Match Report
by Ravi Suri
JECC lost to Hightstown. Batting first, Hightstown were 204/4 in 40.0 overs. JECC got all out for 178 in 37.1 overs.
Man of the Match: Sid (66runs) & Dilip (65 runs)
HCC vs
JECC historically produced good fighting cricket and this game was no
different. We knew HCC was a good team with a blend of very competitive batting
and bowling departments augmented with attacking brand of cricket they play. We
had to be our best to beat them. We started off losing the toss and were asked
to field first.
Bowling:
We had the worse off the temperature for the day while we fielded. It was very
hot humid and energy sapping. Venki continued to bowl well as did Sid. The
first 3 overs were quiet and a quick lesson to learn from HCC openers, they
waited till they got their eye in and did not get desperate during the slow
phase. Fact they batted first and not chasing a big target helped, but that
notwithstanding they showed right amount of patience. Shubo was lucky to
survive a caught behind he certainly edged one, he was dropped by Dilip who did
everything right in terms of moving towards the ball correctly and had both
hands go for the catch.
On this topic let me make 2
suggestions, one don’t change the second slip fielder based on an odd catch
dropped. Be it Dilip or whoever is at second slip let that person be persisted
with. Ananth is a fixture at 1st slip which is perfect, he is our
best. The second slip should also be a person who gets used to slip catching. A
wicket keeper like Dilip is fine his basics were right in the dropped catch.
The second suggestion is Dilip in particular stands too close and at times
insists on others to get too close in the slips. Parallax error makes one feel
that slip fielders are too deep when you see them from bowling positions or
mid-off positions. The issue with standing too close is you don’t enough time
to judge and react. I agree it has a down side that some catches don’t carry,
therefore this becomes a balancing act between catches which don’t carry and
the ones which come too quickly to you and you don’t react. Dhanu got out to
one which landed comfortably in slip fielders hands, vs Dilip dropping one
which would have been caught had he been 2 steps back. You can always argue
what if the catch dint carry. I am playing the % situation here. How many times
did we see a ball from Sid in particular drop short of the slips? By the way it
also depends on the wicket, a matting wicket with low bounce my theory would be
different.
Anyways
let’s move on to the game; Shubu made most of his luck and started to play
aggressively and slowly HCC built a run rate of 3.5 by drinks interval for no
loss. This was similar to the start Dhanu and I gave against SGCC Jr. If such a
platform is built the batting team is always on the front foot and the bowlers
are up against it. When wickets don’t fall the wides and some lose bowling
comes into play. I would say this game HCC batters made our bowling look below
par, while in reality we dint bowl as badly. Shubo was out to a very good catch
by Venki but by then HCC was well on to a good score. Dilip came into bowl and
was extremely unlucky in being a denied a PLUMB LBW; and two more which I would
say were 60-40. LBW’s against leg spin bowling is a debatable issue; Shane
Warne and Anil Kumble are prime examples. On impact these look plumb but the
issue is away going ball as against an incoming ball. Leg spin is like outswing
the ball is going away and psychologically it is missing the stumps. Off spin
is in coming ball and it appears to hit the stumps. By the same yardstick to me
Ananth was not out, Left arm spin away going ball. Herein lies a mind game with
umpires. Some feel the pressure from a captain like Dilip and don’t want to rub
him on wrong side, while some feel “let me take this bull by the horn”. You win
some and you lose some that’s how life goes.
Ranvir
came one drop and built a lovely innings. He showed you don’t always have to
clear the boundaries to score big. Deft singles and doubles are equally good.
The other opener Jigar also played very sensibly. Ananth bowled a brilliant
spell. He is getting better every game and the control he showed in this game
was incredible. His height and good action will always help. Once Ananth
develops confidence he is a full time off spinner and builds the required
muscle memory he will be a huge asset. Dilip-Ananth spin is a very big PLUS for
us this season. I see Dilip bowling genuine googlies now, earlier these used by
faster ones in variation but now they are turning in. This spin duo is getting
better by the game.
