by
Chinmay Bhat
JECC bt Edison by 20 runs. Batting first, JECC scored 209/9 in 40 overs & Edison got all out for 189 in the last over.
After our strong showing in our last game, we were coming
into the match with a lot of momentum. Taking on one of the top teams in the
competition was something we were looking forward to. Edison has played solid, yet
defensive cricket this year and is one of the teams that are vying to move to
the first division. Although we recognized their strength and standing, we knew
that there were certain chinks in their armor that we could exploit. For the
few years I have been part of JECC, I have noticed that we tend to play well
when we have a momentum. In 2013 we had a string of wins towards the end of the
season and surprised few table toppers with our execution. In 2014, we had a
run of 6/7 consecutive wins. This was a match to look forward to between a team
that was gathering momentum with a playoff spot on the line (JECC) and a team
that had occupied the top of the charts (Edison).
TOSS: Toss plays an important factor in a lot of
matches that happen during the middle of the season, when the temperature soars.
I think this has mostly to do with the fitness level of the non-professional
players. Its tough to bowl and field in the sun and maintain the intensity
throughout the course of the match. The team bowling first either gives away
too many runs towards the end of the innings or tends to collapse while batting
second. This doesn’t seem to be a huge factor during the beginning or end of
the season when the sun mellows down in this part of the world. It would be
interesting to see the win % of the teams that bat first across the league,
especially during the middle of the season.
Just
like all the other teams, we wanted to win the toss and bat first but Dilip’s form
at the toss didn’t inspire much confidence. Like an unspoken rule, the team
started catching practice before the toss J. Given the background, it would be an
understatement to say that the team was thrilled to see Dilip win the toss and
bat first. We were off to a great start even before a ball was bowled and we
didn’t want to concede this head start.
Batting: Over the past week our players
had poured over the statistics and figured out that Edison’s strength lay in
bowling. They had very good opening bowlers and were able to restrict the
opposition for lesser scores. During the pre-match huddle, our agreed upon goal
was to start cautiously and accelerate towards the end of the innings with
wickets in hand.
Dhanu
and Bhaskar opened and spent the next few overs assessing the pitch and the
bowlers. For the first 5 overs we scored only 10 runs without loosing any
wickets. Just when it looked like Dhanu was getting his groove back, he got a
peach that pitched on leg stump and took the top off. Sometimes as an opening
batsman you have to look at the sky and ask “why me?”
Srini
joined Bhaskar in the middle and took the job on. Srini and Bhaskar have done
extremely well since the last few games. They team dugout is happy and calm
when they bat together. The batting is adequate without being aggressive. They
seem to know how to defend good balls while milking the strike on anything that
is overpitched or pitched on leg stump. I remember looking across the dugout
and watching Sid and Ananth (padded up) taking pictures, posting on Facebook. I
think that moment captures the serenity at the dug out when Srini and Bhaskar
were batting.
In
the middle, we were executing our plans of not giving wickets to the opening
bowlers. At one point the opening bowler for Edison had 4 maidens out of the 5
overs he bowled. After ten overs the bowlers changed and our batsman adjusted
accordingly. Srini drove two beautiful boundaries to cover point. Bhaskar
cashed in on his hard work with a square drive and cover drive as well. Runs
were staring to flow and we went into the first break at 44/1.
Constant
run scoring continued after the break with an occasional boundary. Against the
run of the play, Bhaskar got out caught. The very next over Srini got out LBW
to a full toss on the leg stump that deserved a four. Srini should feel missed
out on a half century, twice in consecutive games. Bhaskar and Srini had put on
a 50+ partnership to get us to 78/3 at the end of 20th over. It was
time for Calvin and Hobbes show.
Ananth
and Sid started from where they had left on from the last innings. Ananth hit
the first ball he faced to the straight boundary. He has such grace and elegance
that it’s impossible for him to hit a mistimed shot. It was the phase of the
game that would define whether we end up with above or below par first innings
score. Sid and Ananth made sure that it was the former. Strike was constantly
rotated while singles were converted into two and two’s were converted to
threes. Bowlers were guilty of conceding a lot of extras as well. Couple of boundaries
off the sweep shots were a treat to watch. We went into the second break at
119/3 of 27 overs. Game was nicely setup for the late flurry.
