While there might be some debates on the number of consecutive matches we have won, or who should be doing what, or whether we are good at setting totals or chasing them, there can not be a debate on where we usually end up in a thrilling match.
The match started with cool but not chilly winds blowing around. Incidentally the chill was to come from the thrilling end of the match. The ground we were playing on was on a continuous slope, with one side filled with soil.
Set a total of 165 we were pretty confident that we would cross the finish line with much ease. But it seemed that we had not accounted for inexperience. As a good number of our batsmen chose for aggression when coolness was the key. In the end those of us succeeded who read the situation and the pitch well and had the ability to hit the ball in gaps.
The batting stars would go to Abdullah and Nisar who gave us a very good start with 32 from 32 balls from Nisar and yet another 50 from Abdullah, Samir Bhai who had a magical return of form and a resilient counter attack from Amir Bhai that took us through.
Samir Bhai, went one down after Nisar's gutsy 32 from 32 balls. With Abdullah scoring freely from the other end, Samir Bhai took sometime to settle down and find his form. Which luckily for us he did. Abdullah got another 50 for the team but a change of bat saw his end. He was not happy getting out and its good to see him putting a price on his wicket and trying to win the match and not being happy for just a 50.
While Abdullah was coming back things were looking good for us, but it was something that changed drastically over the course of the next few overs. Rizwan was the next man in and with the slowish pace of bowling and his favourite area blocked by either thick sand or fielders, he found it difficult to score freely. Samir Bhai took charge from the other end and started hitting boundaries all over the ground. Its a delight to watch him when he starts to hit through the gap boundaries almost at will. But his wicket saw a flurry of wickets. Bilal was first ball and then Rizwan came back as well. Habib and Ahmed provided a bit of resistance but Ahmed wasn't able to put bat to ball and Habib thought that aggression was the key. Both were bowled out. Meanwhile Amir Bhai who went in after Ahmed seemed not be that bothered about the runs and balls equation or the wickets in hand. He kept on scoring the twos and threes which were vital at that point. Anees Bhai was the next man in and he saw it off till the end.
Earlier we lost the toss and were put into field. Anees Bhai was a bit late so I bowled the first over and was infact the most enjoyable experience of my cricketing life. With a slight jerk of the wrist the ball was swinging in and was getting bounce as well. It was a good first over and probably the sign of things to come. As given the condition of the pitch and the ground, there was not to be any free scoring. Anees Bhai bowled very well from the other end. He bowled good line and length with excellent pace. Amir Bhai was the first change and he proved a bit costly. Nisar was the first spinner to be introduced. He bowled well but the experienced batsmen didn't seem to be in too much botheration on his bowling and were sweeping him for easy singles and doubles.
I went for spin from both ends when Anees Bhai finished his spell, by bringing in Habib. The batsmen who were quite set now started swinging and managed some meaty blows. In his second over they had a boundary and a six. It was an ideal example that one should never allow a batsman to settle down even if he is not scoring runs, since a time would come when he would start to hit and it would be quite difficult to stop him then. It was good that I had saved up overs from Ahmed and me.
Ahmed was to be the partnership breaker for us as we managed a run out in his first over and in his second over he bowled the other one, bringing two new batsmen to the crease.
Abdullah came in from the other end and dried the scoring. Abdullah and I finished the bowling without much incident.
Fielding was quite good as well as Nisar and Rizwan took some good catches and over all we managed 4 run outs, two from direct hits. Khurram fielded quite well as if having a personal grudge against the ball and never allowing it to go through.
In the end we knew why they were quite happy in getting 165, since they felt (and rightly so) that they had a good chance in defending the score. Had it not been for back bone innings from Samir Bhai and a late order intelligent innings from Amir Bhai they would have been successful.
Last but not the least we might have won 2 in a row, but never have we won 3 in a row. So let us all keep up the good work, keep thinking, keeping working and win the 3rd match as well.
The match started with cool but not chilly winds blowing around. Incidentally the chill was to come from the thrilling end of the match. The ground we were playing on was on a continuous slope, with one side filled with soil.
Set a total of 165 we were pretty confident that we would cross the finish line with much ease. But it seemed that we had not accounted for inexperience. As a good number of our batsmen chose for aggression when coolness was the key. In the end those of us succeeded who read the situation and the pitch well and had the ability to hit the ball in gaps.
The batting stars would go to Abdullah and Nisar who gave us a very good start with 32 from 32 balls from Nisar and yet another 50 from Abdullah, Samir Bhai who had a magical return of form and a resilient counter attack from Amir Bhai that took us through.
Samir Bhai, went one down after Nisar's gutsy 32 from 32 balls. With Abdullah scoring freely from the other end, Samir Bhai took sometime to settle down and find his form. Which luckily for us he did. Abdullah got another 50 for the team but a change of bat saw his end. He was not happy getting out and its good to see him putting a price on his wicket and trying to win the match and not being happy for just a 50.
While Abdullah was coming back things were looking good for us, but it was something that changed drastically over the course of the next few overs. Rizwan was the next man in and with the slowish pace of bowling and his favourite area blocked by either thick sand or fielders, he found it difficult to score freely. Samir Bhai took charge from the other end and started hitting boundaries all over the ground. Its a delight to watch him when he starts to hit through the gap boundaries almost at will. But his wicket saw a flurry of wickets. Bilal was first ball and then Rizwan came back as well. Habib and Ahmed provided a bit of resistance but Ahmed wasn't able to put bat to ball and Habib thought that aggression was the key. Both were bowled out. Meanwhile Amir Bhai who went in after Ahmed seemed not be that bothered about the runs and balls equation or the wickets in hand. He kept on scoring the twos and threes which were vital at that point. Anees Bhai was the next man in and he saw it off till the end.
Earlier we lost the toss and were put into field. Anees Bhai was a bit late so I bowled the first over and was infact the most enjoyable experience of my cricketing life. With a slight jerk of the wrist the ball was swinging in and was getting bounce as well. It was a good first over and probably the sign of things to come. As given the condition of the pitch and the ground, there was not to be any free scoring. Anees Bhai bowled very well from the other end. He bowled good line and length with excellent pace. Amir Bhai was the first change and he proved a bit costly. Nisar was the first spinner to be introduced. He bowled well but the experienced batsmen didn't seem to be in too much botheration on his bowling and were sweeping him for easy singles and doubles.
I went for spin from both ends when Anees Bhai finished his spell, by bringing in Habib. The batsmen who were quite set now started swinging and managed some meaty blows. In his second over they had a boundary and a six. It was an ideal example that one should never allow a batsman to settle down even if he is not scoring runs, since a time would come when he would start to hit and it would be quite difficult to stop him then. It was good that I had saved up overs from Ahmed and me.
Ahmed was to be the partnership breaker for us as we managed a run out in his first over and in his second over he bowled the other one, bringing two new batsmen to the crease.
Abdullah came in from the other end and dried the scoring. Abdullah and I finished the bowling without much incident.
Fielding was quite good as well as Nisar and Rizwan took some good catches and over all we managed 4 run outs, two from direct hits. Khurram fielded quite well as if having a personal grudge against the ball and never allowing it to go through.
In the end we knew why they were quite happy in getting 165, since they felt (and rightly so) that they had a good chance in defending the score. Had it not been for back bone innings from Samir Bhai and a late order intelligent innings from Amir Bhai they would have been successful.
Last but not the least we might have won 2 in a row, but never have we won 3 in a row. So let us all keep up the good work, keep thinking, keeping working and win the 3rd match as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment