We lost today's match against Arun CC. This is the second straight time we have lost against them unable to chase 65+, today the target was 70. The loss itself would have been a difficult thing to grasp under the circumstances but the way we skittled out for 41 was preposterous.
There has been a lot of talk about our bowling and our batting and how it needs to develop a lot more to cope up with the competition. Today our bowling was good. Probably not against a great batting team but definitely good. The opening pair of Mani and Suresh wreaked havoc taking 5 wickets in the first 7 overs. Mani bowled his quota in one spell probably because he looked good and also the fact that he had enough steam to complete. Good but there are other things we need to consider. If the first change comes in at the 8th over, it becomes that much more difficult for others to complete their quota. Standing under the sun for so much time and fielding, other bowlers may not have that much stamina to complete 3 overs in a trot. We do have good enough options to complete 14 overs but it becomes that much more difficult if one is taken apart and also we don't have the strike bowler at the end. Probably today Mani went with the idea to get more wickets, good enough but just a thought that we can think of options best available. All in all we ensured that Arun CC were able to get only 69 in 14 overs, we bowled them out in 13 overs which is a good sign of continuing improvements in bowling. I still believe we need better fielding management though today was not bad.
There is one major concern for us when it comes to batting, our opening pair is not consistent and we don't seem to go out with any kind of plan. It was very evident today in the way we lost the plot completely. I didn't understand the requirement of Balaji to slog in the very first over!! He didn't connect but the bowler did with the stumps. Lapse of concentration led Vicky to be stumped. Freddie forgot where his off stump was and was cleansed. Jagan ran for a non-existent run which I played straight to mid-wicket, since the throw was bad at the bowler's end, I tried to get there but was run out. Jagan got out the very next delivery. It was safe at this point to say that our chase was in tatters. We lost 8 wickets within 7 overs before getting to 15. Mani and Sri provided some impetus but Sri got caught out to a mis hit. Suresh played his no nonsense type of cricket in which he even hit a four. There was a glimpse of hope with this last wicket partnership. When we were 41 and needing 29 in 20 balls, Suresh got his stumps castled and that ended our chase, right there.
We are not really this bad, we have enough players to take us though while chasing. It seems like a confidence thing right now. Most of our problems in batting will be solved if we can find a good opening pair. If we can go with some targets like where we would like to be in the end of 3 overs, 5 overs, something like that might help. If we could gather 20 runs in 5 overs without losing a wicket, it would be a great achievement and a good platform. Introspecting myself I can clearly see that I lack confidence to open the innings and somehow I feel that playing at the end comes without much expectations, don't ask!! Got something to do with the fact that I have not been scoring consistently, actually any good impact for some innings. I think as players we need to also be accountable, just need to put our hands up and be counted. Something to think about for this week.
And guys, too many run outs. If you are unable to see the ball even if someone is shouting at you to run, don't. Its better to have no run rather than have so many run outs. This is killing us. Are we being a little restless somehow? Maybe.
It was a bad day at play today, so just forget it and enjoy CSK beat Deccan. Come back next week with more vigour.
Cheers,
Madhavan
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