Main Umpire: Kalyan Leg Umpire: Batting team
Report:
By 8:30 am the SCCA team was off to Columbia, SC to play their
second league game. As usual, all the players were pumped up and ready to play.
After arriving at the grounds at 10 sharp, it was unfortunate that the game
didn’t get underway till 10:45 due to some COCC players arriving late.
The weather was cloudy and breezy and as expected, COCC put SCCA into bat after
winning the toss. SCCA decided that 220 would be a good target to set and went
into bat confident of getting it.
Zeeshan and Matt opened the innings and the pair looked quite comfortable
against the COCC opening bowlers. Then, disaster struck. Zeeshan got out in the
third over - LBW for 2 to a short of length ball that kept low. Score: 11/1 (2.2
overs)
Milind was the next man in. As Milind was settling in, Matt tried to push the
runs along and perished (3 runs) cutting a short one off Vivek’s third over, to
the fielder at point who took a good catch to his left. Score: 20/2 (4.5 overs)
Jana joined Milind and instantly got into the action glancing a 4 off the second
ball he faced. However, he was unfortunately bowled for 6 off Vivek’s fourth
over to another ball that stayed low. Score: 28/3 (6.3 overs) SCCA were now in a
bit of trouble. With a long and talented batting line up, 220 was still on the
cards though.
Sanjay walked into the middle with a smile…cool and composed. It wasn’t long
before he was milking the bowlers for quick ones and twos. Milind was providing
great support from the other end playing very sensibly. This pair added an
invaluable 69 together for the fourth wicket. Sanjay fell (LBW off Pranav’s
first over) with 22 to his name off just 26 balls. It is worth mentioning that
Sanjay didn’t score any boundaries in this innings, yet managed to have a great
scoring rate. Score: 97/4 (17.3 overs)
Ejaz was the next man to join Milind. By now, Milind was more relaxed and
playing some exquisite drives. There were very few balls passing his blade and
he was unsettling the opposition. After taking a few balls to settle in, Ejaz
also started to turn the heat on. He was in no mood to run (having a sore toe
from the previous match) and hitting boundaries at will. He hit 4 boundaries in
a space of 5 balls. Four balls later, the ball found its way to the safety of
the trees for the maximum. The run rate was improving rapidly. Milind had also
scored a very fine 50 and decided to open up his shoulders some more. However,
he got out on 51 (62 balls – 5 fours) trying to hit a big one. Score:147/5 (23.5
overs)
With the innings drawing to a close, in came the powerhouse Glen. As usual, Glen
was determined to take the attack to the bowlers…and he did just that. SCCA were
in for a great treat with Ejaz and Glen at the crease. The ball was getting hit
to all parts of the ground. When Ejaz finally got out trying to pull a ball over
midwicket for six, he had reached 37 in just 30 balls (4 fours, 1 six). Score:
172/6 (25.4 overs)
Glen was still there and 220 still looked a possibility when the SCCA captain (Blessington)
went into bat. Blessy wasted no time getting off the mark – eager to give the
strike to Glen. A couple of balls later, a one handed six from Glen sent the
ball sailing over the fence way into the adjacent parking lot. One could only
imagine how far it would have gone had he hit it with both hands. This gave the
batsmen a well-deserved water break while the COCC fielders were left searching
for the ball. After the ball was fetched, Glen tried to earn another water break
and mistimed the shot to the hands of long on. He had scored a sparkling 22 in
just 10 balls with 2 huge sixes. Score: 189/7 (27.2 overs)
Santosh walked in with just a few balls remaining and joined Blessy. A few
singles were taken (plus some extras) before Santosh was unluckily run out for
2. Score: 195/8 (27.6 overs) With only 12 balls remaining, Rizwan joined Blessy.
The pair took some sneaky singles and hard run doubles to take the final score
to 209/8 in 30.0 overs. Shahji didn’t get to bat…but he was not disappointed at
all. SCCA fell 11 short of the intended target, but were convinced they could
win the game.
The first session of play took a long time due to a slow over rate by COCC, an
injury to a fielder, and also plenty of ball fetching. The injury meant that
COCC only had 9 wickets in which to make their runs. After a Mc-D snack, SCCA
were ready to go out and field. The sun had come out and it was starting to get
warm as well.
COCC opened with Pranav and Vivek. Almost immediately, Pranav was forced to
retire after a lethal delivery from Glen hit him on the gloves just in front of
his face. Bharath joined Vivek and the pair added 29 for the first wicket before
Glen sent one through the gate to send Vivek on his way.
Pranav bravely came back to bat…and that he did. SCCA bowlers were getting
frustrated and the fielding was not up to the mark. Both batsmen were lucky to
survive a few chances. With a good partnership forming, Blessy turned to Shahji
to get a breakthrough. The plan worked in Shahji’s second over when he bowled
Bharath for 34. The pair put together a very useful partnership of 84.
The wicket gave SCCA a strong burst of energy and also signaled the downfall of
the COCC batting. COCC batsmen took a lot of time between the overs to get
drinks, talk strategy, and upset the SCCA rhythm…it didn’t work. Shahji bowled
brilliantly and Blessy was getting some swing and providing great support.
Together, they ripped through the COCC middle order. Shahji picked up three very
important wickets including that of Pranav who top scored with a classy 49 for
COCC. Blessy trapped both Raju and Keyur LBW through some nice late-swing
bowling. COCC batsmen came and went like airplanes in Chicago O’Hare: 113/2,
123/3, 130/4, 141/5, 153/6, 164/7, 170/8, 182/9.
With 6 COCC wickets down, Blessy brought back Glen and Ejaz respectively to
finish COCC off. It worked like a charm. Santosh took a good catch in the deep
off Glen to get rid of Paul and Ejaz bowled Shashank. The last man out (Snehal)
was caught well short of his ground trying to scamper a run, which was never
there. Victory was sealed in the 28th over!
It was a truly great win for SCCA. For the second game running, the team
displayed tremendous character and a ‘never say die’ attitude. There were some
very good individual performances. Notably a 51 from Milind, 22 in 10 balls and
2 wickets for 26 runs from Glen, and 37 in 30 balls and 1 for 17 from Ejaz.
Nevertheless, considering the way the match unfolded, the man of the match is
Shahji for a match-winning bowling spell of 3 for 22, all of which were
important wickets.
-Very special thanks go out to Kalyan of CCCC who did a terrific job umpiring;
volunteering to do so after an umpire assignment blunder.
-The Barbors drove all the way to Columbia to support us…they are our true
supporters! Thank you.
-Last but not least: We appreciate all the cheers, help, and good attitude from
Sudhir, Sanoj, and Menaaz!