The opinions expressed in this post are solely that of the author who, on occasion, had an out-of-body experience and was able to watch himself play.
Also, in order to keep some suspense about the 2007 season, when I provide a link to a player's page I shall link to the page that shows his 2006 stats.
Game 1: WVUCC versus SteelZags
The opening game of the 2007 was a doozy, pitting the two teams that led the league in 2006 - SteelZags and WVUCC.
The SteelZags are led by Ram Paluri, a very correct left-handed batsman who plays in straight lines, except when he gets short-pitched balls that he likes to deposit beyond the brook at midwicket. WVUCC identified this as his one big weakness. The normal good length ball outside the off-stump would not do, as he was classy enough to simply hit through the line and loft it over cover. Instead a trap was set to give him a short ball outside the off-stump and let his cross-batted instincts take over. And take over they did! He predictably went across the line and ended up lofting a catch off the splice to be caught at mid-off and was gone.
The SteelZags bat well as a team - apart from Ram they do not really have a prolific scorer - and focus primarily on stitching together partnerships, chipping away at the opposition's plans. As the innings progressed they batted efficiently, hitting boundaries when the opportunities presented themselves, but mostly content to bide their time and take the extras on offer. Not surprisingly, this being the first game of the season, the bowlers had a tough time controlling the ball, giving up 10 no-balls, 27 wides. (In all fairness, the SteelZags returned the favour when their turn came but the effect of chasing 170 on the board is different from chasing 140).
The SteelZags finished at 169 for 7 in 25 overs. A word about Edgebrook Field (click here for a picture) will put the total into perspective. The ground is basically a soccer field with extended yardage on the longer sides. It is surrounded on the two longer sides by a trail, which marks the boundary. On one side of the trail flows a bubbling brook, on the opposite side is a dense woodlot. The long boundaries on either side are flanked by parking lots. The square boundaries are quite short (about a decent lob wedge distance) and wreck havoc on the bowlers analyses if they err even a little bit.
In general, a score of 150 should be considered par. Anything up to 175-180 is gettable. Beyond 180 the balance shifts towards the bowling side. So 170 was on the cusp. Gettable but still a tough one.
WVUCC began with a bang, taking 16 runs from the first over. Arvind Thiruvengadam hit the first ball of his season handsomely over cover for a 6. Disaster struck in the second over when C.S. Manish overextended after completing a first run and was caught napping, run out at the non-strikers end. 17 for 1 quickly became 40 for 5, until Ashok Varadarajan and Abishek Muralidharan steadied the ship and settled everyone's nerves with a good partnership, bringing up the 100 without being unduly troubled by any of the bowlers. WVUCC reached 135 for 5, needing just 34 runs with 5 wickets left when Krishna Konduru, who gave up those 16 runs in the first over exacted his revenge, scything through the batting. In the proverbial blink of an eye WVUCC was all out for 150, with three overs still left in the bag.
With that loss, WVUCC continued a dismal trend against the SteelZags. This was their 4th game against the 'Zags over the course of two seasons and they had yet to beat them. (Things would only get worse the next time the two teams faced off later in the year).
But the season had begun and WVUCC had something tangible to work on in the practices ahead of the next game against the Gladiators.
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