Intone Eagles beat Vikings CC in yet
another thrilling chase of the season.
We bowled first after losing the toss and
got Vikings all out for 183 in 37 overs.
The chase was led by Nagarjun with a
brilliant 86 not out, well supported by Sreenath and Sekhar to get to the target
in 38 overs for the loss of only 4 wickets.
Bowling: Murali got us off to a great start
with a wicket maiden in his first over. He was unlucky to not get a second wicket
maiden due to a missed catch, but maintained the tight bowing. Dhanu was given
the new ball from the other end and he too stuck to a very accurate line and
length right from the start. Both of them were almost unplayable, creating
multiple catching opportunities, which didn’t stick but didn’t give any runs,
extras or off the bat. The Vikings were limited to only 18 off the first 10
overs, but only lost one wicket.
The second spell leaked some runs as the
batsmen got comfortable and started to play some shots. Venkatesh, a new player
debuting for us this game was fiery fast in his spell, may be the fastest we’ve
ever seen. Slips had to go almost at the 30 yd circle and runs were moslty
coming off the edges which kept flying past our fielders. He is an exciting
prospect for us to watch out for in the next few games..good to be on our side
rather than face him!
Mayank, Sid and Sekhar were tried from the
other end, but we were unlucky to still get the 2nd wicket, courtesy
of a couple of dropped catches. The scoring rate went up and Vikings were about
70/1 with the second break in the 20th over.
Hot and humid conditions didn’t help our
fielding cause too and thanks to Vishal, substituting for Naga, and then for
Sid and Dhanu, we were able to put 11 on the field at all times.
It’s a luxury that few teams can afford and
can easily help the fielding team a lot in the heat. Kudos to Vishal!
Murali introduced spin with me after the
break and this immediately got us a wicket with Sid taking a good catch.
Srinath was able to maintain a tight line from the other end, while I picked up
2 more wickets from the next two overs.
The hitters came in next and launched a
couple of big sixes which made Murali to bring back the pacers into the attack.
The scoring started picking up with the
death overs with some huge hits by their middle order batsmen. Dhanu bowled in-swinging
Yorkers to get two wickets and Sid, sekhar, Venkat chipped in with a wicket each
with some accurate bowling to finish the Vikings innings all out for 184.
Batting: I opened the innings with Dhanu
and got off to a decent start with 3 boundaries, but missed a straight one that
skidded on to get bowled. Dhanu followed soon after top edging a pull shot and
it was left to lucky and Nagarjun to resurrect our chase. They did so patiently
seeing off the good bowlers and taking ones and twos. Naga looked busy from the
outset scoring a lot of two’s. His timing was perfect and looked in complete
control all the time. Lucky was chugging along well and looked set for a big
score when he got out to a simple catch off a checked shot.
In a surprise move, Murali sent in Srinath
to hold up one end. With a almost match winning innings during the previous
game, Sreenath looked confident and played a good support role to Nagarjun.
Sreenath’s batting was a revelation. His
shot selection was perfect, just sticking to his strengths. He blocked and took
singles off the good balls and square cut anything short and wide. Vikings tried
everything against him, but couldn’t even manage a half chance. Gentle nudges
and clever placement off spinners and medium pacers were a treat to watch. A
couple of thwacking square cuts off his $20 MRF bat and a lofted off drive were
highlights of his innings. We are told that a costlier bat is on the way (may
be the kookaburra team bat?)..so watch out for longer hits in the following
games...
Seeing the confidence and dropped shoulders
of the opposition, Nagarjun stepped up the run rate with some big hits. Sreenath and Naga strung together a 90 run partnership that turned the match in our favor completely and we were
looking to coast along to victory.
Nagarjun got past a classy fifty with his
trade mark flicks and back foot punches and looked energetic for more. Against
the run of play, Sreenath got run out for 34 trying to steal a single.
We needed 40 off 7 overs when Sekhar came
in to replace Sreenath. Sensing the urgency, Naga tore into the bowlers making
sure he got at least a boundary every over.
Batting powerplay was taken when a spinner
was introduced and Sekhar showed the power of his big new CA bat.
Two boundaries and monstrous six brought
the target to single figures. Naga hit the winning boundary to finish the game on
an unbeaten 86 with 20 balls remaining.
It was a tough game to field in the heat
and a decent bowling performance. The thrills were provided by us losing
wickets cheaply and about 8 dropped catches to make the game a tight one.
In the end, Nagarjun and Sreenath’s big partnership
saved the day for us. Murali has to be appreciated for taking the gamble in
sending in Sreenath at 5. Had it failed or backfired by us losing, he would
have had to listen to a lot of crap from all of us..
Lets improve our catching and look forward
to go unbeaten into the playoffs..
Go Eagles!
ScoreCard:
Score Card
| Match # 6085 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vikings Cricket Club v/s Intone Eagles Cricket Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Far Hills | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 07/15/2012(40-over match) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Result | IntoneEagles Won Vikings Cricket Club:184/10 in 39.2 Intone Eagles Cricket Club:187/4 in 37.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comments | Both teams played with great sportsman spirit. Excellent Batting by Sreenath and good knock by Naga. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Toss | Vikings Cricket Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Umpires | Akram Khan (2693) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Man of the Match | 1.Hasan Fawad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2.Sreenath Nandyala | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Extras | (b 4, lb 1, w 31, nb 3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Totals | (10 wickets in 39.2 overs) 184 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOW | 1-0 (, 0.0 ov),2-0 (, 0.0 ov),3-0 (, 0.0 ov),4-0 (, 0.0 ov),5-0 (, 0.0 ov),6-0 (, 0.0 ov),7-0 (, 0.0 ov),8-0 (, 0.0 ov),9-0 (, 0.0 ov) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Extras | (b 3, lb 1, w 10, nb 0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Totals | (4 wickets in 37.3 overs) 187 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOW | 1-0 (, 0.0 ov),2-0 (, 0.0 ov),3-0 (, 0.0 ov),4-0 (, 0.0 ov),5-0 (, 0.0 ov),6-0 (, 0.0 ov),7-0 (, 0.0 ov),8-0 (, 0.0 ov),9-0 (, 0.0 ov) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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