For a change, most players turned up on time and the match got off almost at the scheduled hour - good start for what turned out to be a very rewarding game.
OLCC won the toss and elected to bat first on a muggy afternoon. The pitch had been baked dry by the sunshine over the past week, but had some juice in it following overnight thunderstorms.
Malgudishire opened the attack with Vijay and Abhishek, as they did in the previous game. Vijay got appreciable movement and bounce from the early life in the pitch and ended the first spell with attractive figures of 5-3-5-2. Abhishek kept things tight at the other end and finished his first spell with a wicket and at about 3 runs an over. Overall, a very good start for MSCC in the first 10 overs.
Rajiv and Kunal took up the attack at first change. The Gujju pair kept things tight at both ends for 10 further overs, with 3-4 runs an over while picking up 3 wickets between them in the process.
Shyam and debutant Siddharth took up second change bowling, but were unable to keep the lid on runs. Two OLCC batsmen - B.Roy and R.Fraser - were part of very good partnerships at this stage. The latter, in particular, did well to finish on 73 runs, with able support from no.8 batsman M.Renshaw.
Raghu and Sudhakar, both debutants as well, bowled very well in tandem over the last 10 overs to keep the lid on OLCC's scoring. Sudhakar also picked up 3 wickets in the process. OLCC were all out for 181 runs in 38 overs.
MSCC opened with Kunal and Sandeep, who started with considerable aggression. But Sandeep was to fall bowled to the spinner, Butler, who opened the bowling for OLCC. Butler stuck to his strategy of looping deliveries to make the batsmen play and picked up two more wickets in the process - James caught at long-on and Siddharth caught and bowled. When Shankar, the fourth debutant for MSCC, went in to bat but quickly returned retired hurt, MSCC were staring at a score of 30-odd runs for the loss of 3 wickets and 1 retired hurt.
Kunal and Sudhakar then put on a handy 50-run partnership to steady the ship. When Sudhakar departed leg before to Pemment, the score was at a more reasonable 81 after 16 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. Meanwhile, Kunal continued to amass runs via regular singles and one boundar an over, and quickly reached 50 by this stage.
Raghu joined Kunal for a brief 20-run partnership, but departed to yet another catch at mid-on. Vijay put on another 30 runs with Kunal, including a well-hit six over mid-wicket, before departing trying to put the very next delivery past mid-wicket but failing to cross the line. The score was at a respectable 130 by this stage, with Rajiv, Abhishek, and Shyam to follow, and Kunal looking steady as a rock.
In the event, the last two batsmen did not have to bat at all, as Kunal and Rajiv took the score past the finishing line with the innings' second 50-run partnership to finish the game with overs to spare.
Kunal dominated this last stage, and finished on a historic 103 not out - only the second time a player has scored a century in Malgudishire's brief history! This was indeed a model innings, an exhibition of patience and perseverance that the other Malgudi top order batsmen will do well to follow this season.
MSCC plays OLCC in a back-to-back fixture next Sunday in Regent's Park. OLCC will be looking for revenge, but MSCC will show some confidence on the back of this utterly dominating display, particularly from one batsman, K.Thakkar, one that must bring a smile to his face for the rest of this season.
Sunday 6 June 2010
Monday 31 May 2010
Match report - away game vs. Queensbury CC - 29 May 2010
It couldn't have been a more miserable start to the season from a weather standpoint. Continuous rain coupled with a big match at Wembley ensured that most team members arrived more than 30 minutes behind schedule and were staring at the possibility of no play at all. It was a miracle under these circumstances that we even got a 30-over game underway and completed - possibly a testament to the players' keenness to get on with the season.
On compassionate grounds owing to the presence of only 5 players by the start of play (!), MSCC were put in to bat by QCC. Uzair and Ravi R got the team off to a watchful and steady start, taking their partnership up to the 8th over at between 3 and 4 runs an over.
Then followed a sight quite familiar to to the MSCC folks - a steady middle order collapse spread - where we went from 2 wickets down to 8 wickets down in the space of 14 overs. That batting was not easy on the sticky wicket was seen in the fact that MSCC had no boundaries scored until this stage.
Meanwhile, Kunal made sure that he was hanging around, having gone in at no.6. and run hard for each one of his runs. Vijay joined Kunal at the fall of 8 wickets with more than 8 overs to spare and the score in the low 80s. With the objective of playing out all 8 overs, the partnership began with watchful singles, gradually picking up to converting 1s to 2s, and eventually resulting in a flurry of hits, including 3 boundaries, by Vijay in the last 2 overs. The pair finished with an unbeaten 50-run partnership, with Kunal ending on 31 not out and Vijay on 30 not out. The target was set at 137 in 30 overs.
Vijay and Abhishek opened the bowling for MSCC. Abhishek got the first breakthrough in the 5th over with a well directed yorker - bowled. Vijay followed it up in the following over by inducing an edge, and both openers were duly removed with the score less than 20. Sandeep and Matt took up bowling duties as first change, and continued with the good work with Sandeep picking up 2 wickets - both catches by Matt - and restricting the scoring rate to less than 3 an over. By the end of the first two spells, QCC were 45 for 4 off 16 overs.
