Cricket returned to Freiburg after a gap of 10 months when we went down fighting against Winterthur Cricket Club. Our last victory in a home game came against Basel in Aug, 2012.
Consistency is important. As I always say winning one odd match can happen even by chance. Before the start of the game, including the last season's matches our record read as WLLLW. Three losses in a row. So we were very eager to keep the momentum going and win at home turf.
The day was just beautiful. It was a bright sunny day and the forecast was for a very hot afternoon. As the wicket stayed in the sun for some time, it had flattened under its own weight and solar energy. So we knew that there will be bounce.
Eagle CC decided to bat first on an unknown pitch. Right from the first delivery I knew that there was pace and bounce. Real surprise was the swing that we started to get right away. The first wicket came on the first delivery (third of the match) aimed at stumps. By the time the first spell of me and Saghir ended the score card read 14 for 4 in six overs.
Vijay bring in Arpit and Pranjal. The wickets kept tumbling and in next eight overs both of them had three wickets each. Eagle CC has folded for 25 runs. Saghir and I thought we were very economical (6 overs for 14 runs) but Arpit and Pranjal bowled 8 or 9 overs for 9 runs. It was just a brilliant combination of medium pace of Pranjal and slow left arm spin of Arpit that our guests had not clue what was going on.
Also I must say that Eagle CC did not show any commitment. There was one run out but the remaining nine wickets fell as clean bowled. Yes, a couple of catches could have been held in the slips but that would not any qualitative difference.
Under normal circumstances we would have eased out after seeing the scores at the end of four overs. But that being a league game we remained ruthless. Partly it was because it was a league game and every point mattered, partly because we were not informed about the quality of Eagle CC batting/bowling. This is what league bring to you...
Our chase was expected to be quick but we were surprised by a sharp catch which costed us Rehan's wicket. But Vijay and Arpit made sure that we chased the target in little less than five overs without any further surprises. Since their batting imploded there was not much left for the Eagle CC bowlers, which was a pity because thought their bowling could have created a contest if only there was some score on the borad to defend.
As such I think that no serious team is worth getting out for 25 runs, that is any team should be capable of making more runs and in fact, we have seen Eagle CC score more. I study stochastic processes so I know one can show that perhaps the massive success of our bowling was just a chance. But one ought to have seen the quality of our bowling that day before reaching any conclusions. We were just superb and if not for 25 we could have reduced them to something more reasonable (60+) score. In fact, on such a beautiful sunny day when all our bowlers were in rhythm we could have decimated any opposition. I am sure that Eagle Cricket Club can put this behind... but only if they show some commitment and value their wicket.
It was a home fixture so FNCC players had a lot to organize. The field organisation and other logistics went well but can be improved and will be improved. Real surprise in the lunch was 'helva' that Arpit brought.
From now on there are only tough fixtures for us. These previous two games have revealed some important aspects of the FNCC character. But I am sure there is more to FNCC and we can do better. Our fragile middle order remains a worry and the last match did not give us any chance... there are always avenues for improvement and thats what FNCC is all about....
right arm over
Arvind
Consistency is important. As I always say winning one odd match can happen even by chance. Before the start of the game, including the last season's matches our record read as WLLLW. Three losses in a row. So we were very eager to keep the momentum going and win at home turf.
The day was just beautiful. It was a bright sunny day and the forecast was for a very hot afternoon. As the wicket stayed in the sun for some time, it had flattened under its own weight and solar energy. So we knew that there will be bounce.
Eagle CC decided to bat first on an unknown pitch. Right from the first delivery I knew that there was pace and bounce. Real surprise was the swing that we started to get right away. The first wicket came on the first delivery (third of the match) aimed at stumps. By the time the first spell of me and Saghir ended the score card read 14 for 4 in six overs.
Vijay bring in Arpit and Pranjal. The wickets kept tumbling and in next eight overs both of them had three wickets each. Eagle CC has folded for 25 runs. Saghir and I thought we were very economical (6 overs for 14 runs) but Arpit and Pranjal bowled 8 or 9 overs for 9 runs. It was just a brilliant combination of medium pace of Pranjal and slow left arm spin of Arpit that our guests had not clue what was going on.
Also I must say that Eagle CC did not show any commitment. There was one run out but the remaining nine wickets fell as clean bowled. Yes, a couple of catches could have been held in the slips but that would not any qualitative difference.
Under normal circumstances we would have eased out after seeing the scores at the end of four overs. But that being a league game we remained ruthless. Partly it was because it was a league game and every point mattered, partly because we were not informed about the quality of Eagle CC batting/bowling. This is what league bring to you...
Our chase was expected to be quick but we were surprised by a sharp catch which costed us Rehan's wicket. But Vijay and Arpit made sure that we chased the target in little less than five overs without any further surprises. Since their batting imploded there was not much left for the Eagle CC bowlers, which was a pity because thought their bowling could have created a contest if only there was some score on the borad to defend.
As such I think that no serious team is worth getting out for 25 runs, that is any team should be capable of making more runs and in fact, we have seen Eagle CC score more. I study stochastic processes so I know one can show that perhaps the massive success of our bowling was just a chance. But one ought to have seen the quality of our bowling that day before reaching any conclusions. We were just superb and if not for 25 we could have reduced them to something more reasonable (60+) score. In fact, on such a beautiful sunny day when all our bowlers were in rhythm we could have decimated any opposition. I am sure that Eagle Cricket Club can put this behind... but only if they show some commitment and value their wicket.
It was a home fixture so FNCC players had a lot to organize. The field organisation and other logistics went well but can be improved and will be improved. Real surprise in the lunch was 'helva' that Arpit brought.
From now on there are only tough fixtures for us. These previous two games have revealed some important aspects of the FNCC character. But I am sure there is more to FNCC and we can do better. Our fragile middle order remains a worry and the last match did not give us any chance... there are always avenues for improvement and thats what FNCC is all about....
right arm over
Arvind
Tis might be the lowest total to be chased by FNCC since i have been around. Let's see what more surprises are in store in the league.
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