Last week we came very close to winning the match but basically didn't have the energy levels to go through the finish line. Fielding in the heat and playing after a whole month took a huge toll on all of us. Before taking the field, that day, I told the team that we are playing after a long time and the expectations are for playing hard and having fun rather than winning.
This week there even lesser expectations, as we were playing without Nisar and half of the team was not fit. Anees Bhai & Bilal were recovering from flu, Ahmed was in flu and I was having back problems of my own. But then its all about how you can rise to the occassion and do the basics right.
We lost the toss and were put into bat which we wanted to do anyways. Abdullah and Rizwan opened the innings. Abdullah started confidently with a boundary on the first ball through the covers. Watching his batting was a delightful experience. He was elegant in his drives and powerful in his pull shots. The best thing about his chanceless innings was that he played according to the situation. In the end he got a 100 on the very last ball of the match.
Rizwan, rather than troubling the scorers, troubled himself by trying to be cheeky and was bowled quite early in the innings.
Adnan went in next and looked quite good initially. But as his innings progressed he decided to use power to make his way through. This became his undoing as he took a risk too many and was not able to cash in on a dropped chance. In the end he was not able to fully demonstrate his abilities.
Bilal and Samir Bhai didn't last long as well. And at that time we were facing a threat of being bowled out within the 25 overs. Their back to back wickets was also the reason of us falling 20 runs short.
Ahmed's innings was a pleasant surprise. He was not his usual self as he was not only hitting powerful boundaries but also his running between the wickets was a treat to watch. And seeing him pushing Abdullah for singles and doubles was almost like a dream come true.
The final overs of our innings were a bit thrilling as we were about to cross the team's 200 and Abdullah's 100. In the end Abdullah got the 100 but we got 199 runs.
200 in 23 overs was not a match winning but a fighting total and the only thing which was worrying me was the fitness of our quicker bowlers. Anees Bhai started the bowling and was smashed to the boundaries with much ease. The batsman he was bowling to seemed to be allowing a very small margin for error and Anees Bhai was a bit way ward as well since he either bowled full or short. The batsman went about his business but was caught on the boundary by Abdullah on the last ball of the first over.
I came in next with only one thing in mind and that was to stem the run flow which was done without any issues.
Ahmed and Amir Bhai were also given the new ball in the first 7 overs. Amir Bhai was costly but took a wicket while Ahmed took two. More than the wickets, Ahmed bowled as per the game plan of bowling wicket to wicket and hitting the pitch rather than hitting the wickets. He got bounce and seam and with the field placing batsmen were not able to find runs easily. And hence they fell seriously short of the required run rate. Rizwan and I got him wickets through good catches. And with Amir Bhai bowling another top order batsmen we had 4 wickets in the first 7-8 overs.
Samir Bhai was the first spinner to be introduced and he got an LBW off his second ball. With 5 wickets down we had a very strong position in the match. My initial plan was to bowl a combination of spin and seam to good batsmen so that they don't settle down. After the 5 wickets we were faced with a good partnership from their end. Seeing their shots, which were mainly pulls on the leg side, I felt that Anees Bhai could break the partnership with his usual body line bowling. But he wasn't able to find rhythym and bowled continuously on the leg side. Samir Bhai's next over as well saw a flurry of boundaries and we were a bit bothered. At that time the batsmen looked quite settled and it was better to change a bowler every over. Abdullah took the words out of my mouth when he asked for bowling. And the continuous change helped us as he was able to break the partnership with a wonderful off spinner which found the passage between the bat and pad and crashed the stumps. He was bowling loopy off spinners and inviting the batsmen to put their energy if they want quick runs.
Seeing his loopy slow spinners troubling the batsmen the strategy of seam and spin had to be changed and I brought our another loopy bowler Bilal. Who enjoyed the same amount of success. Incidently the partnership that Abdullah broke was their last stand and the remaining batsmen that came in were peaches. Bilal and Abdullah continued to trouble the batsmen and got us the remaining 5 wickets, with some Agile stumpings from Rizwan.
The man of the match was obviously Abdullah for his wonderful 100 and thoughtful bowling. I would give the batting star to Abdullah and the bowling star to Ahmed for bowling according to plan and field. He also got two very key wickets in the top order, which broke the back of the batting team. Fielding star to Rizwan for a very important catch and zabardust stumpings on Abdullah and Bilal's bowling.
In the end beating Mazda was quite Mazaydaar and it was good for our confidence as well.
Hopefully with the return of our reliable all rounders Wicky and Nisar in the next match and the return of the much needed fitness of the remaining players we can expect to win many more matches and have our best tournament to date.