Sid
got out on the 29th over after putting in another 50+ partnership
with Ananth. Sid is batted beautifully and his batting will be crucial to our
middle order for the reminder of the games. Dilip joined Ananth in the middle
and took the score to 145 when Ananth perished LBW. Ananth played a crucial
innings of 39.
I
joined Dilip in the middle and unfortunately Dilip got out the very next over
caught at the midwicket boundary. The score was 150/6 at 33rd over
and we had lost 3 wickets in a span of 5 overs.
When Avi joined me in the middle, we decided to recalibrate our target
to make sure that we don’t take too many unnecessary risks. We didn’t want to
end up with a score below 200 while trying to over reach for 230. Avi hasn’t
played too many games this year due to a finger injury and was very determined
to play well against Edison. It was hot and tiring but boundaries were not easy
to come. With the help of copious amount of Gatorade, We ran hard between the
wickets and were able to fetch 8-9 runs per over without
many risks. Couple of boundaries thanks to a short arm pull by Avi and a back
foot square drive by me gave us a moment to breathe. Avi got out on the 38th
overs trying to accelerate. We had put on a 40 runs partnership within 5 overs.
Sekhar and Dinesh helped to get the score to a respectable 209/8. I remained
not out on 27 off 22 balls.
We
could have gotten additional 10-15 runs had we not missed dispatching couple of
full tosses to the boundary. While walking off the field, I felt that we had an
above par score. We were slightly happy knowing the fact that Edison hadn’t
chased 200+ score this season. The team had executed on the perfect batting
template. Cautious openers, steady middle order and frantic finish. We were the
happier camp of the two.
Also, Edison panicked at the calm and confident
approach of our batsmen resulting in a lot of extras and confusion in their
fielding. They gave up 43 extras for which we kept thanking while scoring in
addition to a number of overthrows. We easily
got about 20 runs in overthrows itself which made a winning difference in the
end.
Bowling: Batsman had done their job.
Our plan for the bowling unit was simple; bowl a tight line and length without
many extras. We wanted the batsmen to take the additional risk to maintain the
required run rate.
The
effects of Biryani are very obvious during the first few overs of the bowling. J All our fielders
looked ready to fall asleep as soon as we stepped onto the field. The batsman
nicked the first ball of the innings and we promptly dropped the catch. I am
going to blame the Biryani for that J.
After the first over, we were back to our bowling self and Dinesh got rid of
the opener thanks to a sharp catch by Srini. Shortly, Sid removed the other
opener thanks to the ever-reliable Ananth at slip. Ananth jumped up, knocked the
ball up and caught the catch one handed while falling down. Dinesh was
impeccable during his 5 over spell. He bowled few unplayable balls, which
turned the opposition batsman over. He was a constant threat to the batsman and
was unlucky not to get another wicket. There were few close LBW shouts that
should have gone our way. Dhanu and I replaced the opening bowlers and kept it
tight. Edison went into the first break at 40/2 off 14 overs.
After
the break, Dhanu and I continued to probe away outside the batsman’s off stump.
The required run rate soon climbed over 6 runs an over. Dhanu was unlucky to
not get a LBW off a Yorker. Occasional boundaries kept Edison in the hunt. Off
my 4th over, batsman hit the ball to cover and ran hard. The
non-striker wanted two runs and the striker turned him down late. An accurate
throw by Dhanu and a relay by me to Bhaskar resulted in an easy run out. Soon
Ananth and Dilip were introduced into the attack. The Edison batsmen started
taking few chances. Their batsman Laxman hit couple of sixes to keep up with
the run rate. Ananth had one batsman caught at deep midwicket, thank to an excellent
catch by Sid. We went into the break with Edison on 96/4.
