Match Report: JECC vs Punjab XI at Far hills - 05/18/2014

JECC beat Punjab XI by 3 wkts. 

Batting first after winning the toss, Punjab were all out for 130. JECC chased the target in 36 overs with 3 wkts remaining. 

Scorecard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=8408

Man of the Match: Chinmay for taking 3 crucial wickets and scoring 26 runs.

Bowling: We had a great first session with both Sid and Venky bowling some accurate and sharp bowling. Sid got us the first breakthrough courtesy of a sharp catch at gully by our debutant Hari.  Venky followed it by bowling the other opener off a ripper. Sid was looking in great rythm and bowled unchanged taking two more wickets in the process. We were very well positioned at 35/4 by the first break. It could have been even great had we not dropped a couple of tough catches.

Sensing that the classical batting method wasn't working, their main batsmen - the bawa brothers attacked our bowlers after the break. Penchal, Murali, Sid and especially me got some rough treatment and they added on to 45 runs in a quick 5 over span. 

Chinmay came at this crucial juncture and got a wicket in his first over. He was successful in applying the brakes and together with Murali built up pressure on their batsmen. Chinmay got two more important wickets with his accurate and economical bowling. Murali chipped in with another wicket to go into the second break. Their tail-enders hung around a bit to play off 40 overs, but Penchal came in to rip off two quick wickets and wrap up their innings at 130.

Batting: Hari and I opened the innings and we got off to a decent start. The youngster -Hari, playing his first match for us opted to open the batting bravely in the absence of out star player Dhanushka. He displayed the left handers stylishness and hit a couple of delightful pulls for boundaries. With some quick ones and twos, we built up a 25 runs partnership when Hari was out caught. Ananth came in and immediately stuck his favorite lofted cover drive for a boundary but got bowled off the very next ball. 

Ronak got out soon after and Sid and I went into the break with their spinners about to bowl. Against the huge anticipation and probably over cautiousness, I chipped a tame catch off Ricky bawa's first ball. Avi joined Sid and both played sensibly rotating the strike and got the score board ticking. Sid was very patient only taking ones and twos. Avi got out trying a big shot and it was left to Chinmay and Sid to get us out of the hole. 

With almost 75 runs to go, both Chinmay and Sid curbed their aggressive strokeplay and played to the teams requirement. It takes great mental strength for strokeplayers like them to do so and they have become our big middle order batsmen. Both played very sensibly and barely lofted the ball. With the partnership building, we got close to 100 when a change of bowling and the second break caused Sid to lose his wicket after a 35 run  partnership.

Penchal was the saving grace at this point. He mixed caution with some aggressive shots and stepped up the tempo along with Chinmay at the other end.  They both saw off the main bowlers and were involved in a 40 run partnership that got us in striking distance of the target. Chinmay got out attempting a six with 2 needed and Penchal remained not out hitting the winning runs.

It was a relatively easy win for us barring a couple of hiccups. 

Match Report - JECC vs Princeton at Far Hills, 05/11/14 - by Murali

Match Report by Murali

JECC won the game by 40 runs. 

ScoreCard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=8339

Princeton CC won the toss and chose to field first. JECC scored 183/10 in 39.4 overs. Princeton CC all out for 144 in 34.5 overs

Man of the Match: Dhanushka for a classy 62 runs and excellent bowling.

Batting: Dilip and Dhanu opened the innings, they gave us a great start putting up a 50 run partnership in just 12 overs. Ananth joined Dhanu after Dilip was caught-behind trying to negotiate an excellent delivery. Both of them continued the bat and had another good partnership of 61 runs. We lost our 2^nd wicket (Ananth) at 111, he got out on another good ball while he tried to make room to cut the ball. Sid and Naga got out early while Dhanu hung around with Shivam and kept the score card moving. 

Dhanu fell for 62, Vijay and Shivam played some good strokes as we entered into the last 8 overs. We took the batting power-play giving an opportunity to our stroke players a chance to go after the bowlers during the last overs. Well ! Power-play overs are very tricky, sometimes they work and othertimes it gets our batsmen. Both Shivam and Vijay displayed good stroke play. Venky and I did not last long, Manoj and Srinath batted really well putting up a 20 run partnership for the last wicket and got us to a decent total 183.

