The Midwest Chronicles: Mid-American Cricket League Division II Final- Double or Nothing

After a long and winding 2021 season, the Division II playoffs of the Mid-American Cricket League, (MACL) hosted by Simply Play Cricket in Omaha (Nebraska), began with the top two Division II teams facing off in the first match. Nebraska Cricket Club endured some nervous moments before defeating arch-rival, OCC Patriots to move into the final while the loser played the winner of the 3-4 placed teams for a chance to play in the final. In due course, the Patriots took care of their end of the bargain, too, and set up a dream re-match with NCC in the final. The teams had split their two meetings of the season so the final was set up very well as the rubber match - the winner would go home with bragging rights while the loser would have to endure a long off-season.

Patriots Team: Achyuth Kalluchi, Ajinkya Paikine (WK), Bhaskar Setti, Deepak Agarwal, Gowtham Maranani, Harish Bv (C), Kiran Gade , Sudhir Kondapalli, Vijay Yajjala, Vinod Yarroju, Kaushik Chittam

Nebraska CC Team: Ashish Sathyan, Asif Iqbal, C S Manish (WK), Jainil Savaliya, Mahek Patel, Ramesh Suvvari, Rakshit Rekhi, Sriram Surapaneni, Suresh Gorantla (C), Vijay Reddy, Vinothkumar Rajendran

The Patriots made one big change in light of the previous loss to NCC - they formally changed captains, installing Harish Bv in that role. The change in captaincy did not matter as far as the toss was concerned, though, as Suresh Gorantla won the toss and immediately decided to bat first, hoping to drown the Patriots under a deluge of runs, a tactic that had worked well in the previous week.

Each team made one change - Kaushik Chittam came into the squad for the Patriots while NCC's gunslinger - Danial Faisal - went home to attend his sister's wedding (priorities...priorities!) and was replaced by Rakshit Rekhi (much more on him later on the piece).

Another difference from the previous match was in the way it started. In the Qualifier, the NCC openers had sedately played out the opening overs before setting up a launch pad for the middle order to blast off. But a week is a long time...

Harish Bv began the inning by zinging an outswinger past Vinothkumar Rajendran's bat. The next ball was a similar but declared a wide. The third ball was (as expected) an in-swinger that was going down the leg-side. Vinoth played at it instinctively and it caught the edge for the keeper, Ajinkya Paikine, to take a sharp catch moving swiftly to his left. The umpire was unmoved but Vinoth, to his credit, walked back acknowledging his misfortune. 1 for 1 in 0.2 balls. Not the start the doctor ordered, thundered the imaginary Ravi Shastri from his imaginary perch in the imaginary commentary booth.

Vinothkumar Rajendran  c †Ajinkya P b Harish B  0 (2b 0 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 0.00

The most versatile player on NCC's roster is the captain himself. Far too many times, though, it's his versatility that is a deterrent since he is willing to sacrifice his spot so others can get a chance to perform. On this, the most important day of the season, a la MS Dhoni, circa 2011, Suresh Gorantla met the moment and decided to take it upon himself to show the way and promoted himself to #3 after having spent the entire season batting at 8 or lower. 

The fielders crowded in to put more pressure on Suresh, whose main scoring shot is the nudge for a single. His immediate response to his first ball was to stand tall to a short pitched ball and upper cut it to the third man boundary to quieten the crowd. The rest of the over passed uneventfully with Suresh and Vijay stealing singles with well placed pushes.

8 for 1 after 1 over 

Gowtham Maranani took up the attack at the other end. Packing the off-side field, Gowtham began with his trademark outswinger. Vijay unfurled one of the shots of the day, calmly reaching forward to lift the ball over the infield to the cover boundary. Immediately that brought about a change with a deep cover being added to the already packed off-side field. Looking to exploit the big open gaps in the leg-side, Vijay moved across his stumps. Unfortunately for him, Gowtham got the ball to cut in, beating Vijay's forward press, pinning him LBW. Both openers were gone, 8 balls into the inning, a far cry from the nearly 100 runs that they had combined to score in the previous week.

Vijay Reddy  lbw b Gowtham M  5 (3b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 166.67

In the absence of Danial Faisal, Suresh tweaked his batting order holding back Asif and calling Ramesh Suvvari to the crease. Gowtham tried the same trick again, but that only played into Ramesh's strength and he calmly flicked the ball to square leg and rushed back, in typical fashion, for a couple, followed by a more sedate single to calm the nerves. Suresh carefully played out the rest of the over.

15 for 2 after 2 overs

Ramesh has been the find of the season in the Omaha circuit and has worked his way up the batting and bowling order on the basis of his outstanding efforts in each chance he gets. With time, however, as teams got to see more and more of him, the bowlers realized that he is a leg-side dominant player whose fitness is outstanding, so he pinches twos and threes where others would jog a single. To counter that the Patriots adjusted to a 5-4 field and took to bowling outside the off-stump. 

