Match Report
by
Ravi Suri
JECC won by 64 runs.
Batting first, JECC scored:223/6 in 40.0 overs and SGCC Junior were all out for 159 in 38 overs.
Between
two Sundays this great game of cricket can take you from depths of despair to
heights of ecstasy. Last Monday I was depressed and had to drag myself to the
desktop to pen / key in the match report. Today I was waiting for first rays of
daylight to get up with the enthusiasm of a school kid with new toys wanting to
show off to his brethren. That’s why we love this game so much, the drama, the
intrigue, the ebbs and flow of a cricket match are exhilarating.
Man of the Match: Dhanushka (43 runs, 2 wkts); Ananth (61 runs)
It was
a fabulous day for cricket, temperature was perfect, bright and sunny with
perfect visibility. It was just the day you wish and pray your skipper wins the
toss and opts to bat. So it was with Chinmay winning the toss and we opted to
bat first.
Batting:
This was a very important game for the openers in particular. Dhanu and I
hardly put on a partnership worth its time. This was our sixth game, and up
until now as a team we did not cross double digits before our first wicket
fell. We were both extremely determined as our cricketing pride was at stake.
The anxiety almost got the better off us as I played across the line and
survived an LBW shout, then Dhanu called me for a non-existent run, I escaped
thanks to a bad throw. After these initial jitters we started to settle down
and Dhanu was very soon into his stride.
When Dhanu plays the lofted shots to
cover you know he is in flow. When the bowler pitched up Dhanu drove, when the
length was short, he pulled or cut, one pull to square leg for six was a
standout shot. I took a longer time to get going, but Dhanu’s scoring rate
ensured there was no pressure on me. I decided to rotate strike and we took
some well calculated singles. Most often if you respond in time the most
difficult runs look easy in the end. There was a phase when we hardly called,
we made eye contact and ran that’s the level of understanding we both have
built over past 2 to 3 years of batting together. I just about started to
middle the ball with a cut to point which made me feel settled. On the brink of
drinks I was out LBW and were 62 for 1 from 14 overs. Given our outfield and
past failures of openers this was a sweet moment to be at drinks.
Ananth
replaced me and quickly showed his class and the groove he is in this season.
Ananth is in his prime batting form. From what all the cricket gurus say,
Ananth should make most of this rich vein and view every batting opportunity as
a “Buffet Spread” and not miss out on any item while his digestive systems are
in full flow. While the lofted cover drive is the key dish of the buffet for
Ananth, the rest of the spread on the buffet table was not missed out by
Ananth. He gorged on the cut shot, every time he played it to deep point those
of us watching would scream out “how did he do that”, and that too of an off
spinner who does not provide any pace. When a batsman draws admiration from his
team mates and the questions pops “how was that done” it says a lot about
special cricketing prowess.
Ananth / Dhanu combination is very dangerous for
the opponents. Both of them score quickly. If they bat together for 10 to 15
overs you can be rest assured the game is getting away from the opponent. Dhanu
was determined to make up for past low scores, Ananth was keen to pile the runs,
they both ran very well between wickets. Again on the stroke of a drinks break
we lost Dhanu caught in covers. Avi replaced Dhanu, I went out to get lunch for
the team and missed on some delightful batting from Sid / Chinmay. As they say
in hindi “Sone pe Suhaga” Sid-Chinmay replacing the combo of Dhanu / Ananth
must have been a batting treat. I believe after Ananth and Avi got out,
Sid-Chin duo got together and played some fabulous cricket. I gather a six from
Chin was the shot of the day, lofted to long off region, I heard Sid pulled one
to square leg which was effortless and had the ball sailing into the dugout
where we sit. By the time I came back Sid was still batting and were 194 for 4
with 3 overs to go. What a sea change from 76 all out last game. I wish we were
allowed to trade 30 runs from this game for 3 runs of last game. Chinmay
continued to bash the ball after Sid got out, Naga and Venky chipped in and we
finished with 223 a huge score on our grass laden outfield.
Chinmay
is batting beautifully this season, his timing is special as was seen in
earlier games and I believe he was at his best yesterday. When a batsman is at
his best the flow to his innings is different. It is as smooth as a “TOP
SCOTCH” you would not know how much you have “downed” so is the case with a
batsman in top flight. Chin scored 28 off just 14 balls. That too after missing
to connect the first 2 balls which I believe were terrible airy fairy shots.
Dhanu-Ananth / Chin-Sid / Dilip in form this season, Bhaskar the rock, Naga-Avi this is some batting we have, at our
full strength we are a handful. There is one more guy whom we are unable to use
at his full potential. Make no mistake and mark my words, Venki is a tremendous
batsman, has all the shots, has the defense and the game to contribute lot more
than the opportunities he has. I genuinely feel for the captain as he is unable
to slip in Venki the batsmen in the lineup.
