By
Chinmay Bhat
JECC beat Indus by 70 runs.
Scorecard: http://www.dreamcricket.com/clnj/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=9834
The match against Indus was an exciting prospect. Both teams have been playing in CLNJ for a long time and there is a lot of friendship between the teams. Indus has always played a fair but a competitive game without a hint of ugliness, something that resonates with JECC principles. I was tensed the whole weekend thinking of the game, as we are coming towards the end of league stage, unsure of our place in the playoff. The fact that both the teams are closely matched and the win would go a long way towards the playoff didn’t help as well.
The reporting time at the ground was at 10:15, but even at 10:20 we only had 2 players on the field. At 10:40, we had 6 players on the ground and the ground was not ready for hosting. We barely managed to have the ground ready by 10:45. A stricter umpire could have awarded the toss to Indus. I have seen us being late to the ground (myself included), but I don’t remember the last time, we were as vulnerable as this game. I remember looking at the street every few seconds to sight a car of one of our players, so that we don’t loose the toss. It’s not a situation we should be putting ourselves in. I think it’s time to make a collective pact to be on time at the ground. It’s finally time to take stricter measure to avoid such situation in future.
TOSS: At the toss time, Indus had only 5 players on the field and JECC could have claimed the toss. But considering that we were late in setting up the field and the friendships we have with Indus, we decided to wait additional 10 minutes, by which Indus had 9 players and we were ready for the toss.
It was an important toss and we have been unlucky to be on the wrong side of too many calls. Luckily, Billu called wrong and we had won the toss. Finally it felt like cricketing Gods were smiling on us. We promptly opted to bat.
Man of the Match: Chinmay for a brilliant Hattrick which resulted in 6 total wickets and a quickfire 22 runs.
Batting: Before we went in to bat, I told the team that we want to bat 40 overs irrespective of the score we put up and make sure that Indus spends the full quota under the sun. We have been on the receiving end of this to understand the effects of batting second after spending 40 overs under the hot sun. Batsman tire, aren’t able to concentrate and the team ends up collapsing. It’s a familiar script and we were happy to be on the right side of things.
Bhaskar and Nitin opened, spent couple of uneventful overs with few singles and doubles and got off to a calm start. It was a soothing start with lot of defending and not much of a ball beating the bat. Nitin got bowled to a ball that came in and took the stumps. Srini joined Bhaskar in the middle. We decided to hold back Ananth as we were short of a batsman with Dilip being in India.
Srini and Bhaskar continued the form they exhibited in the prior match. Bhaskar, calmly defending the good balls and putting away the bad balls. Bhaskar is a versatile cricketer and brings a sense of calm to batting. He is a batsman with a lot of resolve and cannot be dismissed easily. He is willing to wait for the bowler to make mistake and take advantage of that. A back foot cover-drive along the ground for a boundary was a sight to watch. At this point Indus made couple of bowling changes, and Bhaskar got out to a miscued pull shot after scoring 20+. He did all the hard work and should feel missed out, after being set.
Ananth joined Srini. Srini continued his good nick and lofted cover drive for four was beautiful to watch. Srini is a natural stroke maker and it’s good to see him starting to find form. As we all know Ananth is the batting backbone of JECC. He is a versatile player that can play spin, pace and everything in the middle with equal authority. Also is a true team player that can understand the needs of the team. Ananth and Srini partnered well to get the team to 70 when Srini was given out LBW to a marginal decision. We felt it was a harsh call and Srini was unlucky to get out for 33.
Sid seemed to be angry that he didn’t get to bat in the last game. Within the first few balls he was there, he scored 2 sixes and a four to force the spin bowlers out of the attack before settling down. Sid and Ananth are the Calvin and Hobbes of our team. Both are good friends off the field and are stunning to watching on the field. They maintained constant run flow with quick running and frequent boundaries. Sid has been batting solidly this season to stabilize the middle order. Ananth and Sid are experienced members of the team and played their role to perfection. Only point I would add is that Sid needs to cut out the dab to 3rd man that involves a lot of risk.
