Playoff: KCC B Vs CAVs Summary
On paper, perhaps this was supposed to be easiest of contest and the result was a forgone conclusion. At the end of the day, the contest did turn out to be the easiest one but the result changed to the pleasant surprise of everyone. The supposed ants cornered the elephants.
The champions from A division CAVs won the toss and like any other strong team would decide against a seemingly weaker team, they decided to BAT first. Their plan was more than obvious right from the ball one when Anup, their opener, drove a fast delivery from Mithil high and fly over the long on for four. But that was just that. Mithil and Praveen bowled a very tight line and length and made the CAVs beg for single runs. Praveen clean-bowled Anup in the very first ball of his spell and CAVs were 5/1. Srikar and Nikhil batted for quite sometime and it looked as if they had set themselves up. A change in field placement did the trick when Anand removed himself from the points to the short mid-off. Srikar drove hard at a full-length delivery but only managed it to land it just before Anand who take it just like a blinder. CAVS were now 26/2 in 7.5 overs. After a fiery spell of 10 overs, Harji was given a chance to ball who gave KCCB another breakthrough in his second over itself. CAVS were reduced to 44/3. The field setting and the groundwork were superb in the first 12 overs and the results were obvious. This brought Dharmesh in the middle and he started off aggressively by hitting a few fours. As a result the field was spread but it didn’t do any difference. Dharmesh and Naren batted together sensibly and took the score to 81/3 at the break in 20 overs.
Next part of CAVs inning totally belongs to Dharmesh when he attacked almost all bowlers from KCCB. Mahesh and Anand bowled well in parts as they contained some runs but were wicket less. Finally the partnership was broken in 34th over when Mithil was brought back into the attack. Srujal got a straight forward catch at long on and Naren was out for 43. KCC-B luck seems to reverse when Dharmesh found Anand at the deep long on and got him out for an unlucky 99. YES Ninety-nine. Srujal got another three wickets at the end and CAVS were finally restricted to 198 in 39.1 overs.
Bowling for KCCB:Mithil: 8.0-2-36-2
Praveen: 5.0- 1-21-2
Srujal: 6.1-0-39-3
Harji: 5.0-25-0
Mahesh: 8.0-1-39-0
Anand: 7.0-0-34-0
The target was a big one and even bigger given the attack CAVS posses. But Anurag and Praveen provided one of the best starts of this season for KCCB. They quickly went on to 30s in just 4th over. Anurag decided to attack their openers and was quite successful. Praveen played the perfect role of supporting him by rotating strike and taking singles. Together they added 66 runs in as many balls when praveen lost his wicket to Srikar. Srujal went on to join Anurag in the middle and started off in his typical fashion. Quick 15 runs of almost as many balls including three boundaries and thanks to a dubious decision of caught behind by the umpire; he was back in the pavilion. KCC-B 96/2 in 16.3 overs. Srinivas S went at number 4 because Anand wanted to demote himself for some reason, which would prove good at the end. He came back soon and KCC-B was 97/3. Soon after this, the 2 month back memory was refreshed when the team had collapsed after such a great start chasing 198 and 166 against ACC. The mere realization left a few people shivering. Anurag almost unruffled by all these past things perhaps because of not being part of those unforgettable moments, kept playing his shots and was looking confident and all set for a big one. Anand was the number 5 batsman. Anand and Anurag played responsibly took singles whenever there was a chance and hit boundaries whenever offered something to be hit. The scoreboard kept ticking and the pressure was mounting on CAVS for the first time. Yes for the first time. They always believed that they would get the team out sooner or later. But when only 50+ runs were needed, the composure of the two well-set batsmen at the crease panicked them. Anurag crafted two beautiful cover drives in one over and Anand attacked their main bowler Dharmesh in his 4th over by crafting him for three consecutive fours. If CAVS had a plan, it was all gone by now.
CAVS frastration could be judged by the jubilation with which they celebrated Anurag’s wicket in 29th over when Anurag failed to read a Yorker length delivery and was completely bowled. KCC-B 149/4 and still exactly 50 runs away from the victory. Mahesh was promoted up the order and he joined Anand in the middle. From there on what followed would be a lesson to remember every time we go on to chase. Sensible batting, cutting loose when the bowlers made any mistake and good running between the wickets was the key, so was the realization that the closer we reach to the magical score the easier it would be attack. Anand and Mahesh attacked only when 23 runs off last 36 balls when required and KCCB was home with 22 balls remaining. The winning shots came from the captain when he carved two consecutive fours off Anup’s trial for leg spins.
It was a big win because of the big difference between the two teams on paper. It would always be a great source of inspiration to think about this game in Future for all those who played this game. Fielding was good in the first 15 overs but once Dharmesh and Naren started playing freely perhaps we were under pressure and they made most of it. We would have to keep this in mind in the next game. This game would not belong to a single person and I would rate it as a very good team effort. Fiery spell by Mithil and Praveen at the start was crucial and so was the initial start given by Praveen and Anurag at the start of KCCB innings. Anurag played with responsible hands would deserve the MOM. Anand’s innings with Mahesh till the end was equally crucial to take KCCB home comfortably.
Brief Scorecard for KCCB batting is below:Anurag: 70 runs off 85 balls (7x4)
Anand: 53 off 62 balls (8x4)
Praveen: 18 off 21 balls (3x4)
Mahesh: 22 off 28 balls (3x4)
KCCB Vs SPT Game 2 Summary
Second consecutive time KCC-B was lucky to win the toss. However this time when, they won it, they decided to BAT looking at the history they themselves have created at their home ground, 3 wins out of 4 games batting first in all occasions. The only loss was against the PJB guys who they beat in their own den 2 weeks later and took a fitting revenge. Every time they batted here, their TOP order relished batting on the flat track and every time someone emerged as a big hero. The scorecard will definitely reveal this: 269/10 against CVB, 304/9 against SCC and 278/5 against PCC.
However not every day is the same and this time the match was a little different even though the end result was the same: A win over SPT by 24 runs. SPT was the first team, which KCB had played this season and was almost humiliated. This time around, the team looked much better and players more experienced.
KCB started off with Gopi and Bharath opening the innings. Gopi was promoted up the order because of the top bowling attack consisting off the likes of Balaji, Maggi and Shankar. They seemed to be getting a hold of the things but Balaji’s line, length and swing was perhaps too much at the start of the game and Gopi missed an incoming delivery completely that kept a little low and was clean bowled. Anand went at regular number 3 to consolidate for the damage but similar kind of delivery a couple of over later by Balaji, found his leg before the wicket and umpire had no hesitation whatsoever. Viral was the number 4 man this time and he started off cautiously and just when it looked that he was all set, he mistimed a ball, which was outside the leg stump and offered a simple catch at backward square leg. Rahul was the next man in and he started off with his natural strokes but Maggi’s pace was too much for him and he soon found his stumps uprooted. Bharath was cautiously batting at one end how-ever, SPT fielders were denying him every chance of scoring runs which was mounting pressure on him. The field placement by SPT was so perfect, coupled with a tight line and length provided by their batsmen according to the field, that it took 45+ balls for a player like Bharath to go into double digits. Soon he was also heading back to the pavilion after showing some fight to get KCB back into the game. Krishna and Asad didn’t do much as they should have done, with Krishna falling to a debatable LBW decision and Asad to a atrocious shot selection which was not the need of the hour. At the first innings break, KCB were tottering at 75/7 and sky looked too gloomy for them. This was then left to Hari and the tale Enders in Himanshu Pal, Parag and the energetic Mithil. Hari perhaps has a special likings of SPT boys and he proved that in the end. In the first game he had scored a fighting half-century to take KCB closer to the target while KCB chased a huge total of 222 in just 35 overs. This inning was different when he had to bat with all tales Enders. Himanshu Pal survived initial hiccups and was doing good when he ran himself out of contention because of a poor running and calling between the wickets. Then came Parag at number 10 and he looked confident at the crease. He never seemed to think about the runs being scored and just insured that he keeps the wicket at one end. He ran hard with Hari for singles and defended balls with great technique. This was enough to boost the confidence of Hari at the other end and he started playing a little freely. The 9th wicket partnership was reaching about 30 and SPT boys were getting frustrated for they had assumed an early finish of KCB innings. 16 overs were remaining when Parag had gone out to BAT. Parag was the man to head back to pavilion at the end when he missed a low fulltoss on his leg stump. Score read 115/9 at the end of 33rd over. 7 overs were still remaining and still an early lunch was well on card when Mithil joined Hari in the middle. But that was not the case to be, Mithil and Hari together accounted for about 50 runs in 7 overs scoring runs at a decent pace and ensuring they play full 40 overs. Hari had this idea in his mind from as early as 23rd over when he talked about their slow over rate and if KCB played full 40 overs, they would be docked a few for sure. Nobody knew this simple fact would cost SPT dearly at the end. Mithil drove a few fantastic boundaries and was unbeaten on 22 with Hari unbeaten on 45. Hari has now scored 57 and 45* against SPT with a bradmansque average of 102. The target for SPT was 167 in 38 overs.
The history spoke of little chances for KCB as this ground has been famous for high scoring games but a close look at the SPT’s run chase records made everyone believe that they are quite vulnerable while chasing. They had fallen to 37 all out against ACC and 107 all out against the PJBs chasing a small target of 107. KCB boys resumed the duties in a fiery and rejuvenated mood and SPT started their innings with their best batsman Maggi. Rahul and Gopi bowled a tight line and length and removed two early wickets one each, which showed some light at the end of the tunnel for KCB. Sreejit joined Maggi at the end and they started playing positive cricket. The field setting was immaculate and the fielders did their job with fire. The “Tomorrow birthday boy ” Asad was brought to ball in the 10th over and provided a vital breakthrough. Pressure started mounting on batsmen and they decided enough was enough. Sreejit mistimed an over pitched delivery from Asad and Rahul took a high catch running some 15-20 yards. 3rd wicket was down which was much needed and SPT were 49/3 at the end of 10th over. Maggi was still hanging in at the other end and this was the biggest roadblock for KCB. The young man, Mithil was given a chance to learn something against the best batsman of the opposition and the first ball he bowled was a big wide outside the off stump with next ball a short pitched one which was deservedly sent for boundary and the next one for a double. It seemed like a bad decision to everyone but then came the golden ball. Maggi tried to drive a ball from Mithil, which was fast and pitched outside the off stump, but only managed to slash it just before the point where Anand was standing. Anand, seeing the chance of a match decider wicket dived, to his front to take a stunning catch. Maggi couldn’t believe this while he headed back to pavilion. From there on, it was all over and it was all Mithil. He accounted for 2 wickets on as many balls the next over and 2 more, one each in his next 2 overs. His first 4 overs produced 5 wickets. Asad maintained a tight line and length at the other end and kept the pressure up on SPT guys. Mithil was perfect in line and length and the fiery pace was just too much for the new batsmen to adjust. They meekly surrendered to him. Soon they were tottering at 63/8 and KCB thought of an early finish. 5 overs before the break that Mithil and Asad bowled cost them just 4 runs. SPT became too defensive and their captain Shankar played cautiously with the number 10 batsman. Similar kind of story was scripted when they went on and on. As many as 8 bowlers were tried with Mithil, Asad and Rahul finishing their full quota, but the 9th wicket remained elusive. Last 6 overs and 36 runs were required and Shankar was at full swing by then. Gopi finally provided the second golden breakthrough by removing the bails of Shankar and also removing SPT’s last hope. KCB had to take 1 wicket to get full bowling points, but that was not the case to be. KCB attacked and they defended finally ensuring that SPT deprives KCB of at least one point.
Brief Score:
KCB: 166/9 in 40 overs (Hari 45*, Bharath 13 and Mithil 22*)
SPT: 142/9 in 38 overs
Result: KCB won by 24 runs.
This game totally belonged to the tail enders as far as the batting is concerned from both sides. Hari played an anchor role for KCB and ensured that he doesn’t happen to be throwing his wicket just like a few from the TOP orders. Mithil fireworks at the end took KCB to a fighting total. Mithil continued the same when he was given the ball with 5/11 in 8 overs. It would be tough to decide the MAN of the match, so KCB rather modifies the award to be MEN of the match, Hari and Mithil. Hari's innings is the testimony to the fact that patience and concentration pays at the end while the supportive role that was played by Parag and the end fireworks by Mithil proved that everyone has got enough chances to proove his worth and claim a spot but the need is to recognise this and grab it with grace.
Apart from these individual performances, the supplements came from the fiery fielding shown by KCB. None of the catches were dropped except a hard chance from Krishna and some breathtaking ones were taken proving that catches do win you games. Overall a very fighting performance by KCB.
KCC B Vs ACC
The game had to start 1 hour late because of the dampness in the pitch. And because of the same reason, we elected to field first after getting lucky this time as far as toss is concerned.
We started off really good with Rahul and Gopi opening the bowling for us. They kept a tight line and length and the run rate below 4. The mounting pressure forced their batsman to commit mistakes and go for risky singles and that gave us a chance for the first wicket. Santosh, one of ACC’s attacking openers was run out of an impeccable throw by energetic debutant Mithil. ACC Score 16/1 at 4.2 overs.
Gopi soon stuck in his 3rd over when Bharath dived to his front at the first slip to take a stunning catch fumbled by Krishna. ACC were 20/2 in 5.4 overs. Bharath and Srujal then replaced Gopi and Rahul respectively and maintained a tight line and length. The ACC were still below 4 runs an over and the pressure was mounting on them. In a desperate attempt to accelerate the run rate they lost two quick wickets one fabulously caught by Parag at mid off of Bharath’s overs and the other caught and bowled by Srujal. That was a stunning caught and bowled. ACC were soon tottering at 36/4 at the end of 12.4 overs. Srujal was a little inconsistent in his line and length and also since we were running short of time, Mahesh was given a chance to bowl. From ACC’s side Rod and Rahul stabilized the innings playing some confident shots but living on edges now and then. Barring a few occasions the fielding display by KCC was one of the best seen in the recent past. 5th wicket fell when ACC were 74 when Rod tried to upper cut a leg spin from Mahesh. Anand reacted towards the ball’s direction even before it was dispatched and took a stunning catch. The debutant Mithil was given a chance to go with the ball and he impressed everyone there with his pace and bounces. Sometimes he would ball a few short pitched deliveries and wides, but would learn quickly to correct them. Although he wasn’t lucky in getting any wickets in his full 5 overs that he bowled spread over 2 spells, he would be a very good prospect for KCC as far as the fast bowling department is concerned. He would need time to learn but I am sure he would do much better in the games to come.
Rahul from ACC was soon out of Mahesh’s next over when he lofted a ball directly in the safe hands of the VC. ACC were 89/6 at the end of 22.2 overs. Then two new batsmen, Gerard and Dushanan played what we call some good intelligent shots going for singles and doubles and not going for slogs. Nobody knew that, at the end, this inning would turn out to be the big difference between the two sides. They added 68 runs for 7th wicket almost run a ball and helped ACC to come back in the game. This wicket was crucial in taking ACC to a respectable and fighting total at the end. They were bowled out for 166 at the very last ball of 40th over. Rahul ensured that we would get these 5 points no matter what.
Lunch was offered by ACC as per the custom they have been following and it was a delicious one. Mahesh and Bharath opened the innings for KCCB. Mahesh was sent in to open the innings to see off the first few bowlers as we were having no idea about their bowling department. Mahesh was out in the 4th over, but to some extent the logic thought was successful. Bharath was joined by Anand in the middle and they looked like repeating KCC vs PCC game just a few days back. Anand was taking time to settle down when Bharath was scoring all over the park. 9th over saw Bharath dispatching two of the deliveries for boundaries and the same was repeated by Anand in the 10th over. KCC was going over 5.5 runs per over and it looked like an early finish. This dream was shattered in the next over itself when Bharath was caught at the short leg trying to glance one of the deliveries onto his pads. It was almost similar to his dismissal a day back for KCC-A. Gopi came in and he started in an emphatic fashion. KCC was doing well and soon were 70+ in the 14th over before GOPI was hit plumb with an incoming delivery. KCC score read 76/3 in 14.3 overs.