Bhanu inflected a run out which was the best piece of
fielding I have seen in a long long time. Robin Rana smashed a ball to mid-wicket,
Bhanu ran in dived and almost took a blinder, but in the momentum dropped the
catch. When a catch like that is dropped a fielder would normally lose a few
seconds in disappointment. Particularly when it would have been a stupendous
catch. Instead Bhanu recovered and threw to bowler end a “BULLET THROW” and got
the batsman run out. Anuj came in and played very aggressively to increase an
already impressive scoring rate. I don’t think we bowled that badly or fielded
that badly; it was more of very good batting display which made us give 204 runs.
I still feel very confident and good about our bowling. The wides are coming
down by the game. Ananth – Dilip combo is a HUGE plus. Fielding can improve, in
Dinesh- Bhanu – Chinmay we have terrific outfielders. I would like to see
Chinmay more in the outfield as against in field. He has very good hands,
terrific throw and moves fast.
Batting:
I would take a HUGE blame for the irresponsible shot which got me out and put
the team on the back foot. On Saturday I played a wining knock and either it
was over confidence or lack of commitment, but I played mindlessly yesterday.
In fact an earlier shot I attempted was equally bad and escaped being bowled.
Dhanu gave me a look of caution; I did not take that advice and paid a big
price. I am embarrassed and ashamed of that batting display and apologize to
the team and captain. When you chase 204 you need a good start, I am sure my
bad shot impacted Dhanu too as that’s bound to happen. Ananth replaced me and
started to re build, unfortunately we lost Dhanu very soon and were 6 for 2 in
no time.
Sid joined Ananth and the two of them brought us back in the game with
sensible batting. They showed that if you stay at the wicket runs would come
and run rate would not be a problem. By drinks we were 48 for 2 which was about
the score HCC had at same time but for no loss of wickets. Dilip a positive
captain commented we were on par at the drinks break. Sid was looking very good
and Ananth was also showing his form of the season. Immediately after drinks we
lost Ananth to an LBW which to me dint look out, particularly given the bar the
umpire set when we were fielding.
Ananth is too good a person and a gentleman
who does not believe is showmanship. The situation called for a “Geoffrey
Boycott” show of indicating ball was too
high or imply to umpires and fielders “oh common are you nuts for appealing”
instead Ananth played the perfect gentleman and left it to umpire who lifted
his finger. More about umpiring in a bit. Chinmay replaced Ananth and whenever
he bats Chin looks the most assured of our batsmen. In this great game of
cricket you need the rub of the green to be able to score consistently. Chin is
not having much of that these days, one mistake and he gets out, catches get
dropped, umpires don’t give him 50-50 decisions, some shit is always on and he
gets the dirty end of the luck. Suggest he does some pooja in the form of
taking his team mates out for a drink and food and prays to the LIQUIDS to help
him out. Dilip joined Sid and the two of them went on to play one of the best
batting partnerships I have seen for JECC.
I have
a confession to make; either I dint see Dilip’s batting abilities earlier or I
under estimated his prowess. I saw glimpses of his skills against Middlesex and
Piscataway, but what I saw of him yesterday blew me a bit. I know my cricket
well, or let me say I know it very well. I can see the abilities of a player
particularly well. I saw in Dilip a bowler of tremendous abilities, a captain
who is pretty good at what he does, but I did not see the batsman in him. I
commented in my previous report that Dilip is calmest when he is at batting
crease. Most other times he is on the verge of exploding. Give him a bat and a
tough situation he is very calm as we saw against Crescent, against Piscataway
and Middlesex. Yesterday Dilip showed us a range of shots and more importantly
shot selection I have not seen before. Amazing aspect was his stamina. On a hot
and humid day after bowling an 8 over spell, he bats about 25 overs, scores 66
runs and partners with Sid in getting 100 plus for the team. I dint see him
pant or gasp for breath, he ran well between wickets and SOAKED in the
pressure. Hats off Dilip for a brilliant display.
Sid at
other end lived up to his true potential. Batting with a sense of ease and
correct technique Sid blended the aggression with caution approach perfectly.
