On a beautiful Sunday morning with more than an hr and
half drive ahead of us, We were looking forward to a good days game, when we got
the dreaded call that the match might be cancelled since the Heckscher Park was
given to someone else. Luckily for us India XI was more than upto the task and
they agreed to host us at Brentwood instead. With frantic last min calls and
driving direction changes the whole team managed to get to the ground on time (In spite
of a malfunctioning GPS system in the Columbia van). Brentwood was a picture
perfect cricket ground inside a school campus and almost perfectly manicured
outfield.
CUCC lost the toss and were sent in to field first. We started off with Dileep
(on a hat trick 5-fer) from one end and Venu from the other. Dileep started off
well and Venu got a maiden in. This was the first time we were playing with the
inner circle rule (first 12 overs only 2 fielders outside the inner ring). Venu
went for a few in his next couple of overs and took himself off. Dileep though
was bowling perfect line and length not giving anything away. Dileep soon struck
with Laks picking up a sharp chance in the slips to give us the break through.
Dileep soon had the other opener nicking behind to get them 2 down. We thought
Dileep was on his way to get that hat trick, but the next 2 batsmen put up a 100
run partnership. We were wondering why they could put on so many runs (as
clearly neither looked like they could bat long), when it dawned upon us that
both the guys had given us ample half chances which we couldn't convert. And to
make matters worse we dropped them a few times as well. Sunil replaced Venu and
was getting good pace and bounce on a hard track. But unfortunately with the
inner circle rule he saw edges flying to the boundaries. KD replaced Dileep
after an excellent spell and was soon in his groove. He kept the batsmen tied
down but runs were coming from the other end. Ajay replaced Sunil and he couldn't
get his rhythm as he went for a few. At drinks break India XI were well placed
with 150/2 and looked set to put up 250+ runs.
KD was unlucky not to be rewarded for some excellent bowling and also cos a
couple of chances were dropped off of him. At the end of his spell we saw our
veteran spinner Prabhu coming on from one end. He struck right away with the
second ball to get one of their top scorer struck plumb in front. This bought
India XI's most successful partnership to an end. He soon got their top scorer
(after we dropped him umpteen number of times) caught behind as he couldn't
handle his flight and loop which was quite deceiving. Their captain took the
"offense is the best defense" route to smack a few, but Prabhu had the
last laugh, as he was gone to a smart stumping by Michael. Next ball Prabhu got
another wicket - to a fiercely stuck shot to short cover where Sayan took a
sharp chance off his hips (literally - ask how his aching hip is doing!!). CUCC
saw Dileep on a hat trick thrice this season and Madhura once but never able to
convert it. What followed next ball was a close-in cordon (for the hat trick)
and the new batsman smacked the first ball back to Prabhu and he pulls off a
stunner (return catch inches off the ground in front of him). CUCC saw the first
hat trick of this season, and who better to get it than Prabhu who has hardly
ever got to bowl his full quota of overs (actually he still hasn't had a 7 over
spell in this entire season) before he wraps up the innings. CUCC wrapped
up things with laks picking up a wicket to finish off on 196. Excellent fight
back from CUCC considering they were at 150/2 (in 18 overs). Last 8 wickets fell
for 46 runs with Prabhu doing all the damage picking up a 6-fer (6/31) as he
single handedly demolished the opposition.
Chasing 197 to win CUCC started with yet another diff opening pair. Sunil was
sent up the order to give him a go at the bowling with the fielders inside the
circle. Gokul and Sunil started off very well smacking the bowling all around
the park with Sunil taking an exceptional liking to their opening bowlers. The
opening partnership put on 49 runs in less than 7 overs as Gokul and Sunil took
their bowling apart. Gokul fell after making a run a ball 22 to bring KD in. KD
who has been in prolific scoring form this season and he started off with a 4
second ball and never looked backed. Sunil at the other end started hitting
everything in the V and when fielders were posted in the deep he simply went
over them. Just when he looked good for a big score, a tiring Sunil smacked one
straight to long on to be out for a quick fire 36. This bought Laks in who
started stroking the ball with the elegance we have taken for granted. He kept
rotating the strike and and putting away the loose balls. But what followed was
a carnage as KD decided he had enough of it and started upping the ante. He did
not leave a single bowler as he smacked four after four and a couple of huge sixes
as bowling change after bowling change hardly helped the opposition. Laks got
out after making 26 and Sayan went in next. Unfortunately we were so close to
winning that he had a lapse of concentration and was out LBW. KD was unlucky to
get out to a ball that hardly rose and he was out long after the result of the
game was already decided and not before he got a quick fire 50 (50 - off 31
balls and 71 off 53 balls). MichaelP and Ajay then got us home in a canter
without any further mishaps occurred. CUCC won by 5 wickets and guess what we
knocked off the 200 runs in 25 overs of excellent batting performance.
Excellent bowling by Prabhu to bring us back into the game with a 6-fer
including the first CUCC hat trick this season. Great batting by Gokul, Sunil
and especially KD with ample support from Laks to complete yet another
comprehensive victory for CUCC. Good job guys. Lets get the trophy home this
year. With this win CUCC ends up at the top of the C Division with one last
regular game left before play offs start Aug 27th. Good job guys, excellent
performance on the field by all 11.
India XI was one of the best teams we have played so far. They were very nice
and cordial on and off field with no untoward incidents. It was nice to play
such a team after what we have encountered earlier in this season.