Main Umpire: Vishal Leg Umpire: Batting side
Report:
Late order batting revival helps GRCC secure victory by 20 runs despite a
spirited chase by OCC
After five days of high temperatures and humid weather, Sunday presented a fine
day for some good cricket. OCC were trying to put behind the dissapointment of a
loss to TWCC earlier and were looking forward to taking on a GRCC side that had
just lost their first game of the season the previous week. GRCC were equally
determined to get back to winning ways. Dhiren (GRCC) won the toss and elected
to bat.
GRCC innings
Sravan and Sastry (in the absence of regular opener Ramesh) opened the innings
for GRCC and provided the perfect start, compiling 49 runs in quick time without
taking considerable risk. They were helped in the task by some initial wayward
bowling from the OCC opening bowlers. Just when things seemed to be going well
for GRCC, Sastry was given out caught behind playing early to a ball from Leo.
Vicky C could not come to terms with the slowness in the wicket and was bowled
by Gauri while trying to walk across the stumps in an effort to glide the ball
down leg. By this time, the OCC bowlers, led by Gauri, tightened up their line
and length and were looking to capitalize on mistakes by the GRCC batsmen. They
were obliged when Sravan, in an effort to clear mid on holed out for a well made
27 runs. Abhijit came in next and was soon on his way back playing on the up and
offering a simple chance at cover. Khanna was the next to go down as he was
given out lbw after a missing a full length ball from Gauri. In a space of 5
overs, OCC had wrested the initiative by picking up those 4 quick wickets and
GRCC almost made a mess of the good start given by the openers. However, the
reliable pair of Hari and Amarnath steadied the ship and initially looked to
preserving wickets. They both essayed a sensible partnership, realizing well
that OCC had not yet used their fifth bowler. Once the fifth bowler was brought
on, Hari cut loose playing some great drives in the 'V' while punishing the
shorter ones as well. Amarnath provided the perfect foil by running quick
singles and they both put GRCC on course for a 200+ target when Amarnath lost
his wicket against the run of play. Hari played the ball straight back along the
wicket and ball got the bowler's hand before crashing into the non-striker's
wicket, leaving Amarnath stranded outside his crease. It was an unfortunate end
to a patient innings and important innings. Vicky, another batsman who performed
well under pressure in the previous game, joined Hari after this and the runs
kept flowing for GRCC. Hari, by then was in a mood to send every ball outside
the park. But he holed out to Leo for a well made 45 under pressure. The captain
Dhiren then joined Vicky and both of them played intelligently to bring the
score to 202, with Vicky undefeated on a brilliant 36 and Dhiren run out off the
last ball for 21 runs. The excellent performance from the lower middle order
pulled GRCC from the doldrums at 63/5 to a competitive total of 202 for 8.
OCC innings
Facing a challenging target, the OCC openers were looking to get on top of the
GRCC bowling attack initially. Subin bowled an excellent first over. Dhiren at
the other end pitched short and was taken for a few runs, providing good initial
momentum for OCC. Subin struck in his next over when Ninad trying to clear long
off holed out; Hari holding on to the chance. That brought Tanmay to the crease.
Tanmay and Puri went about buiding a good partnership and they were helped again
by GRCC in their efforts, courtesy a few dropped chances early on in the
innings, with Abey, Hari ... among the suffering bowlers. Both of them used
their chances and established themselves. The GRCC bowlers did not get into to
rhythm and the runs were coming by for OCC at a good clip. With each passing
over, the frustration was evident on the GRCC fielders and bowlers and they were
just trying to break this partnership. Puri and Tanmay continued their good work
and made excellent half centuries, giving their team a real chance of pulling
off an upset win. For GRCC though, the one good thing on their side was the high
run rate that was still required by OCC to achieve the target. In that effort,
Puri looking to send Khanna over midwicket, only managed to hole out to Subin
who took a low catch after covering more than 15 yards. GRCC had achieved the
necessary breakthrough and sensed an opening to close out the game and put OCC
out of contention in the match. Vishal was the next man in. He used the long
handle to clear Khanna over midwicket. However, a faster one from Khanna
completely caught him by surprise and he was out lbw. Abhijeet was the next man
in and a brilliant combined fielding effort from Dhiren (picking the ball and
releasing it at the bowler in one action) and Abhijit (jumped high to collect
and hit the stumps) saw his back. The wickets had started tumbling and GRCC, in
a effort to get some more wickets brought Subin back. He first for Prithvi out
lbw to a ball of good pace that beat Prithvi's bat and then produced the ball of
the innings that disturbed the timber; Ashish having no clue about how to play
that one. Tanmay, by this time decided to take the onus on himself to finish the
innings, hit the ball high in the air towards extra cover off of Abhi's bowling.
Vicky, fielding at sweeper, pulled off a superb catch, that effectively put the
game beyond OCC's reach. Dhiren picked up Amit' s wicket and OCC ended their
innings at 182 for nine, giving GRCC a hard earned 20 run victory.
Umpire
We would like to thank Vishal from BCC for some excellent umpiring work in the
hot weather. He was consistent with his decisions and played an important role
in keeping things under control in this exciting clash.