Last season, this same game was the most important of the season and a lot of hype was associated around it. This season, things were a bit more sedate with the Tiffs losing all hope of promotion; we were playing more for pride than anything else. With Dipesh and Sadiq dropping out at the last minute, the team was in tatters on the morning of the game. Last minute frantic calling ensured Ramesh arranged a player and Naveen once again helped us out to ensure we made a last minute eleven.
On a rainy day and a more than damp wicket the skipper felt it would be too wet for his bowlers to bowl at full throttle and chose to bat, the fact that the last three games had been won bowling last was also an influential factor in making that decision. Mukesh returned to open for us and got into his act straight away, his timing was impeccable and the boundaries he hit over mid-off were beautiful to watch. Rajesh on the other hand looked scratchy and eventually fell after a giving reasonable support to Mukesh.
As usual with the Tiffs a good start transpired into a middle order collapse with the next four batsmen all getting out to reckless shots and only contributing 8 runs together. Mukesh who looked set for a big one go to out at the wrong time. Sudhakar played some gorgeous shots in his 26 runs but got out pulling the wrong ball, this put the team in a very sensitive situation at 80 for 7. A score of around 120 seemed a long way away.
The team’s frontline bowlers once again joined forces at the batting crease; both Vinod and Pramod continued the team motto of Attack is the best form of defence and played with controlled aggression. Their partnership was in fact the match turner and before Merstham could recover both had bludgeoned fifties and put on a 100+ run partnership. The top-middles order ought to learn a thing or two by watching these two play, especially that last season the bowlers probably never expected to bat.
Once Pramod and Vinod departed the show ended and the curtains were brought down on a great entertainer called the Pramod and Vinod show. The Tiffs had by now raced away to 220 off 31 overs at 7 runs per over.
There was time for a few over before the tea interval and this time around the start was not as defining as the previous matches as Pramod, Vinod and Jeewan failed to get a wicket, the introduction of Praveen brought about the first dismissal. It was clearly evident that Merstham were not going for the target although they only needed to score at a meagre 3 runs an over. From here on it was hard grind for the Tiffs with the batsmen choosing to play defensively.
Pramod kept bowling with incredible control and kept swinging the ball consistently, although many times beating the bat, it was not until he had almost reached the end of his persistence that he got the break through. There was no doubt every Merstham batsman had put a heavy price on their wicket, Vinod especially in his second spell found no luck in finding a wicket but kept bowling persistently with good control.
It was Vinod’s final spell that finally did it for the Tiffs, with sheer pace he knocked out the stumps of 3 Merstham batsmen. This match entirely belonged to Vinod and Pramod with either of them claiming 4 wickets each to go with their fifties. Mukesh deserves a mention for his Sehwag like 47.
Thanks to Ram and Naveen for helping us make a 11.