The seven match winning streak of the FNCC which was continuing since their loss to Winterthur in an away fixture last season, came to an end at the home fixture against the Pak Freiburg Cricket Club.
PFCC this time around fielded a much changed team. It was great to see the older players making way for the younger lot. And that where perhaps we ended up doing a miscalculation. Perhaps we underrate the new players and PFCC reaped all the benefit.
Saghir led the FNCC team in the absence of Vijay. We won the toss and decided to bowl because we considered our batting stronger than the bowling on the day owing to the injuries of Adnan and myself. Still not give an psychological advantage early on I started the bowling. I was felling ok but not at my best. Still we had a decent start. The first signs of things going wrong appeared when Fawad smashed Nila for 19 runs in the 15th over just before the drinks. Still the score of 91/3 in 15 over was not so alarming. After drinks we took wickets regularly but somehow we took our eyes off the scoring rate. At one point in 24 overs the score was 130+ and 6 wickets down. That time I left the field and some PFCC ended up with 198 in 30 overs. Last six overs or so we gave away nearly 60 runs. This was very unfortunate bowling. Everyone was trying but perhaps a bit too hard.
Fawad along with two new players enjoyed our bowling a lot. Fawad made a well deserving half century and although he was dropped twice, once early on by Raghav. Later Zeb and Tanvir took our bowling apart in the lat few overs.
When we started our chase we knew that we had conceded 20 runs too many. This was expected to some extent given the injury list. So we shuffled our batting line up. Purav opened with Beau. They both stayed on the wicket until after the drinks, thus giving us a solid platform. But, they could not accelerate as was expecting from them. Beau continuously hit to the fielders. Purav because a touch too desperate. Loss of Pandiyan was a very big blow as we know how fast he can score and demoralize the attack. Raghav took a few too many bowls to set his eyes. When Saghir went in we were short of about 100 runs and had only 10 overs. This was a big ask. Our batting simply crumbled under this huge pressure. We were looking for few big overs but that happened only when Adnan went in and scored 17 runs in the 26th over at a stage when we needed 16 an over. His cameo gave us a respectable total but it was too little too late.
The end of match left us pondering where things went wrong. Clearly it was a case of miscalculation not of abilities. We underestimated at what rate PFCC score was moving. We failed to appreciate that lower order can also score. We underestimate how slow our openers were scoring after they looked set on the wicket. We could not bowl to the field or could not set the field to bowl.
Our lead up to the match was struck a big blow when Adnan pulled a muscle in his right hand and was reduced to a spectator for most of the match. I had earlier injured my calf muscle, Vijay was away... So we were really not our best team but this is not an excuse. We have players of great ability and they should have turned the match but sometimes it just does not happen and last Sunday was such a day.
But as I always say, loss in a match brings that rare opportunity to review the strengths and particularly the weaknesses which invariably enter in a team winning continuously.
This loss has now reveal clear cracks in our fold.
The biggest problem I see is our second line of bowling and batting. Our bowling started well but the follow up from the second and third bowling changes was not strong enough to convert the start. Instead we gave way too many extras. When the PFCC batsmen were going after our bowling there was no plan in the bowling to stop that. Thats an important area to work on.
Likewise, our batsmen failed to convert the start. It was a good solid start that required attacking batting but we succumbed to the run-rate pressure. Adnan showed a glimpse of what might have been but only a bit too late. Ability to change gears without any hiccups is an important aspect of a good batting line up and we need to work on it.
Fielding was a bit of disappointment but I would blame the bowlers for either not bowling to the field or not setting up the right field. Yes, we need to work on our throws. Beau showed how i should be done and we all can learn a lot from him.
But the most important aspect of the match was that it ended without any incident. This is really important that the two teams in Freiburg maintain a friendly relationship. Last few encounters were marred with several unfortunate incidents. The apparent change of guard in the PFCC is a very important development. I am very much looking forward to play more matches with PFCC but we should remember that too much familiarity brings contempt and this never more true when dealing with the 'desis'. But this match could mark a new start in our relationship with PFCC.
In this match Beau, Ehsan and Md. Ashraff (Angelo) made their debut for the FNCC. I would also like to welcome Walid Butt who decided to become part of the FNCC. With such new players coming into the team and the club we are growing stronger and there is not reason that we can repair the crack in our team and put the loss behind us.
