On a sub 50 day, DCC and KMCC started the game at 10.15 or so. Everyone, except a realtor who was sacrificing his business, were happy with the late start. Ex-DCCian Faraz was playing from KMCC and had a few uncomfortable moments off the field meeting his old mates. Captain Niranjan won the toss again and chose to bat first.
Prasad and Mahesh were chosen to do the honors this time. Mahesh was bowled by a cracker of an outswinger in the first over. The unhappy realtor was given an opportunity to display the timing of his new bat. The next few overs were a sight to behold. Ravi displayed the timing which we always see in practice and Prasad was giving lessons on classical batting. They played so well that we reached 56 odd in 7 overs. It was sheer timing and good cricket, with one cover drive by Prasad and one flick by Ravi standing out. The chirping KMCC was silenced.
But as good things have to come to and end, Ravi threw away his wicket to an innocuous looking bowler. Prasad was then joined by Trip. Their roles were clearly defined but Prasad threw away his good start and gave KMCC another entry into the game. Neal was sent in now. Both Neal and Trip started slowly grabbing the initiative back. Neal with his flicks and Trip with his clever rotation of strike brought DCC back into the leading position. Trip threw away his wicket when the game demanded more patience. But Neal darted to reach his fifty. He got out soon after that, but he had given what the team needed - quick runs to set up a decent target.
After Neal's exit, Shrini took over and smartly hit the big ones along with the cheeky singles. Niranjan, Shrini and Nikhil perished run out in the last over going for aggressive runs and DCC ended at a well above par 161. Well executed batting performance except that set batsmen went out when they should have continued to build on the hard work.
The batting scorecard is attached here for anyone who is interested in the statistical details of the batting inning --
With a target of 162, KMCC needed a good start. DCC continued the tradition of generosity when Nikhil dropped Fahad in the first slip on 0. He went on to hurt DCC with a punishing 50. On the other side, Mahesh settled his account by sending Shahid Alam back with a jaffa in his first over. The look on Shahid's face when the middle stump was flattened was priceless. Cashif was sent at one - down and they began punishing DCC bowling. Niranjan was first on the receiving end of Cashif's bat (borrowed from none else that Rao Bond). He hit a few big ones. Then Fahad started swinging his bat and making us pay for the dropped catch. None of the bowlers were effective. Nikhil, Neal, Trip - everyone was taken to the cleaners and the game was drifting away from DCC very fast. Before anyone knew, the scorecard read 81 for 1 after 9 overs.
DCC has to regroup at any cost. Neeraj and Sid started bowling in tandem and Sid got Cashif castled. This got DCC back into the game. On the other end Neeraj started bowling like the Neeraj of last year - flight and loop. He almost got Fahad stumped, but Ravi could not gather the ball cleanly. But soon, smart bowling got Neeraj the wicket of the two down batsman - Mahesh judged the catch very well. Sid got Fahad out when Ravi held the nick cleanly.
It was Suhail and Faraz chasing the score now. DCC then started fighting hard and making things difficult for KMCC. 44 of 36 to win --> 36 of 30 to win --> 19 of 18 to win. Then Mahesh bowled and excellent over to give only 7. 12 of 12 needed. Captain Niranjan bowled another peach of an over to give only 4 runs and take the wicket of Faraz. Shrinivas judged the steepler on the boundary to perfection.
Last over, 8 runs to win. Mahesh gave 2 singles and then Salman Moghul hit a sixer just out of the reach of Trip at sweeper cover to finish the game with 3 balls to spare.
It was a game which we lost between the 5th and the 10th over when we probably leaked 60 odd runs. Our fielding was not up to the mark, especially when a batsman is given a life at 0 and ends up playing a winning 50. Holiday season is over long back and we should not give any freebies to the opposition. Batting seems to be in order right now but bowling and fielding need more discipline. Captain is winning the toss, and leads by example with his bowling.
Its all going to start in a matter of a week. Next saturday, this time, I will be writing a match report of DCC - CCC season opener. Watch this space, more good news and great news to follow this season!!!
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