Report by
Siddharth Jayakumar (Sid)
JECC beat HBCC by 5 wickets, winning 6 games in a row (excluding the called-off game against Cavaliers).
Scorecard:http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=8573
Man of the Match: Our war-horse(not old though!) Vijay for a match-winning 50, converting a middle-order batting collapse to a convincing victory.
TOSS: We won the toss on a cloudy day and our stand-in captain Chinmay chose to bowl expecting some movement for our medium pacers and hoping the outfield would get faster as the day progressed.
Bowling: Venky and I opened the bowling for us. The ball was doing a bit but after seeing off the first few balls, their opener Ibrahim started with a well-timed straight six off Venky. Both their openers played positive cricket and they were off to a good start.
I went for 12 runs in my third over as both the batsmen had enough time to play good-length balls off the back foot. We realized that while the pitch offered good bounce,
the ball was stopping for Venky and me as we tried to hit the deck hard. Chinmay brought in Murali and Dhanu after 6 overs. They bowled well in tandem but the batsmen were still going at 5 runs anover.
Realizing the need for a wicket, Chinmay came in and immediately struck forcing Ibrahim to sky a catch towards long-off. We had the momentum as got the next couple of wickets within the first break with the score reading 70/3 in 14 overs.
Their no.5 batsmen and opener Anand applied themselves well and went about getting ones and twos without much diffculty aided by our generous offering of extras. Chinmay brought in Jay to slow their scoringas the pair put on a 50-run partnership. Jay bowled very well beating the batsmen with flight and turn consistently and soon got rid of their other opener Anand plumb in front with an off-spinner.
At the second break, they were 140/4 in 28 overs still going at 5 an over. Murali then joined the party and got rid off their set no.5 and the new batsmen with an accurate yorker right after a slow off-spinner.
Jay at other end was lucky to get an lbw off a ball that was short/low and almost pitched twice before reaching the batsman. After 3 wickets, they were below 150 for 7 with 9-10 overs remaining.
Chinmay and Dhanu picked a wicket each a couple of overs later but allowed their lower order to score another 40+ runs thanks to a few dropped catches and wides. Notably, their last pair played >5 overs managing to remain unbeaten while we bowled 30+ wides in total.
Batting: Chasing 191, Dhanushka and Hari opened the innings for us cautiously. Dhanu looked in great touch and unleashed some classy pulls, cover drives to get us to 22 after just 3 overs. Hari at the other end was just getting set when he was bowled trying to whack a good length delivery. Ananth joined Dhanu and looked confident. We got going as Ananth played some of his trademark cover drives. His 2 consecutive straight boundaries off their opening bowler Sameer stood out.
We were 73/1 in 14 overs at the first break with Dhanu at 44. After the break, HBCC got their spinners in. Dhanu was getting tired and offered a couple of chances before reaching a well-constructed 50.
But he was dismissed soon by their off-spinner Anand off a leading edge. Naga joined Ananth but their partnerhsip was brief as Ananth got out leg before trying to work the ball on the leg side. I joined Naga and we decided to steady the boat but that was not to be. Naga was out stumped coming down to a delivery from their leg spinner bowling around the wicket.
Vijay joined me in the middle - we looked comfortable against spinners taking ones and twos. Just when it looked like we were cruising, I got out stumped off their leg spinner coming down the ground. Chinmay joined Vijay and we needed around 70 runs at this stage.
They applied themselves well and played sensibly picking ones and twos with ease. At the second break, we needed 58 off 12 overs with 5 wkts in hand. Chinmay and Vijay carried the momentum forward, playing along the ground cutting out any risk while Vijay started timing the ball better. They made sure our required rate was under 5 an over and the equation came down to 30 off 6 overs. They both started finding the gaps easily and Vijay unlaeashed a well-timed six off a short ball getting us to close to a victory with the required rate dropping to 3 an over. They finished the task with 2 overs to spare with Vijay getting to a match-winning 50 in the process.
It was a great win for us chasing a big score. It was great to see another batsmen finding form and scoring valuable runs. Lets keep winning and win them all ! Go Eagles !