While the rest of the league has been catching up to his strength, Ramesh has been using NCC's practice sessions to work on his off-side game. The first ball of the third over was viciously square-driven to the point boundary, resulting in another flurry of field changes. Ramesh then followed Ravi Shastri's patented advice and tapped the ball for a quick single to get off the strike. Suresh then followed his coach's advice of blocking any ball that was on the line of the stumps and pushing the ones outside the stumps for singles to finish the third over with no further damage.

23 for 2 after 3 overs.

Gowtham steamed in, building up a good rhythm and bowling faster and shorter than he had usually done this season. Ramesh and Suresh used the pace to deflect the ball behind the wicket on either side to pick up a couple of singles . The fifth ball of the over was the carrot, dangled full, fast, and outside the off-stump to Ramesh, inviting a strike across the line. Instead, Ramesh leaned forward and replicated Vijay's feat and smashed the ball to the extra-cover fence. The next ball was, naturally, quietly paddled away for a single.

30 for 2 after 4 overs

The NCC players began to breath more freely again as the early loss of the openers was slowly receding from memory. Harish continued and the first ball was flicked for a couple by Ramesh, who was well and fully in rhythm. That very rhythm resulted in disaster. The next ball was fuller, swinging into his pads and Ramesh flicked it to midwicket and took off immediately. The Patriots are, collectively, the best fielding side in the MACL and they showed why. The ball was hit fiercely but straight to the midwicket fielder, who picked up the ball and took an extra second to gauge which end to throw to. Ramesh and Suresh hesitated mid-pitch and then continued on with the (non-existent) run. The fielder could have picked either end but smartly chose to throw it straight to the bowler who broke the stumps before Ramesh could make his ground at the bowling end. 

Ramesh Suvvari  run out (Harish B)   17 (11b 2 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 154.55

Asif Iqbal came in and the two batsmen quietly played out the over producing just one single in the next 4 balls while the entire Patriots team came well inside the 30 yard circle to put further pressure on the batsmen.

33 for after 5 overs

The NCC think tank has always felt that opposing teams save their main bowler's overs for Asif. Even though Gowtham had already bowled 2 overs, unsurprisingly, he came back for a third one. Understanding that, Suresh decided to play out the entire over, to the increased frustration of the Patriots. Twice Gowtham slid onto the pads to try to give away a single but each time, the pair ran really fast to convert it into twos. Asif did not face Gowtham even once in that over.

38 for 3 after 6 overs

Knowing that Asif represented the Big Fish, Harish decided to finish his spell and came back with some vigor. The first  ball zipped past the bat. So did the second one. While the first ball harmlessly went to the keeper, the second one hit the pad right in front of the stumps! 

Asif Iqbal  lbw b Harish B  0 (4b 0 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 0.00

Just like that, the 4 batsmen whom NCC was counting on to bat a majority of the 20 overs were done for the day! The situation was a tense one and Suresh turned to the senior-most player in the 11 to defuse the situation. C.S. Manish has batted in every imaginable situation and batting position over the many years he has played but, even for him, this was a moment that held deeper meaning because of the opponent he was playing against and the fragile batting order behind him. 

A little bit of background here is necessary. In the previous match, Manish had gone into bat with a couple of overs left in the inning and swung at and missed as many balls as he connected with in trying to access the leg-side boundary. When NCC was fielding he marveled at Harish's range of off-side play and the two spoke at length about batting grips and loosening the bottom hand. One week later, Manish was primed to bite the hand that taught him.

Buoyed by gutting through the top order, Harish strived for extra pace in his last over, and three of the first 5 balls to Manish were wides that were calmly left alone. The other two honed in on the stumps and were patted back safely. The fifth (legal) ball was marginally outside the off-stump and Manish, to Harish's surprise, punched the ball through the cover region for a double. With one ball to go, inexplicably, Harish decided to change tactics and went around the wicket. He was probably aiming for a yorker at the base of the stumps. Anticipating something along those lines (and also to reduce the chances of getting out LBW), Manish took guard well outside the crease.  The resultant attempt at a yorker instead turned into a full toss that was calmly flicked over the square leg umpire and crossed the boundary after a couple of bounces. And just like that, a switch had been flicked on.

47 for 4 after 7 overs

Harish finished his spell in one go: 4.0 overs  28 runs 2 wickets (6 wides)

Unsurprisingly, with Manish at the crease, the Patriots turned to their veteran - Bhaskar Setti. There's a great deal of history between the two (but that's a story for another day) and the Patriots players vociferously reminded Manish of the potential ignominy of getting out to this particular bowler.

(As an aside, for 20 full overs, the Patriots fielders kept up a non-stop burst of chatter between balls, cheering their bowlers just as much as they sledged the batsmen. To their immense credit, not once did they veer into darker territory and everything that was said was well inside the (oft-quoted) boundaries of civility.)

Well aware of the history, Suresh decided to spoil the party once again by playing out as much of Bhaskar's bowling as possible. Also, the duo had settled on a simple strategy - for the next few overs they would carefully play out any balls that were within the stumps and only look to score off those that were outside that line. Bhaskar's strength is to bowl skiddy, low bouncing balls from a short run up. Probably because of the moment and the adrenaline coursing through him, the bowler went back to a longer run up and bowled faster than he had in many a match. He began with a wide, and then compensated by drifting onto the pads (flicked gracefully for a couple of runs) before settling into his typical stump-stump line. Three dot balls later, he changed track and got deflected to third man for a single. The last ball, finally, was bowled to Manish and was harmlessly left for the keeper to collect.