Kunal and Shyam took up spin duties, and started off well. Shyam picked up 2 wickets, one of which was a typical catch at the boundary that one has come to expect of Shyam's bowling - a great effort by Ravi R at long off, which was not only admired by his 9-year old son Yuvraj fielding at fine leg, but the rest of the players too. The hosts were on 48 off 18 overs for the loss of 6 wickets.
Then the heavens opened up with a sharp continuous drizzle, and with it the floodgates for runs. The ball became harder to grip and fielding difficult under bad light. The 2 batsmen rapidly grew in confidence and piled on runs at about 9 an over for the remaining 10 overs to take QCC to the finishing line with more than an over to spare. None of the good bowling from Matt, Sandeep, Abhishek, or Vijay was of any avail in their respective second spells. While boundaries seemed extraordinarily hard to get while MSCC were batting, it seemed to be the norm to score 4s, and even 6s, when this last QCC pair put on their show for nearly 10 overs.
Overall, a very enjoyable match, a particularly competitive one for the start of the season, but in the end MSCC had to swallow the bitter pill - yet another one given the number of similar instances from the previous season. MSCC will seek to show more backbone in the middle order and tighten its field sets to limit the run leak.
To end on a positive note, the GOSH charity appeal was very well-received by the team members. Collections included £15 from Matt Daly who challenged Vijay to score boundaries for which he would contribute £5 for each hit. Follow the collections progress on www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/malgudishirecc .
Next match on Sun, 6 June 2010 vs. Old Colfeians. MSCC had a very competitive game against this team last year - MSCC lost by 3 runs while chasing a 240+ score in 40 overs - but will seek to turn the results around this year.
On compassionate grounds owing to the presence of only 5 players by the start of play (!), MSCC were put in to bat by QCC. Uzair and Ravi R got the team off to a watchful and steady start, taking their partnership up to the 8th over at between 3 and 4 runs an over.
Then followed a sight quite familiar to to the MSCC folks - a steady middle order collapse spread - where we went from 2 wickets down to 8 wickets down in the space of 14 overs. That batting was not easy on the sticky wicket was seen in the fact that MSCC had no boundaries scored until this stage.
Meanwhile, Kunal made sure that he was hanging around, having gone in at no.6. and run hard for each one of his runs. Vijay joined Kunal at the fall of 8 wickets with more than 8 overs to spare and the score in the low 80s. With the objective of playing out all 8 overs, the partnership began with watchful singles, gradually picking up to converting 1s to 2s, and eventually resulting in a flurry of hits, including 3 boundaries, by Vijay in the last 2 overs. The pair finished with an unbeaten 50-run partnership, with Kunal ending on 31 not out and Vijay on 30 not out. The target was set at 137 in 30 overs.
Vijay and Abhishek opened the bowling for MSCC. Abhishek got the first breakthrough in the 5th over with a well directed yorker - bowled. Vijay followed it up in the following over by inducing an edge, and both openers were duly removed with the score less than 20. Sandeep and Matt took up bowling duties as first change, and continued with the good work with Sandeep picking up 2 wickets - both catches by Matt - and restricting the scoring rate to less than 3 an over. By the end of the first two spells, QCC were 45 for 4 off 16 overs.
Kunal and Shyam took up spin duties, and started off well. Shyam picked up 2 wickets, one of which was a typical catch at the boundary that one has come to expect of Shyam's bowling - a great effort by Ravi R at long off, which was not only admired by his 9-year old son Yuvraj fielding at fine leg, but the rest of the players too. The hosts were on 48 off 18 overs for the loss of 6 wickets.
Then the heavens opened up with a sharp continuous drizzle, and with it the floodgates for runs. The ball became harder to grip and fielding difficult under bad light. The 2 batsmen rapidly grew in confidence and piled on runs at about 9 an over for the remaining 10 overs to take QCC to the finishing line with more than an over to spare. None of the good bowling from Matt, Sandeep, Abhishek, or Vijay was of any avail in their respective second spells. While boundaries seemed extraordinarily hard to get while MSCC were batting, it seemed to be the norm to score 4s, and even 6s, when this last QCC pair put on their show for nearly 10 overs.
Overall, a very enjoyable match, a particularly competitive one for the start of the season, but in the end MSCC had to swallow the bitter pill - yet another one given the number of similar instances from the previous season. MSCC will seek to show more backbone in the middle order and tighten its field sets to limit the run leak.
To end on a positive note, the GOSH charity appeal was very well-received by the team members. Collections included £15 from Matt Daly who challenged Vijay to score boundaries for which he would contribute £5 for each hit. Follow the collections progress on www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/malgudishirecc .
Next match on Sun, 6 June 2010 vs. Old Colfeians. MSCC had a very competitive game against this team last year - MSCC lost by 3 runs while chasing a 240+ score in 40 overs - but will seek to turn the results around this year.
Thursday 27 May 2010
2010 season
Looking forward to the beginning of the 2010 season on Saturday, 29 May, with our first game against Queensbury CC (away). All set with 11 players, and raring to go despite the poor weather forecast.
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