PFCC this time around fielded a much changed team. It was great to see the older players making way for the younger lot. And that where perhaps we ended up doing a miscalculation. Perhaps we underrate the new players and PFCC reaped all the benefit.
Saghir led the FNCC team in the absence of Vijay. We won the toss and decided to bowl because we considered our batting stronger than the bowling on the day owing to the injuries of Adnan and myself. Still not give an psychological advantage early on I started the bowling. I was felling ok but not at my best. Still we had a decent start. The first signs of things going wrong appeared when Fawad smashed Nila for 19 runs in the 15th over just before the drinks. Still the score of 91/3 in 15 over was not so alarming. After drinks we took wickets regularly but somehow we took our eyes off the scoring rate. At one point in 24 overs the score was 130+ and 6 wickets down. That time I left the field and some PFCC ended up with 198 in 30 overs. Last six overs or so we gave away nearly 60 runs. This was very unfortunate bowling. Everyone was trying but perhaps a bit too hard.
Fawad along with two new players enjoyed our bowling a lot. Fawad made a well deserving half century and although he was dropped twice, once early on by Raghav. Later Zeb and Tanvir took our bowling apart in the lat few overs.
When we started our chase we knew that we had conceded 20 runs too many. This was expected to some extent given the injury list. So we shuffled our batting line up. Purav opened with Beau. They both stayed on the wicket until after the drinks, thus giving us a solid platform. But, they could not accelerate as was expecting from them. Beau continuously hit to the fielders. Purav because a touch too desperate. Loss of Pandiyan was a very big blow as we know how fast he can score and demoralize the attack. Raghav took a few too many bowls to set his eyes. When Saghir went in we were short of about 100 runs and had only 10 overs. This was a big ask. Our batting simply crumbled under this huge pressure. We were looking for few big overs but that happened only when Adnan went in and scored 17 runs in the 26th over at a stage when we needed 16 an over. His cameo gave us a respectable total but it was too little too late.
The end of match left us pondering where things went wrong. Clearly it was a case of miscalculation not of abilities. We underestimated at what rate PFCC score was moving. We failed to appreciate that lower order can also score. We underestimate how slow our openers were scoring after they looked set on the wicket. We could not bowl to the field or could not set the field to bowl.
Our lead up to the match was struck a big blow when Adnan pulled a muscle in his right hand and was reduced to a spectator for most of the match. I had earlier injured my calf muscle, Vijay was away... So we were really not our best team but this is not an excuse. We have players of great ability and they should have turned the match but sometimes it just does not happen and last Sunday was such a day.
But as I always say, loss in a match brings that rare opportunity to review the strengths and particularly the weaknesses which invariably enter in a team winning continuously.
This loss has now reveal clear cracks in our fold.
The biggest problem I see is our second line of bowling and batting. Our bowling started well but the follow up from the second and third bowling changes was not strong enough to convert the start. Instead we gave way too many extras. When the PFCC batsmen were going after our bowling there was no plan in the bowling to stop that. Thats an important area to work on.
Likewise, our batsmen failed to convert the start. It was a good solid start that required attacking batting but we succumbed to the run-rate pressure. Adnan showed a glimpse of what might have been but only a bit too late. Ability to change gears without any hiccups is an important aspect of a good batting line up and we need to work on it.
Fielding was a bit of disappointment but I would blame the bowlers for either not bowling to the field or not setting up the right field. Yes, we need to work on our throws. Beau showed how i should be done and we all can learn a lot from him.
But the most important aspect of the match was that it ended without any incident. This is really important that the two teams in Freiburg maintain a friendly relationship. Last few encounters were marred with several unfortunate incidents. The apparent change of guard in the PFCC is a very important development. I am very much looking forward to play more matches with PFCC but we should remember that too much familiarity brings contempt and this never more true when dealing with the 'desis'. But this match could mark a new start in our relationship with PFCC.
In this match Beau, Ehsan and Md. Ashraff (Angelo) made their debut for the FNCC. I would also like to welcome Walid Butt who decided to become part of the FNCC. With such new players coming into the team and the club we are growing stronger and there is not reason that we can repair the crack in our team and put the loss behind us.
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