51 for 4 in 8 overs

Sudhir Kondapalli began with a wide down the leg side that was not collected cleanly, resulting in an extra run. Manish took a single off the first (legal) and sixth balls, while Suresh played out the middle stretch with a slash to third man yielding another couple of runs to his total followed by a quick single off the fifth ball.

58 for 4 in 9 overs

Finally, Bhaskar had  Manish on strike from the first ball of the over. With the drinks break scheduled to be taken at the end of the over (or after a wicket, as the Pats fielders kindly reminded the batsmen) this was going to be a pivotal over. By now, Suresh was beginning to feel the after-effects of a long stint under the hot sun. Unfortunately for him, Manish is not the type of person to jog singles. The first ball was fast, short, and wide and Manish unleashed a square-cut that his childhood idol, GR Viswanath, would have been proud of. The long grass prevented a boundary but the duo hared across the wicket to pick up three precious runs. Warming up to the occasion, Suresh promptly took a single to bring Manish back on strike. Clearly looking to make a mark, Bhaskar adjusted the field and bowled three wides in a row, uncharacteristically trying to bowl faster with each delivery. The next ball was pushed into cover for a single but Bhaskar had overstepped. Free hit coming up!!

Suresh walked across the stumps and attempted a ramp shot that took a top edge and flew high behind the keeper. Deepak Agarwal, posted at short third man, raced to his left and pulled off a stunning catch. Except, he had either forgotten or was unaware that it was a free hit. Even as he was celebrating, the two batsmen raced back and completed a second run. The rest of the over was uneventful, with Suresh and Manish collecting two singles each through the cover region to reach the drinks break with no further damage. 13 runs from the over definitely tilted the scales in NCC's favor.

71 for 4 after 10 overs

During the drinks break, Suresh's exertions finally caught up to him and he puked his entire breakfast on the ground. With half the overs still to go, Manish convinced the captain to not throw it away and hang in there a little longer. The 11th over was bowled by the erstwhile Patriots captain, Kiran Gade. Kiran bowled within himself and did not try anything different, preferring to probe away on the stumps. The batsmen played him out watchfully, content to collect singles in the off-side, playing as straight as possible.

75 for 4 after 11 overs

Ajinkya Paikine took off the keeping gloves (Harish Bv took over) and bowled his brand of fast-ish off-spinners. Manish took a liking to his bowling, first chipping him over cover for a couple and then, after exchanging a couple of singles with Suresh, getting down on one knee to fiercely sweep a fuller ball to the square leg boundary. A single and a dot ball to Suresh later another over had been negotiated.

85 for 4 in 12 overs.

Kiran's next over featured a a lot of running. Manish pushed into the gaps on the off-side for singles while at the other end a string of tired looking hoicks ensued from Suresh, who had decided to hit-out-or-get-out. Suresh managed to do neither as his hits cleared the in-field but did not reach the boundary. Manish was merciless, forcing Suresh to run as hard as he could but two doubles and a single later, Suresh began to cramp up and retired hurt to prevent more serious injury, bringing Jainil Savaliya to the crease.

91 for 5 in 13 overs

Manish took a single off the first ball of the 14th over, leaving Jainil to face Ajinkya. Jainil does not waste too much time at the crease and, at the same time, is not shy about talking back to the opposition. With each delivery, Jainil swung harder and harder at the ball in his typical fashion. An old fashioned cat and mouse game developed between the batsman and the bowler with Ajinkya trying to keep the ball out of Jainil's reach while the batsman tried his best to hit everything without getting stumped The result was the type of over that pleases and displeases both teams equally - wide, dot, wide, SIX, wide, dot, dot, dot.

101 for 5 in 14 overs

Kiran continued his steady bowling and Manish took the majority of the strike in the over which yielded three singles and a wide before Jainil pierced the midwicket region for a double to end the over.

107 for 5 in 15 overs

With 5 overs to go, the message was clear - start taking more risks. The first ball from Ajinkya was lofted by Manish over cover, the second was lofted towards deep point, the third was lofted to deep midwicket - two, two, two. Two singles later, Ajinkya went round the wicket for the final delivery of the over. The delivery was a shin high full toss that Manish went to flick and missed (a better option would have been to hit it over the bowler's head) and his enterprising vigil came to an end, trapped LBW.

C S Manish  LBW b Ajinkya P  35 (31b 2 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 112.90

115 for 6 in 16 overs

Kiran bowled a brilliant 17th over, beating the batsmen multiple times and giving up just two singles - one each to Jainil and Ashish Sathyan. Kiran finished with the tidy figures of 4-0-19-0

117 for 6 in 17 overs

The Patriots were well and truly ahead in the game now. With just 3 overs to go in the inning, Ajinkya finished off his spell. Ashish swung his bat merrily, as is his wont, connecting with as many as he missed, mostly finding the inside or outside edge of the bat. Wide, dot, two, dot, one, wide...the over went as one would expect when Ashish is at the crease. Jainil broke the spell by slamming a ball to deep cover and picking up three runs in the process. Ashish managed to find the same area off the last ball for a couple of runs.

