Teams who succeed are not always the ones who are the best on paper or the ones who have prepared the best. There is no formula, in fact. What matters is which team can develop the knack to bring out their best performance when they need it the most. That is exactly what we have managed to do.
Today’s game was a perfect example of how all of us applied as a team. We needed this win to get the team back on track. There were contribution from every player but Vijay was the star. He is back with a bang. We knew he had the class it was just that one inning we needed from him and there it is.
VIJAY U ROCK MAN………..
We won the toss and elected to bat. Rajesh and Milind were given the job to open the inning and both of them looked good before Rajesh was caught. Everyone in the team was very impressed with the attitude Rajesh and Milind had. We have got two very motivated players, when given a chance can do wonders for the team.
Our Mr. Dependable “Vikas Dua” was sent at the fall of Rajesh wicket to play the sheet anchor role which he did to an extent. He is too quick between the wickets and it’s very difficult to cope with his agility. As Milind played a ball towards long off for a single and Vikas running towards the danger end to convert it into 2 found himself home easily but Milind was found short of the crease.
But before the run out happened Milind has showed his class by playing some good shots in the gap……..I have a gut feeling that we have got the batsman we were always short of….Raj was sent to cover the most important spot in the batting order and with Girish gone it has to be replaced by a player of Raj Calibers and he played brilliantly matching the agility of Vikas and kept the runs flowing. Vikas was very unlucky to be caught at mid wicket…a ball he could have played anywhere but he choosed the fielder.
Stand In Captain and Wall of the team Abhisek walked in to replace Vikas and he looked in good touch with Raj as both of them managed to keep the run flowing.
After 10 Over’s we were 26/3.
In the 11th and 12th Over we had double set back with Raj and Abhisek both perishing in order to up the run rate. Raj was brilliantly caught by the keeper and Abhisek was caught on off side while playing his favorite shot. At the fall of Raj wicket walked in the HERO of the match VIJAY...
He took 3 balls to open his account but he opened it in style by hitting a 4 and we could see the glimpse of Vijay we were familiar of. There was a good partnership between me and Vijay as we kept getting the runs. His second scoring shot was also a boundary through midwicket. They had placed two fielders but his shot bisected them perfectly. Then came the big shot a flat six over the mid wicket and that just pushed them on the backfoot.He attemted the shot again but this time was caught. It seemed the fielder had touched the rope but its fielder call so we couldn’t do much about it. As we say its fielders call…….But by that time Vijay had done his job and we were sailing.
Buland and Manish were the next batsman to follow and in order to up the run rate both of them unselfishly perished for the team. The way Manish ran selflessly to bring me back on strike was commendable as I hit the last ball of the inning for 4 which was the difference between winning and loosing.
Cheers to Manish Sir
Final Score was 72/8.
Buland and Raj opened the inning and from the word go both of them were right on money.The first over bowled by Buland was a maiden….The wonderful starts given by Buland has been a major reason for us winning so many matches recently. He sees himself in top 10 bowlers when it comes to economy in the cricbay.Raj also looked getting back to what he does best.
Vikas bowled the 5th over of the match which went for few runs but he made it up with 3 runouts.He is just too quick. Our stand In Captain led us from the front by taking 3 crucial wickets when we needed it the most. He was the only bowler to get wickets as the rest 6 wickets came from run out.
After 10 over’s they were 32/4.
The match was very evenly poised. Vijay bowled the 11th over and 13th Over and just gave away 4 runs and only 1 run was taken of Raj in the 14th over and they found themselves 39/5.Abhisek brought himself back and he got the very crucial wicket with raj taking a good catch at mid wicket.
They needed 20 runs of the last 4 over’s with me and Buland to bowl them .Buland bowled a perfect 17 th over and just gave away 4 runs and in the 18th over they got 3Buland has been so unlucky with the wickets as Vikas dropped a fairly simple catch as per his standard and in the 19th over I dropped one which went for six. It was a complete misjudgment by me as I thought it was covered but it went over me.
I had to bowl the final over and they needed 8 of it. First ball was a dot bowl and the next 2 went for a single so the equation was 5 needed of 3 and the last three balls just conceded 2 runs and we won the game by 3 runs.
It was a complete team effort with us being a player short And a Special mention to Srikant as he came to play with us.
Some Positives of the match:
The way Milind and Vikas started the inning for us was very refreshing to watch.
Vijay back in form.
Abhisek getting wickets and good to see him bowling again.
Fielding upto the mark except those 2 drop catches.
I also gained some confidence with my batting.
