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!
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