It is remarkable that we have managed to win four games in a row despite continued failure of the middle order in last three matches. We lost five middle order wickets in space of 30 runs and about five overs. But it was an important game and we are very very happy to have defeated one of the strongest teams in the league. There were talks of revenge victory after the game but come on, there is no such thing in cricket. Every match is a new one played in different conditions and mostly with different teams.
SLCC innings
On a relatively unknown wicket GSLCC decided to bat first. It made sense because they are a better bowling side. Their openers played to their strength, while the scoring rate was slow (around 4) they remained on the wicket until the 26th overs. FNCC has never toiled that long for a wicket. We expected that they will accelerate after the drinks break but for some reason they were happy with the scoring rate. We knowing our pitch, outfield and batting, knew that it was not going to enough. So in the expectation of some attacking batting we kept going with the defensive approach.
In the 26th over first wicket fell to Saghir and then for some reason we thought that we could even bowl them out. I was not that optimistic because we had only 9 overs remaining. But Saghir is always very confident. So we again turned to Arpit who continued to take 3 wickets per match. After a long time I took a caught and bowled wicket. And GSLCC lost 8 wickets in the space of 20 runs and nine overs.
Our bowling as really great. Everybody bowled superbly. It was just a coincidence that Arpit, Saghir and I got the chance to bowl in the death overs and claimed wickets. Any other bowler from our side could have gotten wickets in that stage. I guess that GSLCC were waiting for some second string bowling but in this current FNCC side there is no such thing, each bowler is highly skilled and capable.
We struggled a bit in the field. I was especially guilty -- mis-judged a catch that became a six (sorry Arpit) and mis-fielded twice to give away boundaries. It was one of those rare days when even Saghir mis-fielded.
FNCC innings
Chasing 147 in 35 overs was doable but a certain degree of commitment was needed. With Arpit's batting form, it was decided to open with Raghav and Vijay. Raghav returned to cricket after a long break and was playing his first match of the season. And he grabbed the opportunity by both hands and with a solid batting. Together with Vijay he gave us a cracking start. At one point score was 32 in five overs. At that score Vijay was brilliantly caught at square-leg. He was looking in ominous touch. Perhaps Basel will have to pay the price that catch in the next match.
But Raghav kept the score ticking and at a healthy rate such that other batsmen had no pressure of scoring. It was specially good for Feyas who was also playing his first match of the league. Feyas struggled a bit and clearly he needs to be quick on getting to the ball. It was remarkable how easy it was for Raghav to bat that Saghir took the back seat for a while.
When Raghav got out after a brilliant fifty we needed 30 something runs and we made a mess of the situation. Angelo, Balaji and Bala failed to make any serious contribution. In second consecutive match I got to bat. When I went in we needed nine runs and Saghir was on the other end, so that was enough to give me confidence. But while going in I was again remembering the my mis0fielding that gave the GSLCC as many as 10 extra runs and I did not want to lose. So we did not.
It was just a great feeling to defeat a good team. But the whole atmosphere was a bit sore as our guests did not agree with the umpiring decisions. It was indeed a shame that they felt compelled to question the umpires -- this is not our style and neither could appreciate GSLCC's behavior.
Irrespective of this, in my opinion it was a very good match. While on our side Raghav and Saghir took the anchoring of batting, supported by a great bowling performance, on the GSLCC side their openers Sachin and Hasan showed great determination to give their team a solid base. Hasan later bowled superbly. Only during his bowling I learned he was observing a fast as it is the holy month of Ramadan. By his performance it was clear that his gods were on his side.
FNCC still needs to improve
I often think that the best way to judge the strength of a team is to see it in terms of how often lower order batsmen get to bat. I recall in their pomp, Glenn McGrath rarely batted for Australia. In fact, he batted only once/twice in world cup matches despite playing in four of them and winning three.
The fact that Nila and me are getting a chance to bat clearly shows that we are not a strong team. Our middle order is failing us again and again. There is no amount of urging from Vijay seems sufficient. In name of their natural game, we are bringing the team to the brink of loosing. This is something where we need to work and it is the players who bat between 5-8 places have to rethink their job for the team and accordingly shape their innings. They can do it and we have to make sure that they get a chance to do it in the practice. Another area we have reinforce ourselves is fielding. In any case overall the team is looking good.
On the umpiring, cricket and its spirit
We expected a very pleasant match -- an opinion we formed after our visit to GSLCC last season. Alas it was not to be...
SLCC innings
On a relatively unknown wicket GSLCC decided to bat first. It made sense because they are a better bowling side. Their openers played to their strength, while the scoring rate was slow (around 4) they remained on the wicket until the 26th overs. FNCC has never toiled that long for a wicket. We expected that they will accelerate after the drinks break but for some reason they were happy with the scoring rate. We knowing our pitch, outfield and batting, knew that it was not going to enough. So in the expectation of some attacking batting we kept going with the defensive approach.
In the 26th over first wicket fell to Saghir and then for some reason we thought that we could even bowl them out. I was not that optimistic because we had only 9 overs remaining. But Saghir is always very confident. So we again turned to Arpit who continued to take 3 wickets per match. After a long time I took a caught and bowled wicket. And GSLCC lost 8 wickets in the space of 20 runs and nine overs.
Our bowling as really great. Everybody bowled superbly. It was just a coincidence that Arpit, Saghir and I got the chance to bowl in the death overs and claimed wickets. Any other bowler from our side could have gotten wickets in that stage. I guess that GSLCC were waiting for some second string bowling but in this current FNCC side there is no such thing, each bowler is highly skilled and capable.