Lastly I would thank everyone for this opportunity and bearing up with me. I would be giving a good report to the captain :)
This week there even lesser expectations, as we were playing without Nisar and half of the team was not fit. Anees Bhai & Bilal were recovering from flu, Ahmed was in flu and I was having back problems of my own. But then its all about how you can rise to the occassion and do the basics right.
We lost the toss and were put into bat which we wanted to do anyways. Abdullah and Rizwan opened the innings. Abdullah started confidently with a boundary on the first ball through the covers. Watching his batting was a delightful experience. He was elegant in his drives and powerful in his pull shots. The best thing about his chanceless innings was that he played according to the situation. In the end he got a 100 on the very last ball of the match.
Rizwan, rather than troubling the scorers, troubled himself by trying to be cheeky and was bowled quite early in the innings.
Adnan went in next and looked quite good initially. But as his innings progressed he decided to use power to make his way through. This became his undoing as he took a risk too many and was not able to cash in on a dropped chance. In the end he was not able to fully demonstrate his abilities.
Bilal and Samir Bhai didn't last long as well. And at that time we were facing a threat of being bowled out within the 25 overs. Their back to back wickets was also the reason of us falling 20 runs short.
Ahmed's innings was a pleasant surprise. He was not his usual self as he was not only hitting powerful boundaries but also his running between the wickets was a treat to watch. And seeing him pushing Abdullah for singles and doubles was almost like a dream come true.
The final overs of our innings were a bit thrilling as we were about to cross the team's 200 and Abdullah's 100. In the end Abdullah got the 100 but we got 199 runs.
200 in 23 overs was not a match winning but a fighting total and the only thing which was worrying me was the fitness of our quicker bowlers. Anees Bhai started the bowling and was smashed to the boundaries with much ease. The batsman he was bowling to seemed to be allowing a very small margin for error and Anees Bhai was a bit way ward as well since he either bowled full or short. The batsman went about his business but was caught on the boundary by Abdullah on the last ball of the first over.
I came in next with only one thing in mind and that was to stem the run flow which was done without any issues.
Ahmed and Amir Bhai were also given the new ball in the first 7 overs. Amir Bhai was costly but took a wicket while Ahmed took two. More than the wickets, Ahmed bowled as per the game plan of bowling wicket to wicket and hitting the pitch rather than hitting the wickets. He got bounce and seam and with the field placing batsmen were not able to find runs easily. And hence they fell seriously short of the required run rate. Rizwan and I got him wickets through good catches. And with Amir Bhai bowling another top order batsmen we had 4 wickets in the first 7-8 overs.
Samir Bhai was the first spinner to be introduced and he got an LBW off his second ball. With 5 wickets down we had a very strong position in the match. My initial plan was to bowl a combination of spin and seam to good batsmen so that they don't settle down. After the 5 wickets we were faced with a good partnership from their end. Seeing their shots, which were mainly pulls on the leg side, I felt that Anees Bhai could break the partnership with his usual body line bowling. But he wasn't able to find rhythym and bowled continuously on the leg side. Samir Bhai's next over as well saw a flurry of boundaries and we were a bit bothered. At that time the batsmen looked quite settled and it was better to change a bowler every over. Abdullah took the words out of my mouth when he asked for bowling. And the continuous change helped us as he was able to break the partnership with a wonderful off spinner which found the passage between the bat and pad and crashed the stumps. He was bowling loopy off spinners and inviting the batsmen to put their energy if they want quick runs.
Seeing his loopy slow spinners troubling the batsmen the strategy of seam and spin had to be changed and I brought our another loopy bowler Bilal. Who enjoyed the same amount of success. Incidently the partnership that Abdullah broke was their last stand and the remaining batsmen that came in were peaches. Bilal and Abdullah continued to trouble the batsmen and got us the remaining 5 wickets, with some Agile stumpings from Rizwan.
The man of the match was obviously Abdullah for his wonderful 100 and thoughtful bowling. I would give the batting star to Abdullah and the bowling star to Ahmed for bowling according to plan and field. He also got two very key wickets in the top order, which broke the back of the batting team. Fielding star to Rizwan for a very important catch and zabardust stumpings on Abdullah and Bilal's bowling.
In the end beating Mazda was quite Mazaydaar and it was good for our confidence as well.
Hopefully with the return of our reliable all rounders Wicky and Nisar in the next match and the return of the much needed fitness of the remaining players we can expect to win many more matches and have our best tournament to date.
Lastly I would thank everyone for this opportunity and bearing up with me. I would be giving a good report to the captain :)
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