KCCB Vs PCC Game 2 Summary
On a beautiful January morning, the game had to start well on time, as the opposition was Phoenix Cricket Club (PCC). We had lost our first game against them very badly and a few of our shortcomings were exposed. Also we had a better understanding of their bowling attack and batting abilities. The important statistics were:
PCC has not been beaten so far by any of the team in their 6 games that they have played.
Greg, one of the finest batsmen from their side was unbeaten all the time.
It was easier to know the toughness of the task at hand but never mind I went on for toss and again went on closer to defy the probability logic. 6 losses out of 8 times. We had discussed that we would bowl first had we won the toss as they have successfully chased in all their previous games. Perhaps they also knew their strength well and asked us to BAT first.
Krishna looked confident to open a tough inning along with our regular opener Bharath. The fast and furious Andy P started bowling for PCC from the far end. Bharath lofted him over the third man area in the last ball of his first over and we started off in a good fashion. Krishna looked like doing well but in the very first ball of the third over by Andy P he found his stumps uprooted. Anand went on to his summer tournament position i.e. number 3 to try his luck and find his form with the bat. It looked like both Andy P and Srinivas from PCC were making most of the wet pitch and moisture in the air with odd bowl swinging a little bit and surprising the batsmen sometimes with faster deliveries. Bharath also slowed down and slowly got into a comfortable groove and Anand started off shakily. It was only when a lollypop full toss was offered to him onto his leg stump, which he lofted over the square leg region for an easy SIX that he looked a bit confident. First 8 overs were seen off without the loss of any other wicket with 32 runs on the board. The plan was to see off Andy P’s over but he would never stop. He continued bowling with more aggression and more pace well supported by Srinivas from the other end. By that time the batsmen too were well set and determined, so they started playing a little more freely taking singles and doubles now and then and occasionally tapping odd balls to boundaries. At the end of every over from Andy P, the captain Andy C would ask him if he wants to rest and he would refuse it vociferously and making the batsman hear that he want one of them in the pavilion. Guess what, he was soon into his 8th over, the last possible from him. He was given a different taste from both the batsmen in this over. 1 boundary by each of them, which he loved by clapping for the batsmen J. At the end of 16th over, we were 77/1 and drinks break was on card. We had executed our first basic plan to see Andy P off fantastically and the second task was to not lose any wicket till break. We did that emphatically, going for singles and doubles and occasionally converting a few doubles into triples. The running between the wickets was good but the calling was even better. Bharath completed his 50 in emphatic style. It was a pleasing experience to see him bat from the other end. Every time a ball would be over pitched, he would just reach to the ball and present a full face of the bat and the rest will be an automatic thing. He did it so many times with ease. In between, pushing the balls to the area between points and third man and running hard for runs. He must have scored evenly all over the ground and it was such a chanceless innings that it looked remotely impossible for him to lose his wicket. Innings break and the scorecard read 109/1. Needless to say, with Gopi and Rahul still to come, it looked like an easy 250.
When the game resumed after the short drinks break, the batsmen decided to play more freely. As they attacked, PCC became circumspect and defensive by pushing most of the fielders to boundary lines in an attempt to save boundaries. The batsmen understood this quite well and they changed their game plan accordingly and they ran for singles and doubles. Sometimes they took singles with ball on the pitch itself and that too with ease. Needless to say, the frustration of PCC was obvious and there was some blaming game going on among them, with elder guys cooling the aggressive youngsters down and making them realize that that was not going to fetch them any wicket. Anand was now looking good and decided to go for big ones. Boundaries came freely and sometimes took chance to dance down the wicket and loft it over but failing most of the time to clear the ropes. Thanks to one more similar lollypop, one more SIX was awarded to Anand. Soon he rushed to 80s and then onto 90s leaving his partner behind in 80s. When it looked like the century was on the card, he misread a ball for its bounce and found his bells off. The innings included 91 off 84 balls with 8 fours and 2 SIXes off the lollypops and making most of the shortest part of the ground. The second wicket partnership was worth 191 runs in about 175 balls. I am not sure about the records being broken but I am sure it would definitely be among TOP this season. 199/2 in 32nd over.
