Main Umpire: Nihar Namjoshi Leg Umpire: Nagi
Report: TCC scores a convincing win
It was a real hot day with summer yet to start. The temperature already crossed
the mid-eighties by 10:00 AM. A cloudless sky, short boundaries and a dry pitch
suggested that it was a batting paradise. OCC is a young fighting outfit from
Richmond, VA with a never-say-die spirit. The match started at 12:15pm with OCC
arriving later than expected since they had players coming in from out of town.
TCC would like to thank Nagi and Nihar (NCSU) for umpiring this game.
Aravind, TCC’s Captain, won the toss and chose to bat. Raman, a replacement for
earlier MoM Ravi Renga and Samir Tikare walked out to open the innings for TCC.
Raman must have brought immense joy to Gavaskar in the first two balls he faced
with his flawless defense. And that was indeed the last time Raman respected the
opposition in the match. The third ball was a beamer headed for Raman's neck,
and Raman, licking his lips, took all the time in this world and deposited the
cherry deep into the woods in style. The last ball of the very first over
claimed Samir. It was a rank bad ball that begged Samir to punish it, which he
did by trying to cut, but only managed to nick it into the waiting hands of the
keeper.
Vijay joined Raman at the other end who had already tasted first blood. In the
next ten overs, he went berserk and the scoreboard went crashing through the
roof. Vijay pulled a couple of short balls for maximum runs. Raman’s next 50
runs came in just 23 balls. TCC's score 92 runs of first 10 overs. At this
point, when Raman was on rampage, Vijay played a very noteworthy knock. He
played a very mature and selfless knock, and put the team glory in front of his
and gave strike to his more belligerent partner. Even if the ball was
punishable, Vijay used his prudence to hit it or take a single. In terms of
partnership - building, Vijay’s knock was of the highest quality and stands
besides Raman's knock. Raman was bowled for a well-compiled 57. The ball
literally rolled on to his stumps and that seemed like the only way he would get
out! Cramps had started to bother him thus impeding his footwork. Nevertheless,
it was one of the glorious knocks his team - mates will re!
member for a long time to come.
Aravind joined Vijay who had donned the accumulator’s hat and was compiling his
runs in singles. Vijay holed out to deep midwicket after trying to clear the
ground in Abhi’s first over. In fact, time and again we have seen this happening
to well-settled batsman and unfortunately Vijay too just followed their path.
Soon, Arvind returned to the pavilion after sweeping into the hands of the long
leg fielder who actually took a good catch. The ball rose more than he had
expected thus resulting in a top edge.
Rajesh U. joined Syed at the crease with the latter going for his shots in an
effort to up the run rate. These two players (along with Samir and Vijay) being
very mature, sane and dependable carried the score till 213 in 24 overs when an
unfortunate misunderstanding occurred resulting in Rajesh being run-out. Syed
carried on his marathon knock into the 25th over and he perished trying to clear
the ground one too many a time in a single over. But, since the situation
warranted risk –taking Sundar, Rajbal, Samir Arekar, and Amar chipped in
invaluable runs at the end to post a daunting total of 252 in 30 overs.
TCC having put up a formidable 252 started off with Samir Tikare being asked to
keep the wickets while Syed decided to go head on as an able ally to VT, TCC’s
ace leg spinner. Aravind didn’t have a very good first over ‘cos Vishal who
opened with Ninad for OCC decided to throw his bat around. He hoicked Aravind
for a huge six over midwicket. Rajbal shared the new ball at the other end and
Vishal’s expansive drive flew high to thirdman where Vijay dropped a difficult
chance giving a boundary in the bargain! Thankfully, it didn’t prove too costly
since Rajbal had the last laugh with Rajesh U. pouching a sitter at long off in
his next over. Salman joined Ninad at the other end and the pair batted with
poise and controlled aggression taking the score to 73 in 11 overs. Sundar and
Amar were the first and second change bowlers respectively for TCC. Amar,
keeping a nagging line in the corridor finally got Salman to nick one to Samir
behind the stumps after a lot of misses.
OZ joined Ninad who seemed to be on a mission. This pair added 57 runs in just
over 6 overs. VT’s first over went for 20 runs while Syed wasn’t able to get the
better of the batsmen operating from the other end. Just when the match seemed
to get out of TCC’s hands, Aravind asked Vijay to bowl and he responded right
away by getting one to nip back into OZ’s defense hitting his middle stump in
the bargain. With the required run rate at 9, it required nothing but hitting
and in trying to do so, Ninad paid the price trying to late cut a straight ball
from Vijay and the ball rattled his off stump. Two key wickets in two overs
pegged OCC back.
From here on, OCC just tried to delay the inevitable. Omar stuck around trying
his best to accelerate at one end while the batsmen at the other end caved in
meekly. Tanmay, OCC’s captain, was caught at deep midwicket by Vijay off VT.
Samir Arekar was brought on to replace Vijay at the other end. He got a wicket
off his first over with Rajbal making a good catch. Without further ado, VT
cleaned up OCC’s tail thus completing a 5-wicket haul in this match. What a way
to come back after being clobbered for 20 runs in his first over! TCC won by a
good 73-run margin. The extras came down to 20 as compared to the previous
match, but the ground fielding needs to improve in the upcoming matches. Keep up
the overall good work guys!!
Man of the match – Raman (OCC seemed to be under the Raman effect!)