We struggled a bit in the field. I was especially guilty -- mis-judged a catch that became a six (sorry Arpit) and mis-fielded twice to give away boundaries. It was one of those rare days when even Saghir mis-fielded.
FNCC innings
Chasing 147 in 35 overs was doable but a certain degree of commitment was needed. With Arpit's batting form, it was decided to open with Raghav and Vijay. Raghav returned to cricket after a long break and was playing his first match of the season. And he grabbed the opportunity by both hands and with a solid batting. Together with Vijay he gave us a cracking start. At one point score was 32 in five overs. At that score Vijay was brilliantly caught at square-leg. He was looking in ominous touch. Perhaps Basel will have to pay the price that catch in the next match.
But Raghav kept the score ticking and at a healthy rate such that other batsmen had no pressure of scoring. It was specially good for Feyas who was also playing his first match of the league. Feyas struggled a bit and clearly he needs to be quick on getting to the ball. It was remarkable how easy it was for Raghav to bat that Saghir took the back seat for a while.
When Raghav got out after a brilliant fifty we needed 30 something runs and we made a mess of the situation. Angelo, Balaji and Bala failed to make any serious contribution. In second consecutive match I got to bat. When I went in we needed nine runs and Saghir was on the other end, so that was enough to give me confidence. But while going in I was again remembering the my mis0fielding that gave the GSLCC as many as 10 extra runs and I did not want to lose. So we did not.
It was just a great feeling to defeat a good team. But the whole atmosphere was a bit sore as our guests did not agree with the umpiring decisions. It was indeed a shame that they felt compelled to question the umpires -- this is not our style and neither could appreciate GSLCC's behavior.
Irrespective of this, in my opinion it was a very good match. While on our side Raghav and Saghir took the anchoring of batting, supported by a great bowling performance, on the GSLCC side their openers Sachin and Hasan showed great determination to give their team a solid base. Hasan later bowled superbly. Only during his bowling I learned he was observing a fast as it is the holy month of Ramadan. By his performance it was clear that his gods were on his side.
FNCC still needs to improve
I often think that the best way to judge the strength of a team is to see it in terms of how often lower order batsmen get to bat. I recall in their pomp, Glenn McGrath rarely batted for Australia. In fact, he batted only once/twice in world cup matches despite playing in four of them and winning three.
The fact that Nila and me are getting a chance to bat clearly shows that we are not a strong team. Our middle order is failing us again and again. There is no amount of urging from Vijay seems sufficient. In name of their natural game, we are bringing the team to the brink of loosing. This is something where we need to work and it is the players who bat between 5-8 places have to rethink their job for the team and accordingly shape their innings. They can do it and we have to make sure that they get a chance to do it in the practice. Another area we have reinforce ourselves is fielding. In any case overall the team is looking good.
On the umpiring, cricket and its spirit
We expected a very pleasant match -- an opinion we formed after our visit to GSLCC last season. Alas it was not to be...
Sports do not make characters they reveal it by providing certain very specific situations of your character. How do you behave when you are dominating, when you are down and struggling to keep your head up, when you win or when you loose, when conditions are favorable or the tide is against you and so. I do not know if there is any other human activity that can test you in so many different situations.
GSLCC appeared a different team when we saw them last year and earlier in the T20 tournament. On those occasions they were the winning side in conditions that suited them. Sunday last they were in somewhat unfamiliar situation and dominated by the FNCC. Their behavior was hardly respectable and justified and certainly unacceptable from a team of their calibre.
Why is that when FNCC defeats GSLCC (who in their opinion could be a weaker team) that pitch and poor umpiring become the cause and when they defeated in their home territory that was just that they were a better team.
It just cannot be that our umpires made a wrong decision every time and their umpire was fair just because we do not like to question umpires' decisions to the extent that we do not even discuss that. Human error is always their -- professional and highly rated umpires make error. But one thing is very clear that umpire is always in the in best position to judge the validity of a ball and LBWs and we have accept this fact. This is in my opinion umpires are held at such level and their decisions are respected because despite their falliability they remain in the best position to make a decision.
The pitch
Since the pitch was heavily criticised by GSLCC I am forced to add this.
I admit we play on a strange wicket. It is difficult (but no impossible) to get a good bounce in the flicx wicket. In any case the bounce remains consistent (on the lower side). A large part of the cricket is about mastering different wickets. Just because one is unfamiliar with a certain wicket does not outrightly renders that wicket unacceptable. We could as complain that the wickets in Geneva was too bouncy!! But we do not, we accept it as a part of Cricket.
We have one of the best outfields and if only you can control your game, there are enough runs in the wicket. We have been using the flicx wicket for over 10 years and we have hosted many teams.
So if GSLCC is still blaming the pitch and umpiring for their loss they need to rethink their cricket.
right arm over
Arvind
The pitch
Since the pitch was heavily criticised by GSLCC I am forced to add this.
I admit we play on a strange wicket. It is difficult (but no impossible) to get a good bounce in the flicx wicket. In any case the bounce remains consistent (on the lower side). A large part of the cricket is about mastering different wickets. Just because one is unfamiliar with a certain wicket does not outrightly renders that wicket unacceptable. We could as complain that the wickets in Geneva was too bouncy!! But we do not, we accept it as a part of Cricket.
We have one of the best outfields and if only you can control your game, there are enough runs in the wicket. We have been using the flicx wicket for over 10 years and we have hosted many teams.
So if GSLCC is still blaming the pitch and umpiring for their loss they need to rethink their cricket.
right arm over
Arvind
No comments:
Post a Comment