Main Umpire: Faraz Leg Umpire: Pankaj
Report:
With a tight schedule, June 27th was the only day that NC State
could offer TCC for a rescheduled match. TCC had just played OCC in an away game
the previous day and coming back and playing a game against us the very next day
was always a tough proposition. Both teams chose to go ahead and reschedule the
game rather than leaving it unresolved through the season. There is never any
lack of motivation among the State players when it comes to playing, and TCC's
decision to play us in their second consecutive game of the weekend was
construed by many as a brave decision.
Having won the toss and choosing to bat, NC state lost both it's openers in
quick time. Vishwas was lucky to survive a confident caught behind appeal, but
he could not capitalize on it, falling within a few deliveries. Aravind was
bowling beautifully with a good rhythm, and was looking dangerous. Figuring that
he was the only TCC bowler with some pace, the batsmen chose to play him off and
rebuild the innings.
At this stage, the innings was interrupted when the batsman asked the leg umpire
to check if one of the bowlers was bending his arm while delivering the ball.
With the umpires unaware of the MACC's exact rules on this issue and with both
the captains disagreeing on the course of action if the bowler did in fact throw
the ball, play was held up. Play started 40 minutes later, with both captains
and the umpires finally agreeing to go with the advice of Ron Knight. Ron
advised the umpires that a decision on the bowler's action be reserved for the
Executive Committee of the MACC, with the bowler given the benefit of doubt.
However, if it were a blatant case of chucking with no regard to fair-play, the
ball be called a "No-ball".
Just when the batsmen were getting settled, Krishnakanth sliced a ball straight
to the point fielder and squandered another good start. In came Vamsee and made
batting look remarkably easy. On the other end, Sushil, who started the innings
in a scratchy manner, started to get settled. Just when another handy
partnership was developing, Vamsee who is riding on an incredible form, went for
a shot one too many. Thereafter, batsmen walked in and out, and none could build
a partnership of any substance with the increasingly assured Sushil. Charan was
bowling a tight line, and his catch to get rid of Nihar was a stunner. He kept
pegging away and was rewarded with 4 late order wickets. After a shaky start,
Sushil anchored the innings and displayed some excellent pull shots off the
spinners. The best shot of the innings however has to be his effortless lofted
six off the last over of the innings. In the end, he was unbeaten on 63 and took
the Wolfpack score to a below-par 145 in 30 overs.
TCC started their innings on a very positive note with 15 runs being scored off
the very first over. Just when the team was going through some anxious moments,
Amit started off getting Charan to top edge a pull shot off his very first
delivery. Many in the team must have skipped a few heartbeats to find
Krishnakanth at fine-leg shuffling his feet, to get under the ball. To their
utter relief, for a change, the ball landed safely in his hands and State got a
big breakthrough. Thereafter, TCC went on to loose 3 more quick wickets by the
end of the 3rd over and at 20 for 4, the match seemed as good as over. TCC's top
order played some appalling shots and one felt that this is where they missed
the calming influence of their regular opener and captain, Ravi. Vamsee, Nikhil
and Nihar tightened the screws with some very disciplined bowling and kept
chipping away at the wickets at regular intervals. The match was marred by a
very ugly incident when the ball took off from a good length and hit Padmanabh
on his face. He suffered a bad cut on his lips and had to be taken to the
hospital immediately. We hope for a speedy recovery and caution all the batsmen
playing on this surface at Shiloh to make use of the helmets. His injury took
some sheen off the victory, but in the end, State won the match with plenty to
spare. Spirit aside, what sets this team apart from the rest in the league are
the high fielding standards we set for ourselves and it was more than evident
early on when Vinay took a couple of blinders to seal TCC's fate.
We sincerely thank Faraz and Pankaj for umpiring this match. The umpires,
especially Faraz were repeatedly put on the spot, but they handled themselves
with great patience and decency. With appeals galore, from on and off the pitch,
the umps were virtually badgered non-stop. But both did a remarkable job
maintaining the decorum and remaining visibly unfazed by the spirited contest
unfolding before them.
MoM: Sushil S. 63 off 81 Not Out (3x4; 3x6)