127 for 6 in 18 overs

The pivotal 19th over was bowled by Gowtham, as was to be expected. Coming in off his long run up, Gowtham built up quite a bit of speed. The first couple of balls fetched singles. The third ball whizzed by Jainil's bat and the fielders riled up Jainil by pointing out how slow his bat speed had been in relation to the ball. It took a few seconds for everyone to settle down, by which time Jainil also calmed himself and tore into Gowtham. The next three balls were hammered to the boundary in the arc from point to cover and just like that Jainil had made an emphatic statement - Gowtham could be hit for runs, too - 14 in all in the over.

141 for 6 in 19 overs

Ashish swung and missed the first two balls of the 20th over bowled by Sudhir. A quiet word from Jaiil later, Ashish sensibly patted the ball for a single. Jainil then swung to deep midwicket and deep long off for two doubles, followed by a wide down the leg side. The last ball finally fetched the wicket the Patriots were seeking as Jainil got bowled trying to hit across the line.

Jainil Savaliya  b Sudhir K  31 (20b 3 Fours, 1 Sixers) SR 155.00

Ashish Sathyan 8 not out (12 balls) SR 75.00

From a precarious 38 for 4 in the 7th over, NCC had managed to reach a creditable 147 for 7 in 20 overs. Not a winning total but at least one that could potentially be defended IF the bowlers and fielders kept their nerve. 

If past history was anything to go by, the Patriots would attack during the powerplay and the NCC bowlers prepped themselves for it by deciding to target only one side of the ground, employing a 6-3 offside dominant field.

New find, Ajinkya Paikine, and the captain, Harish Bv, took guard against Vijay Reddy. When on song, Vijay is one of the most difficult new ball bowlers to face in Omaha. His natural delivery is one that swings in prodigiously. Unfortunately, if he lands the ball in line with the stumps, it usually swings down the leg-side for a wide. When he compensates for it and pitches it a foot outside the off-stump, the fun begins. Some balls come in alarmingly, homing in on the pads in front of the stumps while other balls go straight through. For batsmen, that presents a very difficult proposition since they do not know whether to attack through the off-side or guard against the LBW.

The first ball of the inning landed outside the off-stump and still swung way down the leg-side and beat the outstretched hands of Manish, to bounce away for two wides. The NCC keeper prides himself on not letting any wides go for extra runs and wasn't pleased in the least bit by this lapse. 

Ajinkya, having never faced Vijay before, did not appear too worried about the swing, and ambitiously flicked Vijay off the first ball but only managed to send it high in the air towards midwicket. Vinoth ran at full speed for more than 30 yards to his left but could not hold onto the catch after getting to the ball, which itself represented a great effort. A potential momentum inducing first (legal) ball wicket went abegging while the batsmen crossed over for two runs. Having learnt his lesson, Ajinkya took a single off the next ball. Vijay then bowled another wide down the leg side before Harish got off the mark with a typical cover drive. The next ball was destined to be another wide down the leg side but Ajinkya decided to instead reach for it and flick it away, very elegantly, high over the square leg umpire for a four. A single off the last ball brought the over to an end.

12 for no loss after 1 over. 

136 runs needed in 19.0 overs (114 balls) with 10 wickets remaining. RRR: 7.16

Jainil Savaliya took over at the other end, eager to continue to build on the momentum of his slog over assault. Ajinkya was beaten by a brute of a first ball, and then walked across to punch away the second for a single. Harish slashed hard at the next ball and got a four to the point boundary to get things moving further away from NCC. The rest of the over was quieter, fetching two singles while Jainil began to settle into a rhythm, bowling faster and faster with each delivery.

19 for no loss after 2 overs

129 runs needed in 18.0 overs (108 balls) with 10 wickets remaining. RRR: 7.17

With Vijay unable to control the swing, Suresh turned to Ramesh Suvvari. In the previous week, Harish had badly mauled Ramesh and the after-effects were still in the mind so it was a surprising decision and a bold one. Ajinkya promptly capitalized on Ramesh's tentativeness by slamming two fours and two doubles to squash any notion of an early collapse.

33 for no loss in 3 overs (14 runs off the over)

115 runs needed in 17.0 overs (102 balls) with 10 wickets remaining. RRR: 6.76

Jainil continued from the other end and began to hit his mark. When he gets his rhythm going, Jainil's ball appears to defy the laws of physics, actually getting faster and bouncing more than expected after it lands, continuing to rise even as it reaches the keeper. A few weeks earlier, one such delivery had taken off so dramatically, it had split the webbing between the thumb and index finger of Manish's right hand - even though the keeper was wearing gloves. By now, in this match, Jainil's bowling had begun to sting the keeper's tender hand again. Harish smartly went off strike and left Ajinkya in the firing line. The third ball of the fourth over finally produced the result that NCC was anxiously awaiting. Ajinkya was beaten for pace and before his bat could come down, the ball had crashed into the stumps and the first breach had been made. Jainil S to Ajinkya P OUT! BOWLED  

Ajinkya Paikine  b Jainil S  24 (16b 3 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 150.00

35 for 1 in 3.3 overs.

