Two Scintillating Matches And A Sunny Feeling In The End

We had two awesome matches this past Sunday. After a long time we saw two very well balanced teams pitched against each other. The weather was perfect too, quite sunny but the sun was beating down as much. In fact it was quite pleasant. Another great thing was most of the players were on the ground by 7:40, we are definitely making some progress here. After some catch practice Rajesh and Pankaj stepped aside to form teams and after the toss the winning team took center stage and the game began.

Team A: Venki, Siddharth, Pratik (new guy), Rajesh and Abhijeet J

Team B: Pankaj, Amit, Partha, Chandru and Anand

- Vamshi was common player in the first match.

- In the second match Rajesh left and so Vamshi played for Team B and I played for Team A

I think Team A won the toss and elected the bat. Amit and Partha opened the innings. I am not sure how they both got out, but I think one of them got out within the first two overs and I went in as a replacement. I vividly remember trying to drive an outside the off stump delivery and missing it by miles and Pankaj reprimanding me from the other end. I did not heed and on the third ball gave a top edge and got out. Venki took a great running catch. I could hear Pankaj mutter under his breath hoping Venki would drop the catch. I felt really bad having squandered a perfectly good chance to play a responsible innings for once. This brought Vamshi and Pankaj together. I think 2 (or maybe 3) overs were up and the score was a dismal 2. Team A was salivating at the fact of getting the rest of the team out quickly and starting a new game soon. But unfortunately for them Vamshi and Pankaj had slightly different plans. Pankaj survived two run-out attempts but made it count. They played superbly, waiting for the odd lose ball and finding the gaps accurately. If I am not mistaken then I think it was in this innings that Pankaj hit a fabulous six over long on and Vamshi was right there with him. I remember commenting to Chandru that it covered both height and distance. It was an amazing and confident shot. Pankaj was the first one to depart. It was a slightly controversial decision and under normal circumstances he would have been adjudged not-out. In fact Venki even offered him to return to the crease and continue to play. He had hit a rising delivery and it hat ballooned to the fielder. Partha, standing at deep square leg called it a No-ball, requesting Pankaj to stay his ground. But Pankaj, like a true sportsman wasn’t too happy with himself having survived two run-out chances (where it wasn't his fault at all) decided to hang his boots. Chandru joined Vamshi in the middle and the duo continued where Pankaj had left off. Now Vamshi started roaring and went for some big hits. One of these did him in when Siddharth took a very well judged catch on the boundary line. It was a huge hit, soaring into the sky and all of us close-in fielders thought that it would definitely scale the rope. But at the same time we could see Siddharth trying to run and get under the ball while balancing himself so as not to go over the rope. In the end he took a fantastic catch not breaching the boundary line. It was a befitting way for a boisterous innings to come to an end. If you think Team A could heave a sigh of relief then you are mistaken. Chandru frustrated them to no end … yes this is the word that kept creeping up in my mind seeing Chandru bat. His placement was impeccable. He was able to find the gaps very well, but the real beauty was the way he played the shots. He used to lob the ball just enough to clear the fielder affording him enough time to dash for a single or two. they were by no way chances, but calculated shots deserving great applause! This way he got quite a few runs and when he got out the score-board read 47. It was a great score given that the team had lost nearly 3 wickets for 2 runs in as many overs.