We were at 108/2 at the second break (26th over). We were planning for a score of 200+ but didn’t want to explode too early and collapse for less. Ananth got out around 29th over having scored a well-made 39. I went in after the fall of Ananth and saw Sid complete a well deserved half-century. I got out at the start of power play after scoring 22. Dhanu continued where I left off and carted a six over the square leg, scoring another quick 20. Venki, Anirudh, and Murali chipped in and we scored 210 at the end of 40 overs. We felt that we did well and were just above the par score. The fact that we were able to almost double our score from second break made us feel that batsman had done their job; it was time for the bowlers to show up.
Bowling: Bowling has been one of our main strengths over the years. We are privileged to have multiple good bowlers in our team. We were confident of defending the total as long as we bowled tight lines (without too many extras) and force the batsman to take the extra risk to score at 5+ runs an over. Our opening Combo of Venki and Sid can be expected to deliver early wickets and are rightly the top two wicket takers of JECC this year. Venki started well in the first over but unfortunate break in the play seemed to affect his bowling. Sid on the other end was suffering from a side strain and wasn’t his usual bowling self. Still, Sid sneaked one through the gates to open the account for JECC. Indus kept up with the scoring at 5 runs an over with occasional boundary and a healthy dose of extras. Sid got another wicket having the batsman caught at cover point, just before the break. We went into the break at 55/2 of 14 overs.
During the break, we discussed the need to restrict the run rate and take additional wickets to put pressure on the opposition. None of us could imagine what was going to transpire in the next 3 overs after the break. I bowled the first over after the break. Second ball was short outside the off stump and batsman hit it straight to cover point to give me my first wicket. As I was running in for the next delivery, I had the intuition of getting a wicket of that ball. The ball was fast, full and angling in. Batsman missed the ball to get out LBW. Indus were 4 down for 50 odd runs within 3 balls after the break, and I was on a hatrick.
I have taken a lot of wickets of consecutive balls to know that hat-trick’s rarely happen (Never in my case). Generally the batsman expects a full ball and presents a dead bat or sees a ball outside off and leaves it alone. We had 5 slips, short cover, silly mid on, silly mid off and short leg to gobble up any edge. I ran in and bowled a rising ball outside off to hope that the batsman edges it to one of the 5 slip fielders, instead the batsman saw it as a scoring opportunity and tried to smash it over covers. Before I could shout catch it, Dhanushka jumped up high above the short covers and plucked the ball destined for a boundary. The ball was hit so hard that it was a blur to us, I still marvel on how Dhanu was able to catch that ball, but I am glad he did. After a long time, JECC had a hatrick. We all ran around trying to make sense of the turn of the events within an over after the break. It was a great moment. One I will cherish for a long time.
Dhanu bowled the next over and uprooted the middle stump with a pinpoint Yorker to get rid of dangerous Billu. Vishal and Pavan perished in my next over. Within 3 overs of the break Indus went from 53/2 to 58/8.
We were well and truly on top of the game. But as it often happens in the game, a partnership is bound to develop, which is exactly what happened. Indus started playing more carefully and started to accumulate rather than explode. Few boundaries and sensible running helped Indus to advance the scoreboard. During this period, Bhanu, Murali and Ananth bowled consistently with some half chances falling short of players. Bhanu and Murali bowled exceptionally well and were unlucky not to get a wicket. Bhanu has improved consistently over each game and has taken up keeping, bowling and fielding with aplomb. He saved a lot of runs during keeping with leg side dives. I see a future-bowling all-rounder in him. An all around team man with irrefutable spirit.
Indus went into the second break at 115/8 from 26 overs with some momentum behind them. We knew that we had to be patient and need just one wicket to close the game.
Venki and Dhanushka opened straight after the break. This decidedly changed the momentum towards the JECC. Both bowled with intensity to restrict the run scoring while creating the chances. Both were unfortunate not to get wicket during this spell, but made sure that the required run rate climbed above 7 runs an over. Ananth came into the attack and broke the threatening partnership with some smart bowling. Soon after Indus folded to hand a comfortable win to Eagles. It’s important to acknowledge three important catches from Anirudh and two important catches from Murali.
It was an important win for Eagles with the playoff’s coming up. It was a true team effort with everyone pitching in. Batting and Bowling form of key players augurs well for the next few games.
GoooooooooooooooooooooEagles………
- Chinmay
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