With NCC under pressure, OCC surprisingly sent in Vinod Yarroju ahead of Gowtham. This was a time to put away the game but OCC opted for the safety of keeping their highest scorer and best batsman away from Jainil and the new ball. Vinod edged the first ball away for a single while Harish could not get his bat on the last two balls of the over. By now, Manish had stepped way back and was collecting the ball well beyond the end of the concrete pitch.

36 for 1 after 4 overs

112 runs needed in 16.0 overs (96 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 7.00

With Ajinkya out of the way, Suresh went back to Vijay and was rewarded with prime Vijay. The pacer made the ball swing into the batsmen, cramping them for room, while Suresh strengthened the leg-side to prevent extra runs from being taken. Only 5 runs came by in this over, mainly from nudges on either side of the wicket. 

41 for 1 after 5 overs. 

107 runs needed in 15.0 overs (90 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 7.13

Sensing a shift in momentum, Suresh brought in a second slip and strengthened the arc behind point and let Jainil bowl his third over. Vinod sensibly took a single to get off strike. The next four balls were bowled with menace, each one thundering past the batsman's outside edge followed by a very long extended follow through from the bowler, who was giving back all the barbs he had endured from the batsman while their roles had been switched in the previous inning. The NCC fielders got into it, too, and began to exhort their teammates - something they kept up right until the end of the match, irrespective of the match status. With the runs drying down, Harish was getting itchy and looked to slam Jainil over long off - instead sending the ball high in the air. Vijay calmly waited for gravity to do its work and took a well-judged and very important catch.

Jainil S to Harish B OUT! CAUGHT 

Harish Bv  c Vijay R b Jainil S  8 (13b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 61.54

42 for 2 in 5.5 overs

Jainil, in the excitement of finally getting to bowl to Gowtham Maranani, began with a wide before the Patriots star quietly defended the last ball of the powerplay back to the bowler.

43 for 2 in 6 overs

105 runs needed in 14.0 overs (84 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 7.50

The very definition of a rhythm bowler, Vijay was well and truly in his elements by now. His natural inswing was finally coupled with the ability to land the ball a foot outside off-stump and bring it into the batsmen. Both Vinod and Gowtham struggled to decipher how much to account for the inswing and managed just two singles in the over, with the remaining deliveries either being defended carefully or beating the outside edge.

45 for 2 in 7 overs

103 runs needed in 13.0 overs (78 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 7.92

Jainil came back for one last burst at Gowtham but the batsman was unfazed by the pace and bounce, rising on his toes to square cut and then cover drive the bowler for a double followed by a triple. The rest of the over passed uneventfully with Jainil slipping in a couple of wides in an attempt to bowl the perfect ball. Jainil's fourth and final over was his costliest, adding 9 runs to the total to finish with the fine analysis of 4-0-21-2

54 for 2 in 8 overs

94 runs needed in 12.0 overs (72 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 7.83

Vijay's last over also proved to be an excellent one. After two dot balls, Gowtham slogged a ball to deep square leg to collect three runs before Vinod struggled to get his bat on the ball, only getting a streaky single off the last ball. Vijay finished with a four run over to end up with 4-0-24-0 for the day, a good recovery after the 12 run first over.

59 for 2 after 9 overs

89 runs needed in 11.0 overs (66 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 8.09

Slowly and quietly, Suresh was putting the squeeze on the Patriots batsmen and the blazing early start had been contained even as the required run rate crept over 8 runs an over for the first time. The infield was in single saving mode with Mahek, Rakshit, Sriram, and Suresh staying well inside the circle. Rakshit and Mahek also added a nearly constant burst of chatter to keep everyone, including the umpires, well and truly awake. Team men to the core, they showed that you need not score runs or take wickets to contribute in the match.

Most teams wait for the opening bowlers to finish their spell so they can take advantage of the first change bowlers. But when you play NCC, it is a different scenario. Suresh holds back his ace - Asif Iqbal - till after the shine has gone. In another lifetime, Asif probably bowled in Australia, since his length is just short of good length but, because of his tall frame and broad shoulders, he generates the bounce typically associated with shorter pitched bowling from the rest of the bowlers in Omaha. The REAL match up of the match was at hand - Asif versus Gowtham.

Uncharacteristically, Asif began with two wides on either side of the wicket, before honing onto a metronomic line and length. Gowtham and Vinod were content to deflect the ball into the gaps and collect 5 additional singles in the over to leave both teams happy and unhappy with the outcome of the over - 7 runs.

66 for 2 after 10 overs

82 runs needed in 10.0 overs (60 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 8.20

While NCC had done well to bring things back after the torrid start, the advantage was clearly with the Patriots - with 8 wickets in hand and Gowtham still at the crease the game was theirs to lose.

