WCC impresses with depleted bowling attack and produces a comfortable chase

It was a nervous night and all reason to be. The first match of a new season and I was back as captain. Back to club cricket after a long gap. And that too having a depleted bowling side in hand, I knew it was going to be difficult. We didn’t get enough bandwidth for fielding practice and that was a worry in the camp. Fitness was another concern at the start of the season – apart from a few who were regularly in touch with the game. It all started when each fast bowler had a reason for his unavailability and we had finally a decent plan in place until another quickie turned down his availability at 11 PM on the eve of the match. All these factors transformed into nervousness on the eve of the match. I had earlier decided to skip down as captain, but my mind did not agree to it. I decided that I was to lead this wonderful team again. I went to bed at midnight and slept at 1:30 AM – all the time thinking of all the strategies with a depleted bowling unit.

We were, as usual, early birds to the ground (Hindu B) and started getting ready for the game. We had 3 debutants for WCC – Prashanth, Jagan and Shyam. We had only eleven members accompanied by Rajesh who we picked up at the last moment as a helper – thanks to Venkat’s network. The ground was a familiar stage as we’ve had earlier experiences during the previous season. This time, I knew it would be tough to make a call if we won the toss. After a long thought process and with the opinions of few team-mates, we planned to chase. Meanwhile, I was praying to lose the toss. Toss happened at 8 AM, and the opponent (PCC) captain rightly called and gave me a relief by deciding to bat first.

Kartik started the proceedings with his gentle swing bowling and with the lack of wind, it was gentler. The batsmen started cautiously and I threw the ball to Ashwin to open on the other end. He was spot on with his length and variations right from the start and very soon had a batsman mistiming a swing to Sunil at mid-on. 1 down. After realizing that the ball is not swinging, Kartik cut himself and I gave Sunil a go. He produced the 2nd wicket soon when the off-stump was knocked back onto the ground. Meanwhile the batsman at the other end (#3) was starting to play a good game. The next wicket fell when the batsman tried to flick Sunil through the leg-side, missed it completely as the ball hit the pad and rolled onto wicketkeeper Prashanth. Prashanth smartly broke the stumps as the batsman fell over to leave the crease. That was a smart thinking move. I cut Ashwin after his 5th and introduced Vijay who was as sharp as an eagle. His line and length was spot-on as he gave nothing is his first over. The batsman trying to keep the scoreboard ticking, steered one to the left of Venkat at point and tried to steal a run. Venkat was at his best at the moment as he swooped on the ball and his throw made Prashanth’s job easy. It was almost a replay of an earlier run-out during the second season on the same ground, same end. Close to drinks time, #3 was playing well till he pulled Venkat to midwicket and failed to keep it to the ground. I dived to my left and pouched it comfortably to send him back with his team at 48/5 in 15 overs. We had had a good start.

The 2nd half of the first innings produced some runs although Vijay continued to impress. Few bad balls were punished severely and I started to feel the lack of bowling. I tried to manage and rotate the bowlers as much as possible when Vijay trapped one in front. Karthik & Shyam bowled few overs along with Venkat to push the over rate. The last few overs produced good catches – 1 from Jagan and 2 from Vijay. Ashwin cleaned up the last man stumped to let us 113 to win.

I was confident about the batting strength, but chose not to be over-confident. We had half-won the match, but we had to finish it off. We had a good batting combination and I was sure it would work out if we applied ourselves properly. Venkat and Prashanth started flamboyantly, but soon Venkat’s pull was caught at square leg and Prashanth lofted one straight to mid-off. Kartik and Shyam consumed the new ball to disallow any more wickets for the opposition. Although they consumed few maidens, that was the period of play which I thought won us the match because it said strongly to the opposition – “We are not letting you take any more wickets”. Shyam unfortunately fell to a usual umpiring blunder and in walked Murali with his favourite job on hand. I wanted these 2 to pair up a partnership like they usually do with tennis-ball cricket and this was a perfect stage for them. Kartik was fighting to find gaps, but was sensible enough not to get impatient. He displayed his temperament to ensure we were on the right track. Murali, on the other hand, was finding singles at ease and felt very comfortable playing his role of a chase-master. At drinks, we were 47/3, but knew the task was going to be easy if we kept those wickets in hand. 66 to get from 90 was easy with both these batsmen settled comfortably.

The opposition bowlers were not deadly, they were easy to negotiate. The outfield was unfriendly as it cut down runs almost at will. Kartik and Murali renewed the chase comfortably and the first 2 overs got us 10 runs. Kartik tried to accelerate slowly but ran himself out needing 36 to win. He played a very very good innings overall. He anchored an end to ensure we got this far. I walked in having one target in mind – to finish things off before returning back. Murali kept going as usual and scored the greater percentage of our partnership. Couple of his boundaries was a treat to watch. With a run needed to win, he fell LBW. He was completely dehydrated at that point. It all boiled down to – one run from 2 overs. I sent the ball over the mid-wicket fielder on the third ball of the penultimate over. Sunil and I crossed over and that was it. It was smiles all around – we had won comfortably. Although it was only 9 balls to spare, it was a comfortable and controlled win. Murali rightly deserved the MOM, but there were others who supported the cause to a great extent.

A BIG thanks to Rajesh, whose religious support as a 12th man proved most crucial for the team from start to end.

Aditya Ravindran. Captain, WCC.

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