Overall 183 was a pretty good total to defend at our ground.

Bowling: Going into the field with great confidence, Venky and Sid gave us an excellent start. Sid continued his bowling form from the previous game, he was spot on and got us a breakthrough in his very 1^st over, an unplayable delivery with good bounce…forcing the batsman to play the ball and edge it to the keeper. Looked like Venky thought...hey !..it’s my turn now and gets his man right away…again getting a caught-behind.  Good take by Vijay behind the wickets moving to his leg-side. 

I was introduced in the 1^st spell, was rewarded immediately in my 2^nd over and another one in my 3^rd over. Both these wickets were a result of tight bowling and perfect fielding set-up by Dilip based on the batting style of their big scorer (Mohammad). 

Shivam and Manoj took good catches. Dilip and Dhanu came on to bowl next. Dilip got his 1^st wicket, catch at point by shivam. Dhanu continued to bowl tight on the other end. After that there was a long pause in getting the wickets as their #6 and #7 batsmen played very sensibly just rotating the strike and seeing off good balls. Srinath bowled well, but was unlucky to get a wicket. They kept it simple, played well except for the two chances they gave us..one in Srinath’s over and another in Dilip’s over. 

Dilip brought back Sid and then Vijay in an effort to break the partnership, but things still were going their way. I came back on, tried hard…bowled well…but couldn’t break their partnership. Dhanu too bowled really well, they couldn’t score on him ..but at the same time they didn’t give away their wicket. Though it looked like the game was slipping away, we all knew that all we need is to break this partnership and we are back ON. We were very confident on winning the game and the fighting spirit was still ON.  

After the 2^nd break in the innings (30^th over), Dilip took the challenge upon himself ..came back and bowled an excellent over getting us the wicket we had been waiting for past 15 overs. Rightly so …got in our speedster Venky to bowl the next over to wrap up things. He was deadly….even better than his first spell…they could not even touch his deliveries. He bowled a maiden over with 2 wickets. Amazing comeback spell. Dilip cleaned up their last batsman and won the game for us !!

With Dilip taking 4 wickets, Venky: 3 wickets, Myself: 2 wickets and Sid : 1 wicket pushed Princeton to the losing side.

Over all ! Great performance, Excellent fight back by Eagles. Enjoyed the game thoroughly. This is the kind of start we need for the season and we got it now. Let’s continue this winning habit and go all the way.

Cheers !!

Match Report by Ravi : JECCvs Piscataway - CLNJ on May 4, 2014

Match Report: Eagles vs Piscataway CLNJ game on May 4, 2014

by Ravi Kumar Suri

Used to write these reports from 2000 to 2007 after which I took a back seat, enjoying other’s reporting abilities. Our official reporter for the season was off today, I am filling in.

When we reached the ground this morning the wretched winter seem to have come back in all its freeze. Players with thick jackets and hoods at a cricket ground is never a pretty sight. The bright whites of players, the glowing green of the outfield, 2 sets of 3 stumps with bails on them, the 22 yard strip, and boundary cones laid, the 30 yard circle laid is what gets the adrenalin pumping. Most of this was missing as we assembled for start of the match.

Chinmay standing in for Dilip won the toss and after some due diligence opted to field. There is a proven mathematical equation between the Sun being out and the number of runs being scored. Almost every time the sun is not in its bloom, the batsmen seem to be playing with their feet in cement. The batsmen’s eyes seem uncertain and therefore the timing is awry. In contrast the bowler looks sharper, hungrier and meaner. And if the bowler is a mart cookie like Sid who read the conditions and adapted his bowling to suit the conditions, he comes out a winner and the batsmen come out a cropper.

At the huddle Chinmay laid the objectives for us the fielding unit crystal clear. He asked the bowlers to bowl stump to stump and short of a length. The operative word being short of length, which is hugely different from short. Venky and Sid opened the bowling. Venky bowled a good first over and Sid followed up with telling spell. A cricketer who sums up the match situation, weather conditions, wicket behavior, outfield behavior as in quick / slow etc. is always a huge plus for the team. I saw Chinmay lead for the first time and was hugely impressed with his handling of various cricketing aspects. The first thing I look for in a captain is his field set. Is the field set in tune with the outfield, in tune with who is bowling, in tune with weather and wicket conditions. 