Gopi was all raring to go and making most of the situation. He went there and started off well. He didn’t last long but within a short span of time he scored 17 off 9 balls, which included two GOPI style towering sixes. One of them over the head of the bowler was the best. His short quick-fire convinced the batsmen that 250 were easily on card. Rahul went there and started off cautiously. Bharath continued playing his shots and soon rushed to his 90s. Just when everyone was getting ready to cheer for his century, a little misunderstanding between Rahul and Bharath found later heading back to the pavilion on 96. It was a sad end to one greater inning by Bharath. I am sure that he has now proved to be a find of the season for KCC this year. Rahul, Srujal and the debutant Venkat did the rest and took the innings to a greater height of 278/5 at the end of 40 overs. Rahul scored 26 of 21 balls and Srujal remained unbeaten on 15 off 12 balls.
PCC started their chase to 279 by sending Andy P and Carls to open the innings. They tried to be aggressive but found themselves nowhere before an immaculate spell from Gopi and the debutant Venkat. Gopi was constantly beating them with accuracy and Venkat was fiery with his pace and bounce. I was initially reluctant to give Venkat open the bowling, but trusted my instinct and suggestions from VC and Gopi that worked to the best level. Gopi soon clean bowled Andy P and dented their chances further. Venkat was unlucky in not getting the wickets but was quite successful in applying the pressure from the other end. Number 3 batsman was Greg who was unbeaten till now. He and carls played some shot and counter attacked us. Srujal and Bharath replaced the opening bowlers. Bharath went for few runs but Srujal maintained a tight spell and was finally rewarded with a wicket, which could easily be called a golden one, the one of Greg. Srujal became the first one to get Greg out this season. He got him clean bowled when Greg tried to play it off the pads only to find the ball coming into his middle and leg stump. He was dejected on getting out as if he had thought that he would never get out. It had to be leveled this way perhaps. Srujal strikes once again in the same over by getting plumb Dinesh and the score card read 55/3. A throw from Srujal in the next over found a place to rest which was nothing but Carl’s face and it perhaps fired him and Bharath had to pay the price in the next over when he was hit for a SIX and a four in successive deliveries. In the next over of Srujal, a beautiful and immaculate throw from the deep mid off by Rahul got Carl ran out with Krishna doing an excellent job behind the stumps. The scorecard read 69/4. Bharath was removed from the attack and Mahesh was given a chance to give them a taste of leg spins. He bowled a superb wicket-less spell. Just when they were getting set, a bowling change just before the innings break as suggested from Krishna brought Venkat to have a bowl again and he got his first victim of the season. The batsman was beaten off the sheer pace and bounces. It was his 5th ball of the 5th over. At the end of innings break, scorecard read 97/5.
They resumed their batting with new batsman in Sanjay and Rakesh. A mishap between two soon resulted in 6th wicket with score reading 102/6. At this juncture, Rana and Sridhar were given chances to bowl and they did offer some freebies to these batsmen and they scored good runs in those three overs, as many as 29 runs. But the idea was to give them chance and prepare for the next matches. Sanjay and Sameer batted well and they shared the biggest partnership of 79 runs for PCC before Rahul was given a chance to have a bowl at them and he stroked in the first over itself by clean bowling Rahul. Rest of the job was done by Mahesh, against whom, the batsmen really looked confused and tempted. Mahesh bowled Sanjay for 61, highest from PCC side and deserving one for Mahesh after a lot of hard work. PCC were finally all out for 195 in the 37th over.
Brief Scorecard:
KCCB: 278 in 40 overs (Bharath 96 off 108 balls, Anand 91 off 84 balls)
PCC: 195 All out (Srujal 2 W, Mahesh 2 W, Gopi, Rahul and Venkat 1 W each)
A good win and a very satisfying one given the nature of the opposition and the reasons I mentioned at the start of this write-up. The foundation was led by Bharath and Anand who played with great sense of maturity and courage, running for quick singles with a great understanding between them. The innings were well planned and consisted off small targets. In my opinion that was the highlight of the partnership. However a fiery spell from Gopi and Venkat was a crucial one too in the sense it had killed their chances almost to nil. Srujal has now become habitual of getting us crucial breakthroughs at crucial times and this time it came in the form of double strikes. A good piece of fielding from Rahul at the deep was another heartening thing, which must have saved at least 4-5 boundaries and made PCC guys really desperate. Krishna was excellent behind the wickets and perhaps this was his first mistake free game J. Barring a few occasion Vikram and Sridhar showed great improvement during the fielding and that’s something positive for the upcoming matches.