Soon
after the break, Dilip introduced the Manoj into the attack. Manoj had copious
amounts of Banana, Chicken and Egg biryani during lunch so it was time for
Manoj to deliver J.
Manoj is a true team player and has an unenviable role in the bowling unit as he
gets the ball when the ball has lost its zip. He looks very innocuous while
running into to bowl, but he can make the ball talk. He has slight variations
and almost always moves the ball off the pitch. As soon as Manoj was
introduced, he had their set batsman in all kinds of problems. Batsmen were not
able to time the ball, were getting beaten consistently. He removed the set
batsman, Laxman by getting him caught at short midwicket. He had his second
wicket in the same over as well. Manoj bowled an excellent spell of 5 overs for
16 runs while taking two wickets. In the context of the match, the spell was
exactly what the captain needed.
Just
when we appeared to be closing out the match, we were guilty of dropping couple
of easy catches. The second one at deep log off hit Dinesh on the fingers and
by the sound of it, we knew something was wrong. The ball hit his finger near
the nails and had dislocated his finger. It was a difficult sight to watch and
Dinesh rushed off to the hospital. JECC really appreciates Mr. Chirag Patel
from Edison CC for taking Dinesh to ER and staying with him. I visited Dinesh
at the hospital (after the match) and was glad to see him doing better. He
bowled really well and was unfortunate to end up injured. We wish him speedy
recovery.
As
soon as we resumed, Edison CC hit Ananth for couple of sixes and a four. Our
earlier drops were starting to haunt us and Ananth was unlucky to be the
recipient of it. He could have had couple of wickets instead he was taking a
hit and suddenly the match was getting closer.
Edison needed 68 off 54 balls with 4 wickets in hand.
At
JECC, when we need someone to bowl in a crunch or need wickets, the captain
tends to turn to Dhanu. His slingy bowling action makes it difficult for the
batsman to hit and he can land those Yorkers. Dhanu right away took a wicket and
put the breaks on Edison’s plan to chase down the target. Sid operated from the
other end and kept things tight as well. We were fielding with 10 players and
it was very difficult to manage the fielding positions. Dilip did an excellent
job to get the positions correct. Runs were not easy to score with Dhanu and
Sid bowling and soon the run rate climbed over 9. Sid got the hard-hitting
batsman bowled and got another wicket the same over to an LBW. Edison CC were 9 down and still needed almost
40 runs.
We
all thought we wrapped the match up when a combo of Shaky and Dhanu resulted a
run out. To our disbelief, the umpire turned down the run out. The batsman was
miles out. We were frustrated with the blatant misjudgment by the league
umpire. The very next over a slightly difficult catch came my way, which I was
unable to hold on to. It was frustrating to let these opportunities pass by.
During
these close matches its more important to put in that extra effort to wrap up
the match, as you never know which way the game could turn. I was personally
very disappointed with the drop. The very same over Dhanu got the batsman to
mishit again and this time the catch was an easy one. Catches probably don’t
come easier than that. I went with hard hands at the catch, the ball hit my
hands popped out and hit the ground. I still cannot fathom the second drop. Dhanu’s
words of “Are you kidding me” will be ringing in my ears for years to come. I
wanted the earth to open up and swallow me as a whole.
Dhanu
finished an excellent but unlucky second spell and Edison needed 22 off the
last over. Sid didn’t let the antics on the field distract him and bowled a
tight final over and we closed out the game thanks to a run out.
It
was a match filled with lot of drama and we should have closed out the match
lot earlier, may be around 150 runs had we caught the catches that came our
way. Atleast 7-8 easy catches were dropped by all of us resulting in the close match
at the end.
It
was difficult towards the end to field with 10 players but we were happy to win
and claim 2 points. Our batting set up the match beautifully with our bowling
stepping up at crucial times. We were a step ahead of the opposition at all
times. It feels good to beat a top ranked team and have a hatrick of wins under
our belts. Just goes on to show that we can beat anyone when we play to our
strengths and execute our plans.
Go………………..……………………….Eagles..
Cheers
Chinmay
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