It was pleasing to see the whole team turn up to the ground one hour before the game started. This time was indeed used for some catching practice, while some did not give the practice due respect, many found it really important to gain some valuable catching and fielding practice. I suggest we all do the same this week to improve our catching abilities. The toss was lost and EM put us into bat on a good batting wicket. There were nerves within the Tiffs as the last four games had been tough ones for us, this game was being played against one the top sides of the league which made it even more tense for the Tiffs players.
Anthony and Mukesh soon settled down and began playing their normal cricket when Pal Saral the left handed opening bowler who was bowling beautifully claimed Mukesh’s wicket for 13. Sadiq came back in to the team after a gap; rustiness showed in the lack of his foot movement and was soon cleared up by the same bowler. Anthony, although a bit edgy, did not show any signs of giving up. I joined Anthony and after some initial trouble against the left hander, we both began to milk runs from both ends, a decent partnership was formed when I played a rash shot to the new bowler and holed out to long off.
The importance of a settled batsmen carrying on, especially in the early part of the inning s was once again underlined as my wicket triggered a mining collapse in the Tiffs batting order. The middle order comprising of Chakri, Sudha and Dipesh only made 8 runs between them. And in the meanwhile, Anthony got out, unluckily playing on to a ball he had driven, he made a very well compiled and important 40 runs.
It was down to the lower order, to put up a fight. We were once again looking down the barrel as getting bowled out for 120 in under 25 overs seemed quite possible at this stage. The next three batsmen had other ideas, Vinod, Rajesh and Pramod put on 84 runs between them to take the side to a safe score of 193.
Vinod, who we always believed had the potential to make runs found the right stage to come good. The Tiffs needed a batsman to get a fifty, someone to hit dominating strokes, someone to frustrate the opposition. Vinod came up with all the answers on this day and scored 51 runs, bringing his fifty up with a massive hit for 6. It was a pity he was left stranded in the end and no one could stick around with him.
Teas were good, although basic amenities such as seating and hot teas were missing these were made up by a serving of loads of fruit.
The new ball was saved for later and the old ball was used by Vinod and Pramod to open. Vinod did not show any signs of tiredness and responded by taking an early wicket in his first over. Pramod, who was also bowling a good length but struggled with his line, got rid of the left handed opener. Everything seemed picture perfect, although early, everything seemed to be headed to a victory for the Tiffs at this stage as this was the way we Tiffs operate, pile up a huge score, strangle the opposition and bowl them out.
On this day, this was however not possible. The nightmares of the past games returned and struck the Tiffs very hardly, catches were dropped by every alternate fielder. Batsmen who did not get off the mark were dropped; batsmen who were struggling to get on with things were dropped…this ensured EM got away with mini, but crucial partnerships. Vinod bowled his heart out for his three wickets, all the other bowlers Pramod, Rajesh and Dipesh bowled well, if only the Tiffs caught their catches, we could have won the game by a huge margin, but then again this has been the story of the season so far.
Missing a player of Praveens calibre is not something that can be easily filled but We displayed an imporved batting perfmance and bowled with discipline. We are almost there, We are looking to improve and we will improve. This match report was done only because I thought Vinods performance deserved a match report. I am tired of writing these losing match reports and would like to write something in a lighter vein.
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