SPCC v ANZAC, League Game 5, Reedy Creek Park
Baseer inspires victory by an all-round performance. Rock-solid
batting from Swapan and Tarun.
Deepak Bhat and
Baseer Ahmed
May
17th, 2008
SPCC
203 for 5 (Baseer 57, Tarun 40,
Swapan 32, Salman 2-31, Asutosh 2-48)
beat
ANZAC 199 (Sarvesh 102,Ketan 36, Baseer 3-29, Subashis 2-21) by
5 wickets. Man of the match: Baseer
Ahmed.
Namaste. Vanakam..Welcome…to this week’s match
report. It was a beautiful day to play the game of cricket. The
opposition arrived at proper time and even the umpires. About
the Toss..aaahh what to tell about it. It has become so
predictable that the SPCC players get set in their fielding
position even before our CAPTAIN goes in for the toss. So full
marks for guessing what happened. We lost the toss and the game
was underway.
ANZAC innings
Tarun opened the bowling spell for SPCC. Now Tarun has developed
that great knack of taking wickets in his opening spell and
there it was. On the 5th ball of his over he took a wicket when
batsman offered a simple return catch. Deepak was introduced as
the second bowler. He bowled a little wayward which resulted in
many wides. The batsman Sarvesh, on the other hand was playing a
good innings for ANZAC. He went on later to score a good 100 but
he had lady luck on his side too. One was a catch offered by him
which went begging in Deepak’s over and second was a touch and
go run out chance. His wicket would have resulted in a complete
different score. Anyhow these things happen in a game.
SPCC completed first 10 overs with 65 runs given and one wicket.
It was still not a bad score. Drinks break was taken in the 12th
over and soon Praveen and Subashis were introduced into the
attack. What a ball from Praveen which had Ketan clean bowled.
The Batsman did not even know when the ball passed through him.
Again Praveen had provided another break through. Subashis on
the other hand was bowling great and soon he had one of their
batsman caught in slips by the safe hands of Mani. ANZAC soon
started losing wickets at constant interval. The period between
the 12th over and the 24th was a good one for SPCC. They took
about 5 wickets of the opposition in that period. The bowlers
especially Baseer, Subashis and Praveen were keeping things
tight. Even though Trilok went for few runs, he still had a
presence of mind to try something different like bowling around
the legs of Sarvesh. He claimed a wicket when Teddy was out
plumb LBW. Though he was not successful and Sarvesh hit him for
few runs he kept his cool. This is what is expected of senior
players to show way to other players.
After 25th over SPCC lost control a little bit. Batsmen were
taking quick runs and putting pressure on the fielders, some
overthrows were given as a result of that. But even with this
SPCC managed to get three of the opposition players run out.
Sarvesh meanwhile completed his well deserved century. Baseer
then came in the 34th over and soon took a wicket when the
batsman was caught by Wajahath. After two balls there was a run
out and ANZAC’s innings came to an end at 199/10 in 34 overs.
Baseer ended with 3 wickets from his tight spell.
SPCC innings
SPCC batting was opened by Swapan and Aditya. They both started
cautiously taking time to settle down and get set. But soon
Aditya was out when he offered a simple catch to Sarvesh in the
leg side. Trilok was the next batsman in. But after hitting some
boundaries he too lost his wicket when the ball surprised him
with an awkward bounce on the leg side and he too offered a
simple catch to the fielder at short leg. In fact that fielder
was placed there just before that ball. Mani joined Swapan in
the middle. Swapan was playing with great confidence. He played
many shots that were beautiful and a pleasure to watch. Mani too
joined the hitting fray with some boundaries and a beautiful
six. But alas he too returned to the pavilion when he was given
an LBW decision which looked dubious. Hence SPCC had lost three
wickets with about 50 runs on board.
It was time that somebody stayed on the crease and build up a
partner ship. And it was Tarun who was ready to do that. A good
inning from Tarun was long due and he delivered today. He was
playing with good concentration constantly rotating the strike
and hitting the balls which were meant to be hit. When things
were moving nicely for SPCC, Swapan lost his wicket, when he was
brilliantly caught and bowled by the bowler. Hence Mr. Reliable
(captain) joined Tarun. SPCC was still a long way from target.
The way these two batted under pressure is a lesson to
everybody. They were constantly rotating strikes, taking single
and not hitting any risky shots. Baseer soon reached his 50
which consisted of some very well hit boundaries. It was
Baseer’s day today. Wonder what he ate in breakfast…hmmmm.Baseer
was soon out on 57 again to a really dubious decision. But he
had done his job. SPCC was just 20 runs away from the target. It
was soon obtained in another two overs when Harish hit 2
beautiful sixes to reach the target in no time. Score SPCC 205/5
in 31.1 overs.
Overall it was again a good team effort. One thing that we might
have to look into is that on today’s game we gave away too many
wides. We had that in control in the previous three games. But
not to worry guys these things happen in the game of cricket.
Applause for everyone on this win. Let us keep on this
victorious run and not loose our focus. As someone has said
"The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner
satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that
you have gotten the most out of what you had to give."
Go SPCC!!!
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