The rest is a history. From 76/3 in 14 overs KCC were begging at 95/6 in the 20th over. Anand tried to hold one end but was out for LBW yet again. Barring Krishna, no one realized the situation and the condition of the game. Some were out for reckless shot selection and some for their own atrocious decisions. Most of them had forgotten that 20+ overs were remaining and we just needed 70+ runs. Krishna remained NOT out for 16 runs and a huge SIX over the covers was a highlight of his innings. KCC were finally bundled out for 124 in the 28th over loosing the game to ACC by 42 runs. What seemed to be an easy win turned out to be a disappointing loss at the end.
Positives from the game:
- Fielding was immaculate. Most of the catches were taken. Krishna was superb behind the wickets and one of the stumping was the proof. Parag did a fabulous job at mid off and short cover although he is practicing as a wicket keeper. Singles were saved, quick throws resulted in 2 run outs and I believe we did everything we could in this department.
- Rahul is back full time as a opening bowler and he bowled decently although was not lucky enough to get as many wickets as he should have got.
- Mithil was more than impressive with the ball as well as in the fielding department. One of the quickest in the above two areas.
Negatives from the game (And why did we lose it?)
- Can you guess the series represented by the numbers 2, 6, 8, 8, 0, 8 and 3? If you don’t even after looking at the attached score-sheet then you would never understand the big difference between the win and the loss? These were the number of wides bowled by each of the 7 bowlers respectively that were tried. A total of 35 and we lost the game by 44. Compare this to 14-15 that ACC conceded.
- Running between the wickets were as poor as it would ever get. Excepting Gopi, Bharath, Anand and a few, no one calls for runs and as soon as they would hit, they would quickly leave their end leaving their partner at the other end gasping and puzzled. If we don’t learn even this basic concept, it would always be tough and there is no need to talk about easy singles when we can’t convert easy ones. Even the practice is not going to help much in this case.
- Playing across the line: Few of us got out because we played across and that too when we had just went there. If the bowl is coming straight without any swing or spin, you might afford to do that, but if it is turning even a bit, it is always going to be suicidal. We have to learn a very simple fact that, we must play with straight bat at the start of our innings. The first 10-15 balls must be played with caution and with full face of the BAT. Once out eyes are set, then we are in a position to play whatever shot we want to.
We would try to give chances to as many of you as we can during this week’s practice session so that you get a chance to sort out the above simple and basic problems that we commit almost every time. A Bharath or a Gopi will not bail us all time from the danger situation. Given a chance we have to Grab it and then rise to the occasion.
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.
KCCB Vs PJB Summary
We lost the toss but PJB gave us a chance to field first. Their decision was perhaps based on the fact that they were only 8 people, so they didn’t want us to make them run all round the park for full 40 overs.
We started off our bowling with Gopi and Bharath. They did bowl first tow overs decently but a few gutsy shots from their openers in Kulraj and Manjeet made us re-think our game plan. They were soon 41/0 at the end of 6th over and I decided to replace Gopi with Srujal. He started off well in his usual manner. Looking at the state of the affairs with our front line fast bowlers, I decided to give spinners a chance to try their hand. Since Himanshu K was playing this game, I turned the bowl to him. And he did it. The rest is story as Himanshu and Mahesh bowled in tandem sharing 6 wickets in between them, 5 of them belonging to Himanshu. Himanshu ended with a bowling figure 26/5 in 7 overs ably supported by Mahesh who got one wicket and ended up with 9/1. Not to forget Srujal who got a crucial wicket of Kulraj their opener who scored the maximum from PJB side scoring 22. Parag who was keeping for B team for the first time caught him behind thanks to a fine effort. He did an excellent job behind the stumps and looks like a good prospect behind the stumps.
They were bowled out a little after the innings break in 21.2 overs. It was decided to continue with the second innings without a break and we did that. It seems batsmen from KCB were in a mood to finish things quite early in a mood to celebrate New Year eve with their girl friends and boy friends J, so as soon as the innings started, the PJB bowlers got blasted all over the park. In the process, we lost 3 wickets, but PJB never looked being into the game by any means. If at all they might have some hopes, which was washed off completely by Gopi who hammered 5 fours and a huge towering SIX straight over the head of the bowler and onto the roof of pavilion at Glendale. He was unbeaten at 33 and Himanshu at 14. KCB was home in just 12.1 overs. Amazing stuff and a fitting reply to the previous game that we had lost to them.
Cheers to everyone.
KCCB Vs PCC Summary
This game was played in PIMA Park ground where most of us were playing for the first time. After three consecutive wins, this time we lost in a close game. It may not look close from the eventual result of the game, but I believe we were just 1 wicket away from the victory.
We won the TOSS and decided to BAT first as this has been our one of the winning formulas in the last 3 games. The wicket was fast and bouncy. PCCs opening bowlers were doing a real good job and we lost Gopi in the first over itself. In absence of our openers, Gopi had to open the innings with Sandeep. Chaitanya was tried at number 3 and he helped Sandeep in seeing off the new ball especially the ones delivered by Andy from PCC. He almost faced all the deliveries from him. It was hard to score run and the run rate was about 2. Chaitanya soon fell and Rahul went in who also fell in succession soon. Apart from Sandeep nobody really could cope up with the different conditions in this game and we continued losing wickets one after another. Sandeep played a few beautiful shots in his knock of 39, which happened to be the highest from both sides. A SIX on the midwicket was the highlight of his innings. Srujal played a counter-attacking knock scoring 16+ runs in quick time. He continues impressing with BAT. Srujal and Krishna were tow players who together with the tail spent time in the middle and added almost 60+ runs for the last 5 wickets and took us to a total of 114 in 28 overs. Krishna remained unbeaten at the end.