Way to go guys….Good Job.
PCC has not been beaten so far by any of the team in their 6 games that they have played.
Greg, one of the finest batsmen from their side was unbeaten all the time.
It was easier to know the toughness of the task at hand but never mind I went on for toss and again went on closer to defy the probability logic. 6 losses out of 8 times. We had discussed that we would bowl first had we won the toss as they have successfully chased in all their previous games. Perhaps they also knew their strength well and asked us to BAT first.
Krishna looked confident to open a tough inning along with our regular opener Bharath. The fast and furious Andy P started bowling for PCC from the far end. Bharath lofted him over the third man area in the last ball of his first over and we started off in a good fashion. Krishna looked like doing well but in the very first ball of the third over by Andy P he found his stumps uprooted. Anand went on to his summer tournament position i.e. number 3 to try his luck and find his form with the bat. It looked like both Andy P and Srinivas from PCC were making most of the wet pitch and moisture in the air with odd bowl swinging a little bit and surprising the batsmen sometimes with faster deliveries. Bharath also slowed down and slowly got into a comfortable groove and Anand started off shakily. It was only when a lollypop full toss was offered to him onto his leg stump, which he lofted over the square leg region for an easy SIX that he looked a bit confident. First 8 overs were seen off without the loss of any other wicket with 32 runs on the board. The plan was to see off Andy P’s over but he would never stop. He continued bowling with more aggression and more pace well supported by Srinivas from the other end. By that time the batsmen too were well set and determined, so they started playing a little more freely taking singles and doubles now and then and occasionally tapping odd balls to boundaries. At the end of every over from Andy P, the captain Andy C would ask him if he wants to rest and he would refuse it vociferously and making the batsman hear that he want one of them in the pavilion. Guess what, he was soon into his 8th over, the last possible from him. He was given a different taste from both the batsmen in this over. 1 boundary by each of them, which he loved by clapping for the batsmen J. At the end of 16th over, we were 77/1 and drinks break was on card. We had executed our first basic plan to see Andy P off fantastically and the second task was to not lose any wicket till break. We did that emphatically, going for singles and doubles and occasionally converting a few doubles into triples. The running between the wickets was good but the calling was even better. Bharath completed his 50 in emphatic style. It was a pleasing experience to see him bat from the other end. Every time a ball would be over pitched, he would just reach to the ball and present a full face of the bat and the rest will be an automatic thing. He did it so many times with ease. In between, pushing the balls to the area between points and third man and running hard for runs. He must have scored evenly all over the ground and it was such a chanceless innings that it looked remotely impossible for him to lose his wicket. Innings break and the scorecard read 109/1. Needless to say, with Gopi and Rahul still to come, it looked like an easy 250.
When the game resumed after the short drinks break, the batsmen decided to play more freely. As they attacked, PCC became circumspect and defensive by pushing most of the fielders to boundary lines in an attempt to save boundaries. The batsmen understood this quite well and they changed their game plan accordingly and they ran for singles and doubles. Sometimes they took singles with ball on the pitch itself and that too with ease. Needless to say, the frustration of PCC was obvious and there was some blaming game going on among them, with elder guys cooling the aggressive youngsters down and making them realize that that was not going to fetch them any wicket. Anand was now looking good and decided to go for big ones. Boundaries came freely and sometimes took chance to dance down the wicket and loft it over but failing most of the time to clear the ropes. Thanks to one more similar lollypop, one more SIX was awarded to Anand. Soon he rushed to 80s and then onto 90s leaving his partner behind in 80s. When it looked like the century was on the card, he misread a ball for its bounce and found his bells off. The innings included 91 off 84 balls with 8 fours and 2 SIXes off the lollypops and making most of the shortest part of the ground. The second wicket partnership was worth 191 runs in about 175 balls. I am not sure about the records being broken but I am sure it would definitely be among TOP this season. 199/2 in 32nd over.
Gopi was all raring to go and making most of the situation. He went there and started off well. He didn’t last long but within a short span of time he scored 17 off 9 balls, which included two GOPI style towering sixes. One of them over the head of the bowler was the best. His short quick-fire convinced the batsmen that 250 were easily on card. Rahul went there and started off cautiously. Bharath continued playing his shots and soon rushed to his 90s. Just when everyone was getting ready to cheer for his century, a little misunderstanding between Rahul and Bharath found later heading back to the pavilion on 96. It was a sad end to one greater inning by Bharath. I am sure that he has now proved to be a find of the season for KCC this year. Rahul, Srujal and the debutant Venkat did the rest and took the innings to a greater height of 278/5 at the end of 40 overs. Rahul scored 26 of 21 balls and Srujal remained unbeaten on 15 off 12 balls.