JECC beat Miracle by 3 wickets to make it 5 wins in a row!
Batting first, Miracle were all out for 151 in 34 overs. JECC chased down the target for 7 wkts in 35 overs.
Scorecard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=8532
Man of the match: Our very own young'star' - Venkatesh for a superb allround performance. He took 2 wkts in a tight spell but more importantly scored a match winnings of 47 not out that rescued us from a terrible batting collapse and got us home comfortably.
Bowling: Miracle won the toss and opted to bat first on their peculiar home ground. With short off-side boundaries and bumpy outfield, our task was to stick to a tight line and length. Sid and Venky did just that in their first spell. Generating considerable swing, both bowlers were almost unplayable.
Venky got us the first breakthrough with an excellent short pitched ball that was brilliantly caught, running backwards by Jay at short square leg. Sid kept the pressure on from the other end and got us another breakthrough but was unlucky to have a couple of more wickets, courtesy of some bad umpiring.
Dhanu came in to bowl after a 3 week break and got stuck immediately as if he never left . He got two quick wickets in his second over and was on a hat-trick. With impeccable line and control as usual, Dhanu played the main threat to the batsmen. With a change of pace at the other end, Jay bowled spin at the other end and I stepped in later on. A few good balls of mine were blocked and a short pitched ball got us another wicket with Jay's good catch in the deep.
With about 80/6 at the half way stage, we had the match in our bag, but a couple of their batsman hung along and started to attack..with the score past 100, I got Dhanu again to get a important breakthrough. Sid got us another wicket with his short run up and Venky finished his spell with a wicket too..Chinmay, and Murali later on came up to bowl some tight overs and cleaned up the tail, which stretched their total to 151. Dhanu was the main wicket taker with 4 wickets and Venky, Sid shared two each.
Special mention to our truest all rounder Sid, who kept wickets too after Vijay hurt his back. With 3 dismissals his keeping was a great asset to the team.
Batting: Ravi and Dhanu opened the batting with the short boundary in both of their favorite area - point/square leg. Ravi didn't require any special invitation and launched into the opening bowlers. With flashing cuts he signalled his arrival with two huge sixes over point. After getting a look in, Dhanu joined the fun too with a towering six and a four and we were running away by the 8th over and about 45 runs on board.
A panicked miracle team introduced spinners and a dubious lbw decision got Ravi's wicket. Ananth set himself in with a cracking cover driven 4 but got out tamely to a loose ball. I went in after the break and was out duck 2nd ball. From 45/0, we were 65/4 when Dhanu was adjudged lbw to a ball that pitched way outside leg...this caused a mini panic attack, but Sid and Avi cooled things down a bit, but it wasnt enough as both got out cheaply.
With 73/6 by the 20th over, Chinmay and Venky blocked out a lot of loose balls and got their eye in. Running ones and twos, they slowly started the recovery. Venky displayed lot of determination and picked up singles and doubles. After settling in, Venky picked up a loose full toss and dispatched it way outside the playing area for a towering six. Chinmay struck a few boundaries as well and we looked in good shape.
Both of them got us past 100 and we only needed 3-4 runs an over now.
This caused Miracle's team some worries and they started misbehaving...They used chatter, sledge, chucking whatever they could to try and get a wicket. A couple of close calls didn't go their way and this aggravated them further...Chinmay got out at this stage to a good catch with the score at 117 and only 3 wickets to go.
Things started to get tense for us as well when Venky got irritated by a blatant chucking ball and spooned an easy catch which was fortunately dropped by miracle. Vijay was there and together with Venky got things moving on and got us into striking distance.
Venky then decided that it was time and launched into the bowlers for a couple of sixes and well timed shots. Vijay finished off the match in style with a huge six and we finished the match with 5 overs to go.
Five wins a row guys..lets keep the winning streak on!
JECC bt Middlesex by 20 runs.
Batting first after winning the toss, JECC were all out for 183 in 39 overs, thanks to superb batting efforts by Sid, Abhi and Chinmay. We got Middlesex all out for 164 in 36 overs in a tense finish.