I will
take this opportunity to welcome two new faces, young blood and “good looking”
cricketers to our team. By good looking I mean the cricketing look, which is
“KATTI” in telugu or in other words RAZOR SHARP looking young men. Venki now
has competition when it comes to sharp “cricket look”. More about Dinesh and
Bhanu in following segment on bowling.
Bowling:
All the games this season, barring games against Middlesex and to an extent
Indians we bowled brilliantly. Against Middlesex too we had them reeling at 29
for 3 and then a special hundred from one of their batsmen spoilt it for us.
Against Indians we bowled too many wides and somehow were not switched on. Like
in batting Ananth being a key, in our bowling we do very well when Sid is on
song. Against Indians he was not on song and that showed in the result. Venki
is bowling brilliantly this year and he is just unstoppable. You cannot score
off him, if you take him for granted you are back in the hut. Yesterday Venki
should have got 3 to 4 wickets but dint. Just pure bad luck, catches go down,
or ball misses the stumps by a whisker or the bat edge is missed by coat of
paint. But the pressure he builds from dot balls is immense, it gets batsmen
out of their comfort zone, rather drives them into a desperate zone. That’s
exactly what happened and like Manoj made most of the pressure from Venky last
game, the rest of bowlers hunting for wickets got rich rewards.
A few difficult
chances were put down, but the bowling was so good from Venki and Sid that
these missed chances did not cost us much. The best and most endearing aspect
of our opening spell was NO WIDES till the 9th over. When this
happens you can bet your life and say the batting team is under severe pressure
and wickets are just a matter of time. At drinks from 14 overs SGCC Jr. was 29
for 2 and that run rate chasing 224 was just not good enough.
Chinmay
brought Dinesh and Bhanu our new comers into the attack. Dinesh has a smooth
and lovely run up and action. He has massive potential to be a very good
cricketer. The first look at him and you come up with the word “FIT” I observed
while he was fielding he has good soft hands and makes fielding look easy on
the eye. His bowls quick has a very good ability to vary length. Bhanu the
other youngster is also fit and strong. He is deceptive in his pace, has a run
up which disturbs the batsmen due the stutter. Bhanu has the best throwing arm
I have seen in a long time. He threw flat from the boundary to the bowler end
and the ball came back as if shot from a gun and thrown from an arm. At no
stage SGCC was in the hunt for the runs, our bowlers kept a tight leash and
with better fielding rather better catching effort we would have got SGCC for
about 120. The younger legs in the field are motivating the rest of the team.
Dinesh and Bhanu add a big factor to our fielding and older guys like me don’t
want to be left too far behind and are going the extra yard to be effective in
the field. This is good for the team. Young blood always brings freshness in a
team, new energy levels and enthusiasm permeate through the team.
Chinmay
came into bowl after observing wickets were not falling, despite all efforts.
Chin is a wicket taking bowler, he bowls those gems in between the odd wides.
But the ability to take wickets is Chin’s biggest strength. In a jiffy he had 3
batsmen out, clean bowling them. Chin bowled just 3 or 4 overs and gift wrapped
the game in our favor. From then on it was a matter of time before we could
wind down on a good day of cricket.
Chinmay
wanted to check me out and see if it was just a bad day for me when I gave 20
runs in the only over I bowled for JECC 3 weeks back. I jumped at this
opportunity. After that dreadful over 3 weeks back, I felt like a jilted lover.
A beautiful woman asks you for a date and you screw up by throwing up moment
you meet her, that’s how I felt after giving 20 runs in the one and only over I
bowled for JECC. Dilip offers the ball to me and I blew the opportunity to bowl
for JECC. But yesterday was different. Chinmay gave me heads up during a break,
I called Naga to a side and bowled a few to get my arm lose. I also gave a lot
of thought to what went wrong the previous time I bowled. I was ok in the nets
and knew I can’t be that bad. I was releasing the ball from the arm as against
my hand. Silently I was praying for one more “DATE WITH BALL” and that moment
came. I grabbed it this time and released the ball better. I was rewarded with
Dhanu taking a catch a sweeper cover, and I bowled the last man to give me
figures 2 wickets in one over. What a nice way to finish the day.
A
wonderful day of cricket for JECC, 2 new faces and fit bodies, Ananth –Dhanu
Chinmay-Sid and the openers all fired in batting. Bowling was terrific, spirit
was great. Dhanu as always chipped in with 2 wickets, batted brilliantly (took
3 catches too) Chinmay got 3 wickets and key runs when he batted, led very well
good field placements and utilization of bowling resources. Pavan bowled a
bouncer which we normally don’t do, that was such a good bouncer the batsmen
sought a helmet immediately. Avi-Naga
kept wickets brilliantly. No byes at all and good stops on wides. Dhanu’s eagle
shrieks were heard all afternoon, inviting the big birds to watch the eagles
put up a cricketing show. Keep going eagles, we need a winning streak to match
last year’s efforts.
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