We played the last game in Gopalapuram ground as Alfonso witnessed another tournament. 'Da Freaks for the day: Mani, Vicky, Maddy, Jagan, Sri, Freddie, Kailash, Yogi, Suresh, Ram and Sudarshan. We played against a team brought by Jagan and they meant business.
We lost the toss and so we had to field first, chasing has never been our forte. Suresh started the proceeding in his typical fashion, high over the head full toss which made even yogi a little angry. But somehow he ended up taking a wicket and not giving away a run. But the second wicket partnership of their's was superb. Ably helped by our poor fielding and catching, the runs kept flowing through their blades. Somehow if we had been a bit more sharper or held on to some easier catches, we would have won this match, the only silver lining was Sudarshan's magnificent running catch. Mani was apprehensive in trying something different and he ended up bowling at a driving length all the time, it made it easier for the batsmen to score. Vicky was trying some slow off spinners which were taken to the cleaners. Sri bowled his heart out and took a few wickets at the end but by the end of 14 overs we gave away 95 runs.
Chasing a mammoth 96 runs in 14 overs, Yogi and Ram opened the innings but Ram got out very early. Freddie and Yogi started a very good partnership and were scoring freely. Again the fielding was very poor, this time from the opposition as they dropped skiers almost every time. With a bit of luck the two were keeping abreast of the run rate. After Freddie's good innings, Sri got out cheaply and Jagan after hitting a beautiful four got out by trying to be a bit more defensive, all the while Yogi was going along nicely picking up the ones and twos. The temperamental nature of the game took an ugly turn when yogi's run out was in question. After a few unruly moments, the game was to continue as yogi was given out ending a very good innings, he almost took us home. Vicky on the other hand was trying his best, picking the gaps and keeping the chase alive. Sudarshan got ran out and that is when we all felt that we may have so much to chase. Needing 25+ in less than three overs, we got a bit of our belief back when Sri, running for Vicky, and I took 8 runs in one ball pressurizing the opponents to throw wild but the very next ball I got run out. Mani couldn't clear the fielder and holed out in the same over. When Vicky got out it was almost over with us needing 14 runs in the last over. Kailash took a single and gave Suresh the strike, who scored 4,3,0,1 in the four balls he faced and the last ball was not scored off and hence we were defeated by 4 runs.
I couldn't get over the thought that maybe if we bowled better and fielded better, doing the basics, we would have won this game but we didn't.
Cheers,
Madhavan
for 'Da Freaks