NCC's most underrated (and have I mentioned versatile) bowler is Suresh Gorantla himself. With no spinners in the team (Sriram was there but had little practice so he wasn't too sure he could bowl) Suresh switched to bowling his version of fast offspin, top spinners, faster ones, and anything else that came to mind, off a short run up. With Manish standing up to the wicket, the batsmen were crease bound emboldening Suresh to experiment even further. The tactic had been set - while Asif would probe away just on or around the off-stump, Suresh would be the bait, trying to entice mistakes from the batsmen. 

One single came off the first four deliveries as Suresh focused on getting his line and length first. But the need of the moment were wickets and Suresh changed up by trying a faster one. Unfortunately for him, it was faster but not accurate and Vinod heaved a sigh of relief as well as his bat and hoicked the ball to the midwicket fence, followed by a fortuitous top edge that landed just beyond the cover fielder for two more runs off the last ball of the over.

73 for 2 after 11 overs

75 runs needed in 9.0 overs (54 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 8.33

Asif continued with his typical Asif line, giving up a quick single off the first and fourth balls while forcing the batsmen on the defensive for four precious dot balls. By now, Asif had not only begun making the ball rise off his shortish length but was also managing to get the ball to swing away from the batsman at such a pace that Manish decided to step off the concrete pitch and collect the ball nearly 20 yards behind the wicket.

75 for 2 after 12 overs

73 runs needed in 8.0 overs (48 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 9.12

The noose was starting to tighten ever so slightly. After Vinod slogged to deep midwicket for a quick single, Gowtham was beaten by a leg spinning ball from Suresh (who knew he could bowl that!?). Suresh tried the same line off the next ball and Gowtham launched him toward wide long off. Vijay raced across to his left, collected the ball and in the same motion fired back a perfect throw to the bowler, who knocked off the bails to run out Vinod, desperately racing back to complete what looked like an easy two!!

Suresh G to Gowtham M, 1 run OUT! RUN OUT  

Vinod Yarroju  run out (Suresh G)   19 (25b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 76.00

In his excitement, Suresh next ball was a faster one down the legside and he was promptly admonished by the keeper. The bowler took a couple of deep breaths and returned to bowling his slower stuff, enticingly landing a foot outside the off-stump. Gowtham tried to repeat his stroke from earlier in the over. This time, however, he tried to hit a six. Instead, he only managed to send the ball high in the air. It took a long time to come down but when it did, the ball was collected by Vijay after a slight bobble. And just like that, for the umpteenth time in his NCC career, Suresh had nabbed the Big Fish of the opposition.

Suresh G to Gowtham M OUT! CAUGHT 

Gowtham Maranani  c Vijay R b Suresh G  17 (22b 0 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 77.27

Suddenly, the complexion of the match had changed. Two completely new batsmen were at the crease and the fielding side was ahead for the first time. On the previous day, in the Qualifier match against the UNO team, in a similar situation, Kiran Gade had come and slammed 41 runs off just 24 balls to seal the game. Would he be able to replicate that on this day?

Kiran quietly took a single to long on to get off strike and Achyuth Kalluchi ignored Rakshit's pleas and quietly patted away the last ball to end the over.

79 for 4 in 13 overs

 69 runs needed in 7.0 overs (42 balls) with 6 wickets remaining. RRR: 9.86

Unsurprisingly, Asif's next over was brilliant, resulting in three hastily scrambled singles while the remaining dot balls were gratefully collected by the keeper. The batsmen showed signs of wanting to hit out but struggled to connect with the menacing bowling they faced. 

82 for 5 in 14 overs

 66 runs needed in 6.0 overs (36 balls) with 6 wickets remaining. RRR: 11.00

With Asif proving to be difficult to score off of, the batsmen turned their attention to Suresh. Kiran hit the first ball to deep cover for a double. The next ball produced a swing and a miss, followed by a single to deep midwicket. Suresh erred once again, a short ball off an attempted faster one was pummeled well over deep square leg for a six by Achyuth! The next ball was a wide on the offside before Suresh calmed down and produced a yorker that was barely kept out by the batsman for a single. The last ball of the over was going to be a key one. Suresh tried to repeat the yorker and missed his length. Kiran latched onto it and connected very sweetly with a full swing of the bat. The ball was on its way over the fence when Asif, fielding at long on, intercepted it mere inches inside the boundary!

Suresh G to Kiran G OUT! CAUGHT 

Kiran Gade  c Asif I b Suresh G  6 (7b 0 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 85.71

92 for 5 in 15 overs

56 runs needed in 5.0 overs (30 balls) with 5 wickets remaining. RRR: 11.20

While the equation was starting to move towards NCC's side, the game was by no means over as Bhaskar Setti strode to the crease. In the previous match, Asif had dismissed the Patriots veteran off the first ball he faced and, much to everyone's surprise, Suresh decided to save Asif's last over and bring back Ramesh to bowl. (In hindsight, this was understandable, since Suresh had decided to use just 5 bowlers, and with just 5 overs left, he was forced to shuffle Ramesh's 3 remaining overs in starting with the 16th).

