by
Chinmay Bhat
Batting first, Legions were all out for 98 in 25.3 overs and JECC easily chased the target in 14 overs losing 2 wickets.
Coming into the game, we had a hatrick of wins under our
belts and were sitting at the 6th position on the point’s table but
we weren’t sure of our spot in the playoff. The point’s table is very crowded
and seven closely matched teams are vying for the bottom four spots for a
chance in playoff. This was a tricky game for us. A win would make sure that we
were in the playoff and a loss would mean that a lot of other results had to go
in our favor to make it to the playoffs. A loss would mean that we would be at
the mercy of others to book our spot and we didn’t want to be in that position.
Considering the background, we had some pressure going into the game and didn’t
want to end up loosing. Moreover, we hadn’t played legions in the last couple
of years making them an unknown. Everything considered it was a pressure game
for both the teams with an assured playoff spot for the winner.
Most of our players made it to the ground on time and a catching
session had started when I reached the ground. People were taking catches,
diving and having general fun to warm up. Grass was cut, Sun was out and both
the teams were ready to roll except the umpire was nowhere to be seen. Dilip
and the captain from Legions decided to go for the toss without the umpire.
TOSS:In my previous reports, I have gone into details on why toss
might play an important factor during mid season games. Obviously we wanted to
win the toss and bat first but unfortunately we ended up loosing the toss and the
opposition opted to bat first. In hindsight it wasn’t a bad toss to loose and
field first. We have been batting first and scoring big runs but testing
ourselves with a run chase wasn’t a bad proposition.
Bowling: Over the last week our players had poured over the score
sheet and had realized that legions were a top-heavy team. Their openers had
scored a lot of runs but the middle hadn’t performed at all and we were hoping
to exploit that. We also had some information on the field settings required for
the openers. The bowling plan was to take early wickets and build pressure on
the rest of the batsman to force a collapse.
Venki opened the bowling for us and
we had a deep cover from the first ball. The batsman went after the first ball
and the ball almost carried to the deep cover fielder. Both of the openers played
aggressively and went after the bowling resulting in constant run scoring.
Dhanu started from the other end and kept things relatively tight.
During the
fourth over of our bowling, their opening batsman Ravi sliced a wide ball that
flew all the way to cover boundary. I was at the boundary and saw the ball
cleanly; the ball was slightly swerving to my left. For a slight second I took
the eye off the ball to assess the distance between me and the boundary line
and that turned out to be a fatal mistake. The ball hit my hand, fell to the
ground and ran outside the boundary line for a four. It was the second catch I
dropped off Dhanu’s bowling in consecutive weeks. I
haven’t returned the favor since he took a brilliant catch to get me a hatrick.
Every time Dhanushka takes the field for JECC he does everything he can to win
us the game, I hope to return his favor before the season ends.
The runs continued to flow thanks to
few good shots by the opening batsmen. They managed to score 5-6 runs off every
over. At the end of the sixth over Dilip replaced Venki with me. He asked me to
vary the pace to coerce a mishit from their batsman. It’s very rare that I get
to bowl this early in the innings. I was surprised to find good amount of swing
on the newish ball. The ball was swinging both ways, making it quite difficult
to control. In my second over the opening batsman tried to push at an outside
off stump delivery and poked a catch to short 3rd man. Nitin grabbed
a sharp chance. In the very next over Dhanu took the wicket of the new batsman.
It was an essential Dhanu delivery. After pitching, the ball moved out with the
angle, kissed the edge and nestled into Ananth’s safe hands at slip. We took
the break with Legions at 54/2 at 10 overs.
During the break we felt that
Legions had scored few more runs than we hoped. We still were happy to get rid
of one of their dangerous openers and were quite confident of restricting them
to a smaller total. Throughout my spell, the remaining opener was getting into
a staring contest with me. He scored couple of boundaries of my bowling and
continued to stare me down. I badly wanted to get him out and had a backward
point, deep point and a regular point, trying to entice him into an aerial cut
shot. It was the fuller ball that did the trick. The 5th ball of the
11th over was fuller and was as perfect out-swinger as I can bowl in
my life. The ball moved out in the air, continued to move out after pitching,
took the edge before slowly nestling into Wicketkeepers gloves. We had broken
in.
Right after that wicket, Dilip
replaced Dhanu with Manoj. Manoj is the “Rajini” of our team. As per most
players, Manoj is the true superstar. Manoj struck as soon as he was introduced.
