timing. Dhanu, Mital, Muraliand Vishal gave support and we were able to cross 200 easily. Sekhar was left not out for 34 and we were all out for 216 with a ball to spare.
Bowling: Mital and Suneel started off well, but couldn’t get the early breakthrough we were looking for. Anoop meanwhile started to play some big shots and Murali was brought on to look for a wicket. Mital, on the other end was unplayable. He was the only bowler from our side who bowled six overs on the trot in severe heat, looking threatening all the time. A brilliant caught and bowled from Mital got us the first wicket. Then came Durale and together with Anoop, they played and scored easily anything we bowled at them. With a runner to go, things got annoying as the wicket wouldn’t come by until a 150+ run partnership went by. Anoop and Durale completed their fifties and were looking to just coast to the target.
Vishal and Sekhar bowled some tight overs between them, resulting in a couple of wickets, both off Vishal. That wasn’t enough as the runs kept flowing and Warriors managed to get to the target in 37 overs, with Durale getting his 100 too off the winning runs.
Verdict: There was nothing much we could do. A very hard fought loss. Brave efforts by Karthik and Mital were standouts in our batting and bowling. We gave our hearts out in the field and in the bowling, but it just wasn’t our day. Batting was excellent. The go-slow game plan by warriors especially in the heat frustrated us even more.
