KCC Match Summaries 06-07 season

KCCB Vs SCC Game 2 Summary

This was a great game for KCC-B wherein we must have broken a few records. The margin of the win tells the story, a huge margin of 188 runs.

SCC won the toss and asked KCC-B to bat. KCC-B had the same plans if they had won the toss, so it was a win-win situation as far as the outcome of the toss goes. KCC-B started batting and a few major contributions towards the huge total of 304/9 in 40 overs were:

Gopi: 63 off 57 balls (4x10)
Karan: 49 off 42 balls (4x4, 6x2)
Bharath: 42 off 47 balls (4x7)
Sumit: 26 off 41 balls (4x5)
Krishna: 22 off 18 balls (4x3)
Srinivas: 21 off 12 balls (4x1, 6x2)
Srujal: 16 off 12 balls (4x1, 6x1)

In absence of Anurag, Bharath was asked to open the innings with other regular opener Sumit. This was second consecutive game for KCC-B where the openers played excellent. Sumit and Bharath put up 70 runs off 82 balls and laid the solid foundation for a huge total. Sumit played an innings slower than his normal style but was very crucial. Bharath, opening the innings for the first time, played some aggressive straight bat shots which were extremely pleasing to the eyes at the level we are playing cricket. First wicket fell as Sumit when he got caught for 26. This time Srujal was the number 3 bet and he joined Bharath at the middle but Bharath immediately followed his another opener in an attempt to hit a huge one. He was clean bowled off a beautiful Yorker length ball for 42. That was a well-made 42. Gopi was the new batsman in and Srujal played well and looked well and aggressive. He got clean bowled after hitting a huge six straight over the bowler’s head. Rahul was the new batsman in but had to be caught by the law of averages this time. He was adjudged LBW for 1 and KCC were seemingly tottering at 113/4 yet again after a very good start by the openers when Karan joined Gopi at the middle. Karan showed his maturity and experience while Gopi showed his astute determination. They played well, rotating the strikes for singles and doubles and inching towards a partnership, which at the end would prove crucial. Once they were set, there were a flurry of boundaries by both batsmen and 2 towering sixes by Karan. Gopi hit as many as 10 boundaries in his inning of 62 before he got out off a very good catch by Vibert. It looked almost impossible and perhaps that was the only way Gopi would have been out that day. It surely looked by the way he was playing his shots. Karan and Gopi put up 116 runs for the 5th wicket off just 70 balls. Hari went in to replace Gopi but was soon out. Then Anand went in to Join Karan and started with a boundary of the very first ball. In an attempt to further accelerate the innings, Karan missed his half-century and nicked a ball way outside the off stump. This might have been a doubtful decision though. Nevertheless, respecting umpire’s decision, he walked off. Srinivas was the new batsman in and soon enough Anand got out off a almost Yorker length ball yet again. The scorecard read 250/8 at the end of 35th over and it looked like the hard work put up by the openers and in middle overs by Karan and Gopi would not be cashed in by the KCC batsmen before Krishna joined Srinivas in the middle. They played what at best could be called one of the best slog overs assault on the opposition and put up 48 runs in just 26 balls. Srinivas hit tow huge and towering sixes before he was unluckily run out in the last over. He scored 21 off just 12 balls. Krishna and Mahesh made sure, they are not awarding another bonus point to SCC by remaining not out. Krishna remained not out for 22 off 18 balls and Mahesh for 1. The target set was 305 in 40 overs which was discouraging and massive for the SCC. The overall assault was distributed equally among all the SCC bowlers and the attached scorecard is a proof of the same.

SCC started their chase with Vibert and Ketan. Both looked good and danger to KCC but Srinivas did the job and justified his inclusion to play for team B in this important encounter with SCC. He got Ketan caught behind only in his 2nd over. He took another tow important wickets and overall 3 in his first spell of 4 overs. The next 2 wickets were clean bowled and would easily qualify for a sight worth seeing by any cricket lover. Gopi supported Srinivas well in the opening overs keeping the pressure tight at both the ends which was extremely crucial as Vibert was looking dangerous and determined. Srujal and Rahul were the replacement for the opening bowlers and they bowled well in tandem maintaining good line and length and further tightening the screw on both the batsmen. Since Vibert was looking to play most of his shots on the on side, the on side field was strengthened and he was restricted in his runs. This did play to his mind and he ended up lofting a ball by Srujal to Rahul at mid off. That was perhaps the end of the hope for SCC. The last time century maker Fawad who had ended up giving 23 off his 2 overs earlier, didn’t make any impact this time. The field was set in a way to restrict him play his off side cover drives. Mahesh and Karan did the rest of the job bowling almost 7 overs between them in tandem and sharing 4 wickets between them, 3 to Mahesh and 1 to Karan. Last wicket was unnecessarily lasting for two long so the front line killer was asked to make a kill in his second spell and he did that only in his 3rd ball of the over. This was 4th for Srinivas. SCC were all out for 116 in 25th over and KCC won by 188 runs. The wickets taken by KCC bowlers were:
Srinivas: 4
Mahesh: 3
Srujal: 1
Karan: 1

The fielding was improved this time and so was the field setting. The bowlers also justified the field settings by bowling a tight line and length. The only area of concerns was a few wides delivered towards the end, which we must need to rectify as soon as possible. 304/9 in 40 overs is the highest score for this season in both the divisions and that is something which will make this win special. KCC has definitely avenged the last defeat.

Karan’s father was there to cheer for us and watched the full game, which was something special. At the end of the game, he has pointed a few areas of concerns, which we should be targeting to rectify before the next game. He might also turn up during the practice as Greg Chappel in an effort to help us improve our game and I am sure every one of us would be looking forward to that.

I would like to thank Karan and Srinivas from A team to play for us and do their best to ensure that KCB gets a handsome win. This should inspire all the B team members to carry forward the winning momentum in the next games to come.

That’s all I have from my side. Signing off till the next game VS JGR at SCC on Saturday, 18th November.

posted by Anand @ 12:16 AM