They started off their chase well and Gopi provided us the first break through when Sinha took a catch, which was just superb by our standards. They went on to play defensive as the target was not much and we tried hard for wickets, changing bowlers now and then and setting the fields accordingly. I feel all the bowlers, Gopi, Nagesh, Chaitanya, Sandeep, Srujal and Anand, who were used, tried their best to stick to the basics but the main problem was extras conceded. We gave as many as 30 wides, which is just too much when we are defending a total of 114. There is no point singling out one or two bowlers but this is an area we will have to think about and control ourselves if we want to win such games. The game against JGR was won by defending a total of just 89 because of the way we had bowled. Srujal took 2 and Anand 1 wicket. They were 6 down for 85 and needed about 30 to win and we were away by a wicket or two. We tried to attack them by setting close fields and it seem to work for a while when Sandeep and I bowled two consecutive maidens. But the wicket was the key and their batsmen perhaps knew it so they played really cautiously. The leg umpire at the end, which might have turned the game in our favour, turned down a close run out appeal. A difficult chance was missed by Krishna behind the stump when he could not hold on to a catch. They were home in 28th over. PCC won the game by 4 wickets.
Hope we learn by the mistakes and do well in the next game to comes. We are almost halfway through the season as far as the number of matches goes. We would have to win most of our matches from now on if we want to have some positive chances for us. We missed the services of our regular openers in Sumit, Bharath and Anurag. Rahul did play for us but could not ball because of backache. These small things perhaps added to the negative result this time.
Sumit is now out of Phoenix for the time being and sadly won’t be playing for us this season. As far as KCC-B is concerned, I see it as a big loss because he was one of our consistent batsmen. Some of us would have to step into his shoes and play the same role. On behalf of KCC, I would like to thank Sumit for playing with us and entertaining us by those beautiful cover drives and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. And please do keep in touch with all of us.
KCCB Vs JGR Summary
KCC B team bats first and gets bundled out for a meager 89 just before the break in 19.4 overs. This was one of the worst performances so far by KCC-B batters. So what chances would you give KCC-B team in this game against JGR given that only Rahul was the regular bowler in our team today? On paper this was the weakest team KCC-B have fielded this season so far. If you think the obvious then hold on and take a deep breath. To the surprise of all, showing great commitment, tremendous team effort and the so called killer instinct, KCC-B gets JGR bowled out for a meager 60 within 16 overs, thanks to a relatively long and arduous spells from Rahul and Bharath for whom this game was a debut as a bowler.
We might have heard that the probability of winning the toss for any team is 50% but I as a captain seem to prove this simple fact wrong yet again. We lost the toss but again happened to be in a win-win situation as JGR asked us to BAT. They were 8 players in total and they were still waiting for one of their teammates to join. Given this, their choice to field was rather illogical. We didn’t mind it though. Bharath opened the innings with Anurag and was looking well determined for a big one. Sometimes too much caution might play negatively to your plan and this is what happened with Bharath. He wanted to offer no shot to a delivery, which had pitched way outside the off stump but ended up finding his off stump uprooted. Perhaps this was the best bowl that JGR team had in their armory. So much was the swing of the ball that it was hard to believe what happened and if it were possible I would have loved to watch a replay of this ball a few times. We were 3/1 within first overs, a situation very unusual to which we have not been in the recent past. Rahul goes in to replace Bharath and he starts well with Anurag. Anurag on the other hand keeps playing his defensive and cautious shots in an effort to hold the other end. Rahul tries to accelerate the innings and in the process ends up giving a catch at mid on. Going by the standards of the fielding display that we usually see, it looked like a catch almost dropped but the fielder, Zahid, had enough time to take it comfortable at the end. Soon we were tottering at 14/2 in 3 overs and didn’t look an auspicious start by any means given the way we have batted in the previous two games at least. Sumit joins Anurag and both of them try to repair the damage cautiously. They looked for singles and doubles and waited for loose deliveries. Sumit hit 2 beautiful boundaries, which happened to be the only boundaries from KCC side at the end. They looked like all set for a big partnership before Anurag misread a middle stump ball which hit him right in front of the stump. The score was 62/3. Thanks to Anurag’s consistency, the damage at the top of the order was slightly repaired. He has been doing well as an opener but after starting well and being well set, he has not been quite able to convert those starts to a big one. He scored 18 of 28 balls. Nonetheless, given the duration and the outcome of the game, this was a class inning. Anand goes in to replace Sumit. If we remember, Sumit was battling with his 6th overs woes at the start of the season for the first two games, it seems like Anand is not battling with something which could be called 6th balls woes on the similar lines. This was the third time he got out of the 6th ball in the last 4 games. He played a cross bat shot to a ball, which was on middle and leg stump only to be adjudged LBW. Score read, 70/4. Hari was the new batsman in and he looked in good touch and determined perhaps drawing some inspiration from the last game against SPT that he played in the same ground scoring a fighting fifty. Sumit and Hair seemed to consolidate the innings and save KCC from blushes before Sumit did something, which at best was hara-kiri. He plays a shot direct to the short mid on fielder and calls Hari for a single and get out of a direct throw rather cheaply. He scored the highest from the KCC side, which would go on to become the highest from the match. 31 run off 39 balls. It was an inning typical of Sumit and he was the only batsman apart from Anurag who was able to handle those swings and pace deliveries from the JGR bowlers rather comfortably. If I look like praising him too much then, the praise from the JGR bowlers and the fielders alike is a testimony to the same. Score was 78/5 and the blushes didn’t look too far for us. I would not blame to anyone to what happened after this. Last 5 wickets were lost for 11 runs and we were bundled out for 89 in 19.4 overs. After scoring 304 runs playing 40 overs, just a week ago, it was like falling from sky to the land reality. Everyone looked down and a little frustrated with oneself for not doing the basic things. A lunch break was called for which was so uncalled for in nature.