Batsman giving Avi his second catch behind the wicket. Manoj bowled the next
batsman through the gate and claimed his 3rd wicket thanks to a
filthy full toss down the leg side that took the leading edge to be caught at
covers. Only the superstar could take a wicket of that ball J. During this period
the runs weren’t flowing as freely as before but there were enough extras to
keep the scorecard moving. Manoj was unlucky to be turned down a plumb LBW
towards the end of the session. We went into the break with Legions at 92/6 off
21 overs.
During the break we discussed the need to wrap the Legions
innings at the earliest. Several times, we have had opposition for 80-90/6 only
letting them get out of the situation. We didn’t want to entertain any such possibilities
during this important game. Bhanu operated after the break and provided the
breakthrough right away. The batsman tried to cut a fuller ball and inside
edged it onto the stumps. Dilip started on the other end got his first wicket
through an LBW. Bhanu took his second wicket in his second over by bowling the
batsman through the gate. Within three over of the break, we had taken three
more wickets and in no time legions were 9 down. The last wicket partnership hung
around to score few more runs but soon Bhanu wrapped the innings with by taking
his 3rd wicket. Bhanu bowled an excellent spell of 2.3 overs taking
3 wickets for 1 run. Bhanu, the quintessential team man steps up every time the
team requires him to do anything. He has had an impressive debut this year.
A special mention should also go to Dilip for excellent
captaincy and field placements. At all times he looked to be in control and a
step ahead of the game. Timely bowling changes constantly pegged Legions back
to a below par score. He was not afraid of making necessary bowling changes to
move the game ahead rather than hanging back, letting the tired bowler continue
and waiting for things to happen.
Batting: At the break we were quite pleased with out effort in the
field. We had managed to restrict Legions for 98 and were quite confident of
chasing the score down and booking our place in the playoffs. These middling
scores can be tricky to chase depending on which team gains the momentum when
the second innings starts. We had been burned by a low chase this season and
didn’t want to repeat our mistakes. When our batsmen went into bat, the
captain’s instructions were simple. To play defensive but not let go of any
scoring opportunities. To play like we are batting in the first.
Soon after the break Ananth had a rare failure and got out
trying to run the ball down to the 3rd man. Dilip went in and pulled
a boundary to start his innings but soon was caught and bowled while trying to
punch a ball. We had lost couple of quick wickets after the break. I went into
bat and discussed with Bhaskar the need to finish the match without loosing any
additional wickets. Bhaskar is in
ferocious form. He soon square drove couple of boundaries to bring us close to
the victory. In the same over he completed an excellent half-century as well.
His innings was a pleasure to watch. He cashed in on every loose ball and ended
up scoring 9 boundaries, settling the match in our favor. He has grown in
confidence at every innings that he has played at the opening spot and has made
a huge contribution to our run of four consecutive wins. Soon after Bhaskar’s
half century, I scored the winning boundary to wrap up a comfortable victory
for us. We chased down the total in 14 overs. The wagon wheel below depicts the
dominance we displayed.
It would be a tragedy if this match report were concluded
without acknowledging the effort and passion of Ravi. A man I have always
admired. Going into the match, we knew Nitin was carrying a niggle and may not
be able to field all the 40 overs. Ravi volunteered to carry out the 12th
man duties and was at the ground throughout the day to help the team and substitute for Srini in a crucial phase of our bowling. He
fielded under the hot sun and provided his invaluable guidance to help us get
through the line. Ravi has had to battle weak eyesight throughout this year
resulting in a bad-batting form but his resilience to fight through all the
difficult times should be a model for us. It must have been hard for him not to
get a game during these last few matches but his ability to put personal
disappointment behind him to help the team cannot be appreciated enough. We at
JECC are lucky to have an amazing bunch of senior players who have always shown
the right way and have helped maintain the correct team spirit.
With this win we have booked our spot in the play off. We
have had to fight hard and win 4 consecutive games to make it to the playoff.
The fact that the team was able to pull off such a feat is a commendable effort
but we shouldn’t forget the mistakes we made during the first half of the
season that got us into this situation. I have always felt that, we are one of
the 3 top teams in this division and anything less than that doesn’t justify
the talent we have amongst us.
With the playoff’s looming on the horizon, our difficult
games lay ahead of us. We will face stronger and better opponents with each passing
game and need to be on top of our game to beat them. JECC is in the best
possible shape in recent years to make a strong run into the deep end of the
tournament. Let’s use our momentum, execute our plans, play to our potential and
beat every team that stands in our way.
GooooooooooooooooooooEagles….
-
Chinmay
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