Knowing that Ramesh was under pressure, Bhaskar pounced, square cutting the first ball to the point boundary and then stepping deep into the crease to send the next one to the square leg fence. Two quick singles later, Bhaskar went back to doing what he does best - running hard between the wickets, taking two doubles to finish off a very good over for the Patriots - 14 runs coming from it.

106 for 5 in 16 overs

42 runs needed in 4.0 overs (24 balls) with 5 wickets remaining. RRR: 10.50

Achyuth got into the act, biffing Suresh for a double to deep midwicket. The next ball was an ugly swing and a miss. Not surprisingly, the third ball was a faster one down the leg side that, for once, Manish was unable to collect cleanly and two wides were added to the score. Bhaskar took a gently run single to bring Achyuth back on strike. The hitter swung and missed again but half-connected on his next two swings to score another set of doubles to end the over and Suresh's match-altering spell.

114 for 5 in 17 overs

34 runs needed in 3.0 overs (18 balls) with 5 wickets remaining. RRR: 11.33

Ramesh gave Achyuth a single to midwicket but then got hammered to the cover boundary by Bhaskar, who seemed to have stablished a hold over the bowler in his short stay. Ramesh took a deep breath, talked to his captain and keeper and switched to bowling round the wicket and turned into a completely different bowler. Bhaskar could only play out two more dot balls as he began to swing harder than he usually does and failed to make contact. With the pressure mounting, Bhaskar swung again at a wide-ish ball, but only managed to send it high in the air towards point where Suresh held on for a splendid catch under duress.

Ramesh S to Bhaskar S OUT! CAUGHT 

Bhaskar Setti  c Suresh G b Ramesh S  18 (10b 3 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 180.00

Inexplicably, Ramesh tried a short pitched ball to Kaushik Chittam and the left-handed batsman gleefully pulled it away for three runs to end the over that produced 8 runs and a vital wicket.

122 for 6 in 18 overs

26 runs needed in 2.0 overs (12 balls) with 4 wickets remaining. RRR: 13.00

The pivotal 19th over was, therefore, Asif's responsibility. Kaushik took a single off the first ball. The next 5 balls were short and fast, aimed at Achyuth's chest. The batsman stepped out of the way and swung cross batted and missed the next two balls, edged to third man for a double, and then missed the 5th ball, too. With one ball to go and everyone on the edge, Achyuth swung again and this time he connected big time to send the ball way over the cover boundary for a gut-punching six! In spite of the last ball blemish, Asif finished with the wonderful line of 4-0-21-0 on the day.

131 for 6 in 19 overs

17 runs needed in 1.0 overs (6 balls) with 4 wickets remaining. RRR: 17.00

With the left handed Kaushik at the crease, Ramesh stayed with his round the wicket line. The first ball was a wide down the leg side. The second ball was even wider down the legside. And so was the third ball! Thankfully for NCC, their keeper moved across swiftly and collected all three of them with no fuss, preventing additional runs from leaking. Suddenly, it was down to 14 runs off 6 balls. The next ball was a yorker on the pads that Kaushik flicked away for a double. The second (legitimate) ball was punched past the bowler for a single. The third ball was attacked by Achyuth but only resulted in an inside edge onto the pads for another single. Kaushik hit the fourth ball hard to the midwicket area but only got a couple. The fifth ball was a pinpoint yorker and resulted in a hastily dug out single to the bowler. With one ball to go and 6 runs to tie, Ramesh delivered once again - a yorker that Achyuth could do nothing except hit back to the bowler to end the match!

141 for 6 in 20 overs - NCC WON BY 6 RUNS!!

After going more than 11 years having never defeated the Patroits, the NCC team pulled of back-to-back wins over the Patriots in two consecutive weeks. What pleased the NCC think tank the most was that the two wins had been achieved in contrasting styles with the team pulling off a narrow victory while scoring big as well as while defending a small(ish) total.

For his splendid all round performance, Jainil rightfully received the Man of the Match Trophy. A special mention should be made of Mahek Patel, Rakshit Rekhi, and Sriram Surapaneni, who did not get to bat or bowl but stayed energized for the entire 20 overs, choking off the off-side with their fielding and impactful banter (Rakshit especially, with ample support from Mahek. As we all know, Sriram did not utter a single word, preferring to let his fielding do the talking).

With that, the official 2021 season came to an end. The victory will be spoken about for a long time as it was a much sought after labor of love for the older players, who have a better idea of the history of the rivalry.

To see the complete scorecard and other details of the match, click on this link.

Until next time, au revoir.

The Midwest Chronicles: Mid-American Cricket League - Of cold dishes and hot hands

 After a long and winding 2021 season, the Division II playoffs of the Mid-American Cricket League, (MACL) hosted by Simply Play Cricket in Omaha (Nebraska), began with the top two Division II teams facing off in the first match, where the winner would move directly to the final while the loser would await the winner of the 3-4 placed teams for a chance to play in the final.