During the break I happened to go and meet JGR players just to acquaint myself with all of them. They looked extremely happy with that they had done and they deserved it, after all they had also lost two of their games this season and the victory looked so close to them as if they were standing on the Kashmir border almost to enter into it. They praised a few players from our side and Sumit was a deserving candidate for the same. Apart from them they pointed our lots of weaknesses in our side and a few of them are obvious to us too. Perhaps the sight of a possible victory made them so confident that they passed on some comments, which were rather irritating. A few of them were:
I had heard a lot about KCC team.
It is hard to believe that the same team can score 300+ runs
The main problem with your batsmen was they missed the basic things. They didn’t apply themselves and went for big shots.
And an interesting one was, please have the lunch after the game is finished because it won’t take more than 12-14 overs for us to finish the game, so why waste time now?I am not sure about the first three but the they did tried best to prove the last one albeit not to their likings. We did not take lunch as they were cribbing for time and all and we decided to take it after the WIN. Yes, we decided it in a light manner but there was some resolution hidden behind it. The boys looked all charged up when we set up our field and I was NOT required to do anything extra ordinary to motivate them. Rahul was the only regular bowler for us and he opened the innings for us and gave KCC its first breakthrough in the second ball itself when Imran hit it straight to Sumit at mid off and this time Sumit made sure of not getting blamed. A fantastic catch to give a much-deserved start to KCC. Sumit was tried to partner with Rahul but he didn’t look in good touch and proved costly in his first over going for 9 runs with as many as 4 wides. I replaced him with Bharath in the next over and this was a decision I would cherish for a long time. I had seen bowling Bharath during the practice and somehow I felt confident giving bowl to him even though I knew he didn’t have the pace as we desire. He started off well and soon gave us a breakthrough in his second over when he got Miaz out. It was a well-set plan as he had a tendency to hit the ball over the gully region. Thanks to Rahul and Sumit, I was right at the place to take the catch comfortable. Just before the ball, Rahul had asked me to move a little squarer and Sumit had suggested me to go at point in place of Mani. It worked and gave results. JGR captain Asad looked aggressive and in a mood to finish the game quickly played some good shots, which were a little discouraging for us as they were about 30 in four overs at one time. That was the only time they looked in command thanks to Rahul who intimidated them with his pace and bounce and Bharath who happened to beat them on quite a few occasions with his good line and length. Asad went on to play a lofted shot down the ground but ended up giving a very high catch to Anand again at the gully and point region. “Catch it” followed by “It’s mine” was the only words people heard before going into a pin drop silence and waiting for the ball to be comfortable caught. The danger man was gone and it really charged us and made us more positive. After that Rahul had his share to contribute and compete with his partner. He bowled the next two batsmen rather cleanly and attacked on their backbone. They were soon tottering at 45/4 and we knew just 4 more wickets, as they were only 9. This made us positive and we attacked them. Rahul and Bharath bowled as many as 13 overs continuously between them giving us crucial breakthroughs whenever a need was arisen and without showing any sign of getting tired. We bundled them out for 60 in 15.2 overs and won by 29 runs which is a huge margin given the paltry target that we had set for them.
Every win is special but this one is undoubtedly the best given the way we defended the paltry total of 89 to be chased in 40 overs and most importantly supposedly the weakest team fielded by KCC this season. I didn’t have many options in terms of bowling today and was mainly dependent on Rahul and Sumit. Since Sumit didn’t look good, my gut feeling went for Bharath who delivered to the best of my likings. They were hungry for wickets without showing any sign of fatigue or discomfort balling almost full of their quotas in a single spell. I knew that there would never be a second spell for any bowler so I had no other option too. I had options in Rana and Hari, but they haven’t been so regular in the past as far as bowling in a match situation in concerned so was also a little reluctant to give them a chance.
Well, Rahul and Bharath did win the game for us but this was equally backed up by a kind of strong and charged up fielding which was something new for us in this game. Singles were saved, catches were taken and they were made to run even for this paltry target. A few important contributions apart from the obvious ones, I would like to mention are:
1. Fielding was excellent. Vikram and Rana doing the job in the best possible manner at third man and the deep fine square leg boundary respectively. Bhanu did a good job in the square leg region with impressive throws. Initially Mani was a little shaky in the mid wicket region but he did a good job at the end saving a few singles. Sumit deserves a rather unusual mention in this department for a change who was quick and fiery in the long off region. No boundaries whatsoever even though the balls were hit with strong power, it was not sufficient enough to pierce through him.
2. Krishna missed a simple chance in the first over but he recovered from it and got one later on. He did superb stuff towards the end by saving us a few runs behind the stumps, which were not easy given the variations with which the boys were bowling.