Scorecard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=8488
Man of the Match: Chinmay for a great batting effort of 53* that revived yet another batting collapse. His bowling of 4 crucial wickets turned the match in our favor.
Special mentions to Abhi's(50 runs) and Sid's (31 runs) batting that kept us in the match and saved us from a huge batting collapse.
Batting: On a fast bouncy pitch and fast outfield, Ravi and I went to open the innings and got a idea of the outfield and things to expect when my cover drive went to four all along the ground. I was out in the second over trying a lofted shot over cover. Ravi looked set when a cracking square cut sped to the boundary and with Ananth looking to get set, we thought we were in good shape. Unfortunately, both Ananth and Ravi got out quickly and Naga was run out soon after in a mix up.
Things weren't looking so good as we lost our top order within the first 10 overs and only about 30 runs on board. A tactical change - to send in Srinath at this juncture to hold one end up worked very well. His job was to just block the bowling and he did it very well with Sid on the other end ticking along the scoreboard. The lull in scoring kind of worked as a stabilizing mode for us and after Srinath's departure, we sent in Venki to do the same. He was out soon and it was left to Abhi (Avi) and Sid to start the repairs.
Inspired by his wife's presence on the sidelines, Sid unleashed some stylish strokes to up the ante...He hit 3 consecutive fours in a 15 run over to get our momentum going on, but was out unfortunately to a brilliant catch by their keeper. With the score reading 81/7 in 25 overs, Chinmay and Abhi set out to just play out the 40 overs quota.
Well..that was the plan :)..but Abhi in his typical attacking style went after the bowling to treat us to a run fest. With some brilliant counter-attacking shots, he demoralized their bowling and hit some huge sixes.
Chinmay joined the fun and went after the bowling with some powerful shots all around the park. He ran well for twos and threes and picked up the boundaries with some intelligent batting. With the sudden attack from Chinmay and Avi, the middlesex bowlers were left speechless and we were chugging along nicely at 150/7 with 6 overs to go, aiming for 200. We took the batting poweplay when Abhi got out trying a big shot.
With only Penchal and later Murali as company, Chinmay farmed the strike well and hit some big shots. He went past his 50 with a powerful boundary and remained not out at 53 getting us to a very defendable 183.
Bowling: With the momentum shifting in our favor, Middlesex went on the offensive and started hitting from the first ball that Venki bowled and went for 12 runs. Sid cut down the pace and tried to bowl to a tight line. We weren't used to such a fast outfield and it took us a little bit to understand the length and the field placings right , but middlesex raced to 20 odd runs in quick time.
With a gut feeling that pace will not work, I got in Murali to replace Venki after just one over. Murali's experience worked like a charm when he got rid off the hitter off his first ball, brilliantly caught at long off by Abhi. Murali got another wicket off the very next ball with a beautiful inswinger and suddenly he was on a hatrick. We were pumped up to get two quick wickets but the batsmen negotiated the bowling well and were content to block and prod for ones and twos..Sid and murali kept up the pressure but the pair stuck around and got the score board moving.
After the first break, I came on and was lucky to get the breakthrough with one that kept low. Penchal was bowling well from the other end to keep up the pressure, but I kept leaking runs..Chinmay came on to replace me and got us a important wicket off their set batsman. With some accurate line and cheeky change of pace, Chinmay was able to get two more wickets and we were able to sniff victory now..Sid came on to replace Penchal and got a set batsman out off a short pitched ball.
The middlesex batting line up went on our lines and kept some important guys to the end. With the target closing on and runs flowing off edges interlaced with some big hits, we started to get concerned. A easy caught behind off Sid's bowling was turned down by the umpire and we were left fuming...The target was now 40 odd runs with 2 wickets to go.
Chinmay got us another important breakthrough of Mustafa with a good catch by Ananth at short third man and we thought we had it in the bag..the last pair added some 20 runs off a few loose balls but Penchal ensured that they didn't get away and finished the match by getting them all out with 4 overs to go.
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