PCC started their chase to 279 by sending Andy P and Carls to open the innings. They tried to be aggressive but found themselves nowhere before an immaculate spell from Gopi and the debutant Venkat. Gopi was constantly beating them with accuracy and Venkat was fiery with his pace and bounce. I was initially reluctant to give Venkat open the bowling, but trusted my instinct and suggestions from VC and Gopi that worked to the best level. Gopi soon clean bowled Andy P and dented their chances further. Venkat was unlucky in not getting the wickets but was quite successful in applying the pressure from the other end. Number 3 batsman was Greg who was unbeaten till now. He and carls played some shot and counter attacked us. Srujal and Bharath replaced the opening bowlers. Bharath went for few runs but Srujal maintained a tight spell and was finally rewarded with a wicket, which could easily be called a golden one, the one of Greg. Srujal became the first one to get Greg out this season. He got him clean bowled when Greg tried to play it off the pads only to find the ball coming into his middle and leg stump. He was dejected on getting out as if he had thought that he would never get out. It had to be leveled this way perhaps. Srujal strikes once again in the same over by getting plumb Dinesh and the score card read 55/3. A throw from Srujal in the next over found a place to rest which was nothing but Carl’s face and it perhaps fired him and Bharath had to pay the price in the next over when he was hit for a SIX and a four in successive deliveries. In the next over of Srujal, a beautiful and immaculate throw from the deep mid off by Rahul got Carl ran out with Krishna doing an excellent job behind the stumps. The scorecard read 69/4. Bharath was removed from the attack and Mahesh was given a chance to give them a taste of leg spins. He bowled a superb wicket-less spell. Just when they were getting set, a bowling change just before the innings break as suggested from Krishna brought Venkat to have a bowl again and he got his first victim of the season. The batsman was beaten off the sheer pace and bounces. It was his 5th ball of the 5th over. At the end of innings break, scorecard read 97/5.
They resumed their batting with new batsman in Sanjay and Rakesh. A mishap between two soon resulted in 6th wicket with score reading 102/6. At this juncture, Rana and Sridhar were given chances to bowl and they did offer some freebies to these batsmen and they scored good runs in those three overs, as many as 29 runs. But the idea was to give them chance and prepare for the next matches. Sanjay and Sameer batted well and they shared the biggest partnership of 79 runs for PCC before Rahul was given a chance to have a bowl at them and he stroked in the first over itself by clean bowling Rahul. Rest of the job was done by Mahesh, against whom, the batsmen really looked confused and tempted. Mahesh bowled Sanjay for 61, highest from PCC side and deserving one for Mahesh after a lot of hard work. PCC were finally all out for 195 in the 37th over.
Brief Scorecard:
KCCB: 278 in 40 overs (Bharath 96 off 108 balls, Anand 91 off 84 balls)
PCC: 195 All out (Srujal 2 W, Mahesh 2 W, Gopi, Rahul and Venkat 1 W each)
A good win and a very satisfying one given the nature of the opposition and the reasons I mentioned at the start of this write-up. The foundation was led by Bharath and Anand who played with great sense of maturity and courage, running for quick singles with a great understanding between them. The innings were well planned and consisted off small targets. In my opinion that was the highlight of the partnership. However a fiery spell from Gopi and Venkat was a crucial one too in the sense it had killed their chances almost to nil. Srujal has now become habitual of getting us crucial breakthroughs at crucial times and this time it came in the form of double strikes. A good piece of fielding from Rahul at the deep was another heartening thing, which must have saved at least 4-5 boundaries and made PCC guys really desperate. Krishna was excellent behind the wickets and perhaps this was his first mistake free game J. Barring a few occasion Vikram and Sridhar showed great improvement during the fielding and that’s something positive for the upcoming matches.
Way to go guys….Good Job.
posted by Anand @ 1:22 AM
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2 Comments:
Congrats buddy on your captain's knock. Looking forward to similar match winning knocks from you in the near future.
good work keep it up...
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