3. Self-motivation was the key. Trust me, I didn’t do anything to motivate anyone in this game. When the boys become self-motivated and start applying themselves like this, the job of the captain is nothing. I really wish we had the same determination and attitude in the games to come and in all the departments.
We would have next weekend off because of thanks giving and in the mean time I would think something about the practice so that we give players like Hari, Bhanu, Vikram and Mani a lot more chances during the practice. Hari and Bhanu are the two guys in my mind right now who would be given chances to be groomed as regular bowler for KCC-B. Anyways that will happen after the break. For the time being everyone deserves a big hand for this win.
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: 1The 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.
KCCB Vs CVB Summary
This was our third game of the league and for a change the final result was different. We registered our first win of the tournament and that too it was a comprehensive one. KCC B beat CVB by a huge margin of 84 runs. A detailed score card is attached.
We lost the toss and were asked to BAT. This game saw the best opening partnership for us when Sumit and Anurag opened the innings for us and they played cautiously and responsibly. They got us to a flying start with about 61 runs in 11 overs. Anurag continued from where he had left in the previous game and re-enforced the belief of KCB getting a good opener. Anurag scored 16 runs off 42 balls, which in my opinion is very good at the start of the innings. He together with Sumit laid the basic foundation of a huge total for KCB. Finally Sumit proved his much talked talent by overcoming his sixth over blues. He looked determined from the start for a big one and played a superb innings responsibly. After Anurag’s fall, Mahesh was tried at number 3. Sumit then became aggressive and hit a few wonderful and unbelievable boundaries. But Mahesh didn’t last long in an attempt to accelerate the innings further. Perhaps some lollypops bowling at the middle were a little too inviting for him that he went down the crease only to get stumped. Sumit was joined by Gopi in the middle who started in a big bang fashion hitting a huge SIX over backward square leg boundary off the very first ball. A lack of patience and a few drops of over confidence again proved to be fatal for Gopi when he tried to go down the track for a big one but only ended up being caught at mid wicket boundary. Anand joined Sumit in the middle but played on to his middle stump off an absolute Yorker off the very first ball. This left KCC-B tottering at 110/4 and what looked a very good start till now was soon looking like another middle overs debacle. Rahul, the vice captain then joined Sumit in the middle and in spite of so many wickets fallen recently, he started butchering the attack in Dhoni style. At one time he was 21 off just 7 balls and it looked like he is aiming for some world record (or at least AZ cricket record). Sumit continued the same cautious approach mixed with aggression at times till the drinks were called for. After the drinks, Sumit reached his well deserved half-century off as many balls but he soon departed. Score read 139/5 at the end of 21.5 overs. Shivaji, who was a replacement to Sandeep at the very last moment and a very short notice, thanks to the late night masti of Sandeep, joined Rahul at the middle. He was also bowled off an absolute Yorker off the very first ball in much the same fashion as Anand was. Till now, KCC was scoring at a reasonable rate but it looked like they would finish much before the allotted 40 overs. KCC scorecard soon read 139/6 in 21.6 overs. Mr. Bhagwaan then joined Rahul in the middle and started cautiously. Rahul kept playing his aggressive innings and made his intentions clear for a big one provided KCC lower order existed there to support him. Krishna supported Rahul well and was doing fine but I guess he would never get away with his well devised kill me shot. He was out in his own fashion for 13 off 21 balls with KCC at 185/7 in 27.3 overs. The best part of this partnership was 46 runs off 35 balls and needless to say a major contribution came from Rahul who hit a few wonderful sixes over the shortest boundary fence at chandler-2 ground. I guess this was a perfect example of making most of the prevalent situation and conditions. Bharath who was a debut in this match replaced Krishna. Bharath was comfortable at the middle given his first match and looked a decent prospect for future. He supported Rahul well and played some aggressive shots too, which allowed Rahul too to play his aggressive shots. Bharath and Rahul together added 41 runs off 36 balls before Bharath was out for 26 off 24 balls. It was a very good innings lower down the order. Srujal and Gunjan followed one by one. Gunjan tried to give as much chances as possible to Rahul so that he could complete his well-deserved century but Rahul was adjudged LBW in the 38th over after making 96 off just 62 deliveries. Absolutely wonderful innings but unfortunate on missing out a century, which would have been first for KCC this season. KCC scored 269/10 in 37.2 overs thereby setting a target of 270 in 40 overs for CVB.
CVB started their chase in a big bang fashion and Gunjan was hammered all over in his first over itself. His rhythm was missing and he was struggling. Gopi did a fine job from the other end but was very unlucky on not getting a wicket. A change in bowling did the trick when Rahul replaced Gunjan in 5th over and clean bowled one of the openers. It felt, this was Rahul’s day. Gopi and Rahul maintained the pressure. Srujal replaced Gopi and continued his superb form. His line and length were accurate and was very miser in terms of runs. Rahul was replaced with Shivaji who proved his worth by bowling a splendid spell. The pressure was mounting on the CVB batsman and it was never going to be easy from there. Sumit gave us 2 successive break through in the same over and it was like the final nail in the CVB’s coffin. Finally CVB were all out for 185 in 33.5 overs.
This win has come from a few top class individual performances, which have been listed down:
Rahul: 96 off 62 balls and 2/24
Sumit: 54 off 57 balls and 2/ 20
Bharath: 26 off 24 balls
Krishna: Good work behind the wickets and 13 useful runs
Anurag: 15 off 40 balls at the start of the innings
Gopi, Srujal and Shivaji: Tight bowling to death.
