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