From a very far-fetched hope of winning the game, this pair got us within
striking distance of pulling off a tremendous win. The score card will show Sid
got 66, Dilip got 65, Ananth 22 and the next highest score was 6. Goes to show
how much pressure and how determined Dilip-Sid were. Sid hit some glorious
pulls for 3 sixes, Dilip pulled and drove brilliantly. Sid cut, drove to covers
and mid-off with style. Between them they gave the shivers to HCC, Sid was
finally out to a catch on the line, at mid-wicket boundary. This game runs on
thin lines and when two competing teams play catches win matches.
We bowled
more wides than them and dropped more catches than them. After Sid got out we
lost 4 wickets for 3 runs and that left Dilip stranded and nowhere to go. It
was sad to see an innings of that maturity and temperament go winless. While we
dint win the game Dilip-Sid you made us proud and played brilliantly. The
technique, temperament and class you displayed against very good bowling won
you RESPECT from both the teams. Earning respect is not easy as egos and
passions come in the way. But you guys did win the RESPECT of everyone at the
ground. Well done BOYS!!
Umpiring:
Steve Buckner was one of those umpires along with Darrell Hair who seemed to
wear a HAT which stunk of authority. Respect is something which you should
COMMAND from performance as against DEMAND from being in a POSITION. The umpire
yesterday was too keen to show his authority on the game and “SHOW OFF” his
position. I dint have as much problem with his decisions as his STUPIDITY in
trying to interfere at every stage. I liked the fact that he kept track of the
score, I liked his setting the bench mark on time and getting the game started
soon and showing I am the boss here. Upto there it was fine, but telling the
batsmen about field changes, asking the bowler whether he bowled leg or off
spin and behaving like a dictator was going crazy. When you get involved with
things you have nothing to do with, then your focus is off the primary tasks
you are supposed to be working on.
On umpiring issues I am generally in
agreement with Ananth’s way of playing this game. LBW decisions are extremely
debatable and subjective. I am fine as long as umpire is consistent. But to
give wides just because you are pissed off at appeals is not being JUST to the
fielding team. We did appeal for some decisions which had no chance of being
out, but that stemmed from being denied a clear caught behind. A close look at
score card shows umpire was clearly favoring HCC with wides and marginal LBW’s.
I am not going to say for a moment we lost this game to bad umpiring. It’s a
fact we lost to the team which played better and fought better. Nobody from HCC
played a reckless shot like I did, their bowler’s mere more disciplined and
their batting like up took responsibility. In our case only Dilip-Sid and
Ananth put their hands up in batting. Chin was unlucky I will not fault the
shot. Dhanu would have been pissed off with my shot that can happen when your
opening partner lets you and team down. But bottom line is only 3 of our
batsmen showed up as against HCC in whose case every batsman who turned up at
the crease contributed.
End of
the day this was a loss I can take, we fought well, would have been great to
pull a win. I see lot of positives from this game. Dinesh has lot of potential
as a bowler. He needs to bowl more, would like to see him first change as he
has pace and new ball will help. Look forward to games ahead.
Naga: this is just a bad phase of batting, don’t let this upset you. All of us go
through such phases. Get to nets, I will come whenever you are ready. Recollect
the good days of batting you had in the past. Yesterday run rate and game situation
was not suited to your way of batting. Don’t let that upset you. In this game
all 11 players don’t click on same day and that’s why it is a team sport. We
need to back the players in a bad phase and encourage the ones in a good zone.
Your keeping is a big PLUS for the team, your experience and team spirit are
most needed. We focus a lot on stretching catch practice etc. Believe me just
as important if not more is having throw-downs or what was called Knocking many
years back. This gets batsmen to feel good and feel bat on ball. Bowlers too
should have a feel balls bowled at the keeper and loosen up. I notice we are
coming to ground in time and therefore can utilize the time better. You will
notice a BIG change when this is put into practice. Every time you listen to
Wasim Akram on commentary he says bowlers should bowl a few balls as if they
are bowling in a match during warm up drills.
Look
fwd to seeing Naga bright and ready at next game.
RS
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