Needless to say, rests of the guys have to learn from the above ones and raise their games in an order to contribute towards to victory in the upcoming matches. We have to understand that Rahul will not score a 50 in every game and we will not have a very good opening partnership like this in every game. The key is to accept the responsibility, enjoy the game and contribute to win. The new way of doing practice might not have contributed positively in this game but I believe this is a long-term process and will take time. Please be patient. We definitely looked like improved from previous few games as far as fielding placements and bowling changes are concerned. We still have to work on fielding and especially on the catches. As many as 3 absolute sitters were dropped they might cost us the game if we do not enjoy to have a big total.
This season, this was the first win for KCC as a club and me as a captain. This will be special for me always. What could have been a better occasion to buy a new car for me than this one? J.
I would like to thank everyone involved in this game and special thanks must go to Shivaji for coming there at a very short notice as a replacement for Sandeep.
Let us continue in the same vein guys.
KCCB Vs SCC Summary
This was our second game of the league. The final result might look the same as for the opening game but we definitely looked improved barring a few aspects, which we have to address making full use of 2 weeks break before we move on to our 3rd game.
We won the toss and decided to field. A few players wanted to bat but we were not sure about the kind of bounce etc this pitch would offer so final call went to field. We started off well with Sandeep and Rahul opening the bowling for KCC and Sandeep gave us a breakthrough soon in the game. But their second wicket played really well and a wicket looked elusive to us. Lots of bowling changes were done in a desperate attempt to get a break through. KCCB Bowlers bowled well, but thanks to the way Ketan and Fahad from SCC batted coupled with a few chances that they got early on, they went on to score heavily against us. A major contributing factor in favor of SCC was the size and the form of the ground and perhaps they were aware of it more than we were, so they made most of it. Rana was the man who got rid of Ketan in his 2nd over (14th over of the game) and we looked like coming back. But Fahad rode on a few bold strokes as well as his share of luck and went of to finally score a nice century. At the end of 40th over they set us a target of 257.
Bowling performance from KCB were (Based on my memory):Rana: - (1/33 in 6 overs)
Sandeep: - (2 in 8 overs)
Mahesh: - 1 wicket
Sumit Garg: -1 wicket.Most of the bowlers bowled well in bits of pieces but the consistency was lacking. The field placement has been a big concern mainly after being hammered for a few runs. We hope to improve on this account before the next game.
We started off our chase at a pace, which could be called the best I have seen in recent times, and for a moment it seemed anything was possible. The positive start from Anurag and Sumit garg produced 31 runs in 3 overs. But then we lost both of our openers in quick succession. Anand and Himanshu Pal looked well but the continuously mounting run rate took a toll on them and they also fell in quick succession and KCB was found tottering at 49/4 in 10 overs. After this, Rana and Rahul batted well with full responsibility. Rahul did not hesitate in attacking the bowler now and then while Rana believed in holding one end to the best of his capability. They added 75 runs for the fifth wicket between then and tried to put KCCB back in the game. In the process Rahul played an aggressive innings bringing his fifty off 47 balls. In most part of this partnership Rana played a second fiddle yet crucial role. Finally Rahul was out at 53 in a manner he perhaps didn’t deserve. Nonetheless a beautiful counter-attacking inning came to an end. Sandeep at the middle joined Rana and again 31 runs were added for 6th wicket before Rana went on to give a simple catch at the square leg boundary. Rana scored 14 runs of 38 balls. It might look a very slow innings on paper but given the conditions, it was a class act. In a 40 over game, chasing over 6 runs per over, there needs to be someone who is responsible to hold one end like the WALL. Rana exactly did that. Sandeep looked good right from the start. His feet movement was really good and so was his running between the wickets, occasionally hitting a few boundaries now and then and keeping the scorecard moving at a decent run rate.
After Rana, Sandeep was joined by Krishna who looked good for the time he lasted but perhaps was in a hurry to score quickly and lost his wicket. This brought Srujal in the middle and he with Sandeep tried to bring some life to the game and they were quite successful. Sandeep was already a set batsman and he was making most of the loose deliveries they will bowl to him. Srujal partnered with him aggressively and they took us close to the final score. Sandeep did give up finally to the tiredness but at the end, it was a master class. He ended up scoring 59 off 60 balls. He together with Srujal added run a ball 50 for the 8th wicket. Srujal was not out on 27 off 23 balls and Vikram on 2. We managed not to lose all of our wickets and gave them some fight at the end reaching 227/8 in 40 overs reducing the margin of defeat by just 29 runs in a match where close to 500 runs were scored.
A few batting contributions from KCCB:Anurag 11 off 14 balls
Sumit 18 off 12 balls
Pal 10 off 20 balls
Rahul 53 off 48 balls
Rana 15 off 38 balls
Sandeep 59 off 60 balls
Srujal 27 off 23 ballsI believe we have learnt a lot of things from this game. The positive point is a few different players have got runs under their belts this time and this augurs well for the future games. We understand that we have some problems as far as setting field placement is concerned and we would utilize the break of two weeks in correcting that. This break is an opportunity for us to think about our individual games at times we are free and be ready for the next one.
I would also like to thank all the 11 players who did their bit given a chance and a special thanks to MANI, a new addition to our B team who turned up as 12th man and fielded to his strength and gave us some breaks and options in between.
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