This is a season of one sided matches. This weekend saw two such encounters, both won by FNCC. The first was good clinical effort but the second was just a shear domination. Perhaps one thing that rescues the on-sided matches is the individual feats -- at the end of the day Cricket remains an individual games played in team formation.
The century
Nobody deserved a century more than Saghir. We have seen Pandiyan scored one, then Rehan has collected few. But Saghir is the one from whom one expects more. Vijay is another of those guys who everyone would like to score a ton.
Saghir was having a mix of a season. Some false starts, some unlucky dismissals but there was light at the end of the tunnel we knew it, he knew it, the interesting point was who will be at the receiving end. Perhaps none expected that it would be such a bright one. After few watchful overs, Saghir dominated the bowling completely. With every shot the ball went higher up and further. In fact, each of those sixes went out of the ground. More than that, those shots just demoralized the opposition.
Cricket is nothing if not partnerships. You can score all your runs by yourself. Saghir ran a lot with Vijay and then with Balaji. Both Vijay and Balaji while accumulating their runs (40+ and 30+, respectively), aptly supported Saghir.
Vijay's effort was completely overshadowed by Saghir's brilliance but in its own right, Vijays played a superb innings. It was a pleasure to see that shot selection and the partnership between two most equipped batsmen of FNCC.
After those spectacular batting effort, FNCC almost forgot how badly they started off. Vishv is now starting to taste what it means to open the batting. He was bowled off the first ball of the match. Rehan did not last too either.
Finally, we invited the St. Gallen team to chase 232 in 35 overs. It was a touch more than 6 an over and we know that once the pitch settles, its not that difficult to chase such a target but it requires some really patience and intelligent batting, just big hits cannot take you there.
The hattrick
An LBW, but there was a hint of doubt that it might have nicked the bat, then a clean bowled, as if to confirm that the previous wicket was not just a fluke and then he awaited for an over finish. And when he returned, he claimed another LBW. At our level to claim an LBW means that there was no chance for the umpire to hide. What an effort by Imtiyaz.
There have been at least two other instances previously by Rehan and Asif, and we had the third hatrick. After such bowling, the batting teams was completely tamed and they just played to the tunes set by the bowlers.
Nila capped it with a quick burst of three wickets. Before Imtiyaz and Nila, Srinath claimed a wicket on the first ball of his spell in the second consecutive match. What a day we were having.
It was almost immaterial that I had left the field after bowling just two overs, unable to stand with the shin pain.
St. Gallen folded meekly with a deficit of more than 100 runs.
The aftermath
There is no math needed after such performances. But as I have said earlier, we only as good as our opposition allows us to be. A good opposition will make you work for the win, and easy victory has the tendency to hide the chinks in the armour. Moreover, an easy win is only a testament that the opposition was not having a good day.
We know that the St. Gallen are a very good side. And it will be a different game when we meet next time around.
Despite all these things, even if that weekend was a complete fluke and those two great shows by FNCC were statistical expected, FNCC still deserve all the praise to hold the statistics.
The century
Nobody deserved a century more than Saghir. We have seen Pandiyan scored one, then Rehan has collected few. But Saghir is the one from whom one expects more. Vijay is another of those guys who everyone would like to score a ton.
Saghir was having a mix of a season. Some false starts, some unlucky dismissals but there was light at the end of the tunnel we knew it, he knew it, the interesting point was who will be at the receiving end. Perhaps none expected that it would be such a bright one. After few watchful overs, Saghir dominated the bowling completely. With every shot the ball went higher up and further. In fact, each of those sixes went out of the ground. More than that, those shots just demoralized the opposition.
Cricket is nothing if not partnerships. You can score all your runs by yourself. Saghir ran a lot with Vijay and then with Balaji. Both Vijay and Balaji while accumulating their runs (40+ and 30+, respectively), aptly supported Saghir.
Vijay's effort was completely overshadowed by Saghir's brilliance but in its own right, Vijays played a superb innings. It was a pleasure to see that shot selection and the partnership between two most equipped batsmen of FNCC.
After those spectacular batting effort, FNCC almost forgot how badly they started off. Vishv is now starting to taste what it means to open the batting. He was bowled off the first ball of the match. Rehan did not last too either.
Finally, we invited the St. Gallen team to chase 232 in 35 overs. It was a touch more than 6 an over and we know that once the pitch settles, its not that difficult to chase such a target but it requires some really patience and intelligent batting, just big hits cannot take you there.
The hattrick
An LBW, but there was a hint of doubt that it might have nicked the bat, then a clean bowled, as if to confirm that the previous wicket was not just a fluke and then he awaited for an over finish. And when he returned, he claimed another LBW. At our level to claim an LBW means that there was no chance for the umpire to hide. What an effort by Imtiyaz.
There have been at least two other instances previously by Rehan and Asif, and we had the third hatrick. After such bowling, the batting teams was completely tamed and they just played to the tunes set by the bowlers.
Nila capped it with a quick burst of three wickets. Before Imtiyaz and Nila, Srinath claimed a wicket on the first ball of his spell in the second consecutive match. What a day we were having.
It was almost immaterial that I had left the field after bowling just two overs, unable to stand with the shin pain.
St. Gallen folded meekly with a deficit of more than 100 runs.
The aftermath
There is no math needed after such performances. But as I have said earlier, we only as good as our opposition allows us to be. A good opposition will make you work for the win, and easy victory has the tendency to hide the chinks in the armour. Moreover, an easy win is only a testament that the opposition was not having a good day.
We know that the St. Gallen are a very good side. And it will be a different game when we meet next time around.
Despite all these things, even if that weekend was a complete fluke and those two great shows by FNCC were statistical expected, FNCC still deserve all the praise to hold the statistics.
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