Venki  and Pratik (the new guy, introduced to the team by Partha) opened the innings for Team A. Being new, Pratik took some time to settle down, but in the end he did great because he stayed all the way till the end. Both the openers concentrated on getting runs in the form of singles and twos. They ran well between the wickets. They played with great ease, never really being under pressure. They seemed to concentrate more on the leg-side, with not only the wayward leg-side deliveries but even those bowled on the middle stump disappearing in that region. Venki successfully tried couple of reverse sweeps showcasing his wide array of shots. I was at the receiving end of couple of such shots. On one such occasion, I could see him change his stance, but I wasn’t quick enough to modulate my action and send a fuller delivery down the leg-side. Team B really didn’t have an answer to this duo and they finally declared their innings in the 4^th over after scoring 18 runs. As you can see their run rate was great. They needed to make just 30 more runs from 8 overs with 6 wickets in hand. Siddharth and Abhijeet carried the mantle from the openers and played as if there was no change in the stance. The flow of runs continued. Abhijeet got out giving a  top edge. I think Siddharth got out while trying to sneak an additional run. Suddenly Team A found itself at the receiving end. From a position of strength they quickly found themselves going on the defensive. Team B had scripted a great turnaround, with Pankaj being the main architect. He bowled very well troubling Venki in his first over. But just like they did at the start of the innings the opening duo (who had retired earlier) combined well towards the end too. Venki perfectly played the role of a coach calming Pratik down and helping him stay cool. Finally when 2 runs were needed Venki got out by giving a simple catch in the mid-on region. This left Pratik at the crease. He was  ball of nerves at this point of time, but seemed to be carrying himself quite well. Team B sensing victory went for the kill and had most of the fielders stand close-in. The game could go either way. Pratik could either try to take the aerial route or find a gap, both of which sounded quite difficult. But in the end playing cautiously, he just nudged one in the off and scored two runs thus taking his team through. As you can see the match was quite entertaining. First Team B rose like a phoenix scoring 24 runs on the trot and then Chandru frustrated Team A to take the score to a respectable 47. Team A had a dream start which was followed by a mini collapse towards the end and had a near heart-stop in the final stages only to be rescued by Pratik who had to keep calm to see his team through. I haven’t seen such a  close match in a long time. This had set the stage for second match, but nothing prepared either of teams for what happened in the first innings of the second match followed by a  great fight in the next.

Team A decided to take the matters into their own hands and batted first in the second match. Rajesh had to leave early so Vamshi, who was the common player in the first match was moved to Team B and I replaced Rajesh in Team A. I am not sure who opened the innings but the only thing that I remember is the onslaught launched by Venki. He went ballistic and was scoring at will. This wouldn’t have been the case had I held onto a lolly which he sent straight down to me standing at point. It was the first ball that he faced which he tried to slice and it carried fast and straight to me. I was hoping for something like this and in fact had been fantasizing about it few deliveries ago. but it took me by surprise resulting in a  fumble. This was not the only time I gave Venki a life. Later in the innings standing at deep square leg I could not hold onto another catch giving him his second life. But just like Pankaj, he made every ball count and made me rue the fact that much more. I remember one particular shot, I was standing at deep square leg and could see Pankaj coming own his run-up to bowl and even before the ball was released, Venki had started dancing down the pitch. I am sure Pankaj altered his course and bowled a slightly different length, but that didn’t stop Venki and he hit the ball in a  grand fashion in the long on region and I think it went for a four. Siddharth and Pratik gave him good company with the former staying with him and playing all the way till the end, where things got a bit controversial … though only between Venki and Siddharth. They tried to steal a run when the person running towards the non-striker’s end got out. Venki made a dash and so Siddharth had to follow suit … now you be the judge as to who got out and who remained unbeaten. In any case Team A wasn’t laughing. They had a humongous score to scale, 66 in 8 overs setting up the stage for an interesting second innings

Team B’s work was cut out. They had to go for it and had to go in a big way. They had to draw from their various IPL viewings and pull either a Suresh Raina or a Wriddhiman Saha …. and which they did showing some great promise. I think Pankaj and Vamshi  opened and played in a grand style. They started cutting and slicing from the word go and showed some excellent running between the wickets. Pankaj was already tired from his running in the first innings followed by some fast bowling in the next. To come back after another bowling spell and run the first run fast in order to score a second run was too much to ask, but he was doing it and Vamshi was giving him great company. They hit some great shots and for a while it appeared as if they might just take the game away from Team A. Venki appeared slightly worried, because his team had started showing signs of crumbling. There were some mis-fields and some pure impassioned backing-up leading to more bleeding. And Team B was capitalizing on all of this and staying on the top. I think some 39 runs were needed in the lats 3 or 4 overs and then it boiled down to 19 or 20 odd runs in the last 2 and then finally 13 in the last over. If I am not mistaken Venki gave the ball to Abhijeet to bowl the last over (I kind of remember making a  mental note about that, as Venki is known to go back to bowlers he trust. But one interesting thing with him is, past history may not necessarily earn you a second over. You will get a second over only if you perform well in the first over). It was going to be slightly tough, as Team B was going after anything and everything, but Abhijeet was able to maintain a good line and length and the finally it was just a matter of time. Having scored such a big total it was always going to be tough. It reminded me of those movies where everybody knows the ending but what matters is the treatment and this is where Team B got full marks. They showed great character, they did not wilt under pressure but rose to the occasion and went about in a  grand fashion. Losing by abut 10-12 runs means they made 54-56 in 8 overs which is nearly a  rate of 7 per over. Even bowlers like Venki went for some great shots. It was a great performance. Both the teams played fabulously but as you can have only one one winner … Team A took the honors.

