Hi everyone. It was Diwali weekend and we celebrated in style by winning this week. And whats more, it was unlike last week where one or two stole the show. It was a team effort where no one stood out. It really lifts the morale of the team when we snatch victory from the doors of defeat and I guess we did that perfectly.
For a change, Mani won the toss and he was proud. I guess he practiced a lot with the coin at home after reading my previous blog (pun intended) :-). I hope he practices some catching too. :-) We chose to bat as that seemed to be the consensus. No one seemed opposed to the idea of batting first. The opening combo was the same - Vivek and Raghu. Maddy was apprehensive about facing the "new ball" and he promptly declined the offer to open:-).
Raghu got into his groove well enough picking up singles and scorched a boundary over the covers. Vivek seems to have been hit by the Shahid Afridi Syndrome. He puts his foot forward and hits the ball as hard as he can. He didn't last long holing out at long on. Sudharshan went in at No.3 but there was no fireworks from him this time around. He was finding hard to get his touch.
We reached 17-1 at the end of 3 overs. When Sudharshan got out, Goutham went in. It was Vivek's sensational bit of intuition that led to Goutham going in and we all had a laugh about it. To make matters worse, it was Goutham's comeback game after a hiatus and he seemed rusty every inch. He didn't last long and the innings began to stutter after this. Raghu got out to a slower one. Freddie and Ram seemed to arrest the slide when Ram got out caught at long off.
The innings slid downward when I got run out soon after. For a change, Raghu (running for Fred) was conservative while running and he didn't respond to my call. Mani got run out as the ball struck someone close by and landed right into the hands of the 'keeper. Fred was playing well before lifting one straight to the deep midwicket fielder. The lower order comprising of Suresh, Maddy and Kailash stole a few singles and we scrapped to 55. Once again we were bowled out under 12 overs.
We started off with our bowling knowing we had a stiff task. Mani bowled a fierce spell of 3 overs giving away only 12 runs but unlucky not to strike. I bowled a couple of unconvincing overs and was taken for 12 runs as well though I managed a wicket. They had coasted 27 off the first 6 overs. Raghu stepped in and bowled a splendid over. He took out the tall and dangerous guy and took another wicket courtesy a good catch by Vivek and this really lifted our morale. They needed 25 of the last 5 and we backed ourselves. Suresh bowled an over that went for 9 and Raghu dropped a sitter at long off. 16 runs were required off 4 overs.
Raghu bowled another good over taking 2 wickets - one was a skier taken at deep midwicket by yours truly and the other was a spectacular bit of fielding of his own bowling. He ran out the batsman with the direct hit. It came down to 12 runs needed off 3 overs and Mani insisted on me bowling though I was against it asking him to bowl instead. I bowled a maiden and took 2 wickets and we were well and truly back in the game. After a long discussion, Mani bowled the penultimate over and gave away only 2 runs besides picking up another 2 wickets.
Alas, 10 runs off the last over and just one wicket needed. Me, Raghu and Mani had bowled our max quota and it was left to the Comeback Man Goutham to do the honours. He started off nervously to give 2 runs off the first ball but got a wicket the next ball as I held a low catch at long on bringing to an end a really thrilling encounter.
I must say we are on a high after back to back wins and lets hope the winning streak continues. Guys!! All hell will break lose next week as Maddy is willing to bowl and is serious about it. Wishing you luck, Maddy.
Cheers
Vignesh
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