Nomads start the season with a win: A great team effort

A victory is important to any team. But the importance of a victory, and that too in an away game, can not be overstated for a team in rebuilding phase.

Every end of season for the Freiburg Nomads means that some of the old players will move and new player will come to the fold. This season is not different. However, this season the changes are more apparent than ever. 

In the first match of the season, that too an away game, four player made their debut and our wicket-keeper and one-down batsman was returning to competitive cricket after nearly two years. Having so many new players can go either way, while the new guys dont carry the burdens of the past, inexperience has its own set of problems. 

We tried to remove the inexperience part by having three/four very good practice sessions. This not only helped us work on our cricket but also helped us in bonding well. So we embarked on our journey from Freiburg to Ketsch we were in high spirit and keen to start the season on a winning note.

Vijay lost the toss and we bowled first. The first spell was tight. Arpit, particularly, was spot on, hardly ever the batsmen looked like going for runs. I was pretty ordinary but still runs were not coming easy and we had claimed a run out in the third over. 

Next spell of Saghir and Rajesh was very good for us. First, Rajesh, on not a very good delivery, got a wicket. There was some confusion on who wanted the catch as the ball went very high up in the air. Next Saghir had a very good LBW shout denied. But on the very next delivery he took his revenge. That was perhaps the best ball of the inning. After that until 17th over when we went in for the drinks break we were on the top with Ketsch team struggling with 54 runs in 17 over with five wickets gone. 

After drinks break our debutant bowlers started. Nila, was expensive but found his line pretty quickly. Rahul ended his first over with a wicket, Arpit took a well judged catch at the square leg boundary. Shiva, was a bit more expensive, partly because he was bowling to a rather attacking batsman. But he also ended his over with a wicket. After that the main bowlers returned. Rajesh and Arpit responded with a wicket each. It was a perfect finish by Arpit who got a wicket on the final delivery of an excellent spell. I was better in my second spell and the last over I bowled gave me lot of confidence and a wicket as I closed the batting.The target was 130 runs in 35 overs.

Except for a good partnership for the sixth wicket, Ketsch batsmen never looked comfortable. Bowlers did a very good job and they did it so because they were so very well supported by the fielders who were very well coordinated by Vijay. There was hardly any lapse in the fielding except for a couple of over throws and one dropped catch (a rather difficult one),. 

We started with Purav and Ajit in a very cautious manner. There was no pressure of the required run rate. Purav and Ajit did a very good job of seeing through the new ball bowlers. Their first bowler was very good but other bowlers were not so consistent and score kept moving with the help of extras. Ajit departed in the seventh over. Pandiyan, who had a great day behind the stumps continued his successful match with the bat. Both Purav and Pandiyan nearly took us home with their watchful but still attacking partnership of more than 60 runs. When Purav and Pandiyan got out in the same over we needed less than 30 runs to win. We had a mini-collapse as Arpit (who was promoted), Vijay and Saghir together could only brought us within 17 runs of the win. There was a small panic in our side and the Ketsch teams saw a chance to win. But with wides coming regularly there was no real problem and Rajesh and I saw the team through. 

In pre-match talk Purav said he would score a 50 and he did exactly that. Statistician may discuss how coincidental was that but I saw Purav's inning as I was doing umpiring and I can say that Purav was all along focused and determined to achieve what he had promised. A very good inning with hardly any false shot. Pandiayan was almost like a discovery as a wicketkeeper but he showed how good he can be with the bat. 

Now both Purav and Pandiyan have raised the bar, but I am sure they can do better and so can everybody else in the team. Bowlers conceded too many wides, we had  a mini collapse of the middle order. So there are things to improve but there are a lot of things to enjoy. The new players have looked promising. The older player are slowly coming to their colors. It is rather difficult to predict how the whole season will go, I would like not to build too much on the success in one match, but initial signs are looking very very positive. Moreover, everyone in the team is keen on improving and learning from mistakes.

Last season our campaign in the Baden-Wuerttemberg cricket league ended as we lost to the Ketsch team in the last must win league match. It was very disappointing as we had a good shot at the victory that time. With that in perspective, this victory was really very special and to mark it we recorded short interviews of all the players as we did after the loss last year.

I would like to thank the Ketsch team for being an excellent host.  The food was great. I look forward to return the hospitality. 

In the meantime well done nomads and lets repeat our success in Strasbourg on the coming Sunday.