For Venky and Sid Chinmay had a slip, a wide gully, a point, a cover point, cover and mid-off on the off side. The on side had mid-on, midwicket and a square leg. Why this field impressed me was the captain dint get carried away with over cast conditions and have 2 slips and a gully, a third man or fine leg all of which were avoidable because the idea was to build run less pressure on the batsman. Equally important was that one of the openers Yamunan is known for his ability to stick at the wicket as against his ability to go hell for leather. Role of the captain is to weigh in all these parameters; who is bowling, who is batting, how the wicket is behaving. Not only weigh in the parameters but also keep a close eye on how well is the bowler responding on that given day.

To get back to the game, after a good first over from Venky, Sid pitched one up and Pakaji thumped it to wide mid-on. Sid’s cricketing awareness kicked in and he pitched short of a length and was immediately rewarded. He bowled Pakaji with a beauty which came in sharply and uprooted the off peg. There is no better sight for the bowler than seeing a cart wheeling stump. Having smelt blood and realizing what length to bowl Sid dint let up the pressure and kept attacking to regularly disturb the timber. He performed the Double Pressure act, don’t give runs and take wickets!!

Cricket matches turn on small acts of the captain, a good field change, a smart bowling change a promotion in batting etc. One such smart act was getting Dhanu to bowl in the 5th over after Venk found his line going out of sync. In low scoring games every run and rhythm of the bowler literally every ball matters big time. It is therefore important for captain to be on his toes on a ball by ball basis. The slightest of let up and things can go out of control. Dhanu responded with a wicket immediately and we had Piscataway at 30 for 4. The pressure was building, Arpit and Shilp counter attached, the odd catch was dropped and would normally happen in a close game a partnership built. 

Chinmay tried all bowling combinations at hand, Venk was brought back, Murali bowled very well and kept things tight. Chinmay came to bowl but dint bowl in the right areas. As the partnership kept mounting, Sid was brought back and he struck a telling blow. He got the danger man Arpit bowled to a beauty. From there on it was a matter of time. Jay contributed by taking a spectacular catch. He ran from square to deep square leg a 12 to 15 yard sprint and took the catch. Dhanu plucked a catch out of my unsure hands, Srinath held a catch and played with the ball raising the captain Blood Pressure!! All in good fun as we had Piscataway bundled for 79.

Dhani and I opened the innings and as we stepped out talked to each other saying if we can lay a foundation of about 30 we will be well on the road. That’s exactly what we did, running well between wickets, the left right combination helped as well. Dhanu is a team mate’s delight, a captain’s delight and a MUST have for any team. Most often he delivers with bat and ball, at worst he will deliver with either bat or ball. End of the day he is a delivery man. (If he were a woman, he would have an easy time at DELIVERY!!!)

Dhanu gave us a flying start and put us on the road. Jay came in after me, dint last long. We lost 3 wickets at the same score of 30, but Vijay and Shivam started playing well and re building. Vijay was given out to a doubtful decision as it appeared the ball swung prodigiously and seemed to miss everything. Shivam also got out to a tricky decision lbw. Chinmay and Murali saw us through. Chinmay more than made up for his bowling and batted extremely well. Smart cricket was needed to see off Benny and that is exactly what Chinmay and Murali played. Running sharp dingles converting ones to two’s running the odd three all the while bringing the target down. Chinmay played some lovely pull shots, good sweep shots and the odd chip shot. There was no panic, no mad rush it was a cool chase from former and stand in captain.

Congrats Eagles, job well done. Sid you have made a dream start to the season. Your broad bat and broad shoulders can take a lot of load. I wish you a very successful season. I remember mentioning to you that I have great hope from your bowling and if you can start the ball from outside the off and leave the rest to your natural talent you will be a match winner. If we can get a pitch map of your bowling yesterday it will show 90% of your bowling was on or outside off. If you can replicate the line every game, you will provide Eagles break through’ game after game put tremendous pressure on any batting lineup.

Thank you Eagles!! I enjoyed this game thoroughly as all 11 players brought something to the table. A perfect team game.