The day belonged to Venki, Pankaj and Vamshi, closely followed by Siddharth and Chandru. Pratik, the new guy showed great promise. He is very active and very agile on the field and can be a great asset. He can be a great close-in fielder. I see him in the mold of Rohin, where he doesn't hesitate to give the ball a charge. He hit some great shots. One particular shot I liked was when he was slightly down the pitch and had to raise his bat to counter the beamer the bowler had sent his way. He connected and made good on his promise. He provided comic relief of the day where he was involved in couple of mis-fields. One particular instance was at the boundary line, where he was not able to get under the ball and ended up missing it. He immediately started jumping up and down cursing himself. It was quite funny! As Venki later said, he did not mind him mis-fielding till such time that he followed it up with his jumping routine laced with some expletives. Chandru impressed me with his awesome placements in the first innings of the first match. As I said earlier he absolutely frustrated the bowlers and Venki in particular as he was at a loss how to set the field for him. Pankaj and Venki complemented one another in bowling and batting departments. Pankaj appeared to be physically drained at the end of first innings bit still continued and gave his full. It was good to see him take charge, I used to wonder when he would do that. He is slowly coming into his own and managing sides. Venki played a blistering knock in the second innings ensuring a near certain win for his team. Siddharth played very responsibly excelling both in bowling and batting. He gave Venki good company in the second innings and was partly responsible for the high octane game. Abhijeet continues to improve as a bowler and a fielder. There was one particular instance where in one sweeping action he collected the ball and took a shy at the stumps knocking then down. Vamshi did good to stay back otherwise there was no way he could have made it safely on the other side.  The fact that Venki turns to him at crunch times shows his consistency. He is on the slower side but tends to bowl to the wicket and maintaining an off-side line (which many of us find very difficult to negotiate).

By the way, the day we had been waiting for finally arrived and the credit goes to Abhijeet J who brought her out from our collective imagination onto the field thus making the climate sunnier! Seeing an imprint of a washed out surfboard he thought I was wearing a Sunny Leone T-shirt. This image was enough to trigger his fertile imagination and he started jumping up and down chanting her name the moment I walked onto the field. This got everybody talking and there was even a proposal to rename the team as ‘Sunny Side Up’ or maybe even ‘Sunny’s 11’ or something like that when we were in the dug-out after the game. There was one detractor though, Amit didn't resonate the feelings expressed by the rest of the team. He doesn’t seem to be impressed with Sunny Leone as much, he prefers Shanti Dynamite!

Anyway it was great game. Normally only one of the games is entertaining, but this past Sunday we had two gems, where both the teams were very well balanced and played to their potential reminding us of one of those IPL matches (literally seeing Team B bat in the second innings of the second match, it felt as if I was watching an IPL sans the cheer leaders and the DJ).

As Rajesh pointed put in his email on Friday, we have a tournament coming up, so it would be great to have all of you participate on a regular basis. We are currently at the peak of our game. This is as good a time as any. If we can win a tournament then this it. So, please show-up for practice every Sunday, which will help the team leadership pick the playing eleven for the upcoming tournament.

See you guys on the ground on Sunday.

Have a nice rest of the week.

Bye.

Anand