Those are the cold, hard facts. But the facts that really matter are these: Omaha Cricket Club Patriots and Nebraska Cricket Club share a very long history, most of it covered elsewhere in this blog but none of it friendly since the two groups spilt away in 2010. The one constant has been that OCC has defeated NCC every time they met on the cricket field in the 11 years that have followed. 

2010 was so long ago that only two persons from either team were even around 11 years ago when everything was going downhill. For them, the rivalry has held a deeper meaning than any of the other 9 members of the team can even begin to comprehend.

Against this backdrop, Suresh Gorantla, NCC's captain, won the toss and immediately announced his decision to bat first. All through 2021 NCC has been snakebitten as far as the weather has been concerned. If ever a team was blighted by bad weather in a season, then it was this season and this team. However, on the day the Patriots played NCC, the Gods wanted to watch too, and cleared the clouds so they had a good view of the proceedings.

Patriots Team: Achyuth Kalluchi, Ajinkya Paikine (WK), Bhaskar Setti, Deepak Agarwal, Gowtham Maranani, Harish Bv, Karthik Rao, Kiran Gade (C), Sudhir Kondapalli, Vijay Yajjala, Vinod Yarroju, Super-sub: Kaushik Chittam

Nebraska CC Team: Ashish Sathyan, Asif Iqbal, C S Manish (WK), Danial Faisal, Jainil Savaliya, Mahek Patel, Ramesh Suvvari, Sriram Surapaneni, Suresh Gorantla (C), Vijay Reddy, Vinothkumar Rajendran, Super-sub: Cornelius Aleti

The two NCC openers, Vinothkumar Rajendran and Vijay Reddy were given one mandate - do not get out in the Power play (6 overs), especially to the Patriots' best bowler - Gowtham Maranani. 

A long time ago, circa 2009, this is what I had written about Gowtham on my blog:

Gowtham Maranani - Gunmaster G9. Okay, I was wrong when I said that Abhi was the fastest bowler in the team. Gowtham is it, by a good yard or two. A gunslinger in the truest sense, he is a throwback to the good old days when bowler's run-ups were 30 yards long, and their primary attacking balls were the yorker and the bouncer. Gowtham looks like a docile Telugu movie actor and the next sledge that comes from his lips will be the first words he has probably ever uttered on a cricket field but do not mistake his docility for weakness. Many batsmen have made that mistake and numerous crushed toes, jammed fingers, and dented egos have been left in his wake.

Age has exacted a toll on Gowtham and he has lost (several) yards of pace but he has lost none of his guile or control making him, even today, a daunting proposition for any batsman. 

Uncharacteristically, Gowtham began with a wide but quickly found his bearings. Supporting him admirably from the other end was Harish Bv. Between them, the duo kept the openers quiet and gave 4,4,4, runs in the first 3 overs. 12 for no loss after 3, a start that was neither here nor there form both team's perspectives. Two precious Maranani overs had been navigated without losing a wicket. 

Vinoth took it upon himself to take most of the strike in the early exchanges. In the fourth over, bowled by Harish, Vinoth began lofting the ball over the infield, picking up braces to get some momentum in the inning (8 runs in the over). In the meantime, Vijay was content to rotate the strike not looking to do anything foolish, letting Vinoth be the aggressor. 

The 5th over of the powerplay was bowled by Karthik. By now the batsmen were ticking along nicely taking runs off every ball but the first big strike of the day was a stunning six launched over extra cover by Vijay. 33 for no loss after 5.

Harish dragged the scoring back in the next over, bowling close to the stumps and not giving either batsman any room to swing freely. 37 for no loss after 6.

With the Powerplay done, the ball was tossed to the slow bowling of Deepak Agarwal. This was just the release that Vinoth was looking for. The first ball was hammered straight over long-on's head for a massive six. The next ball was a wide down the legside that slipped by for an extra run and the third ball was pulled by Vijay to the square leg fence. However, in bowling that ball, Deepak hurt himself and left the field for the day (hopefully it is not something serious). The rest of his over was taken over by Achyuth Kalluchi , who managed to keep any further damage under control. 53 for no loss after 7 - 16 runs from the over.

Harish came back to finish his spell and was bludgeoned by (a fast tiring) Vinoth for a boundary in an over that yielded 12 runs. 4,8,4,12....Harish finished with okay figures of 4-0-28-0. 65 for no loss after 8 overs.

The foundation had been set and the time had come to launch into the next phase of the inning. Achyuth was in the line of fire. The first ball was the type of ball Vijay dreams about when he thinks of World Cup winning sixes. Short and down the leg side. Instead of the six he should have hit, Vijay toe ended the ball and it gently found the substitute fielder, Kaushik Chittam, next to the square-leg umpire.

Vijay Reddy  c (Sub) Karthik C b Achyuth K  20 (18b 1 Four, 1 Six) SR 111.11

65 for 1 in 8.1 overs

Conventional wisdom says that the loss of a wicket brings the run rate back. Conventional wisdom is for statisticians and commentators. By now, Vinoth was in a groove but gasping for breath as the hot day began to get to him. Luckily for him, the next batsman Danial Faisal does not believe in the MSD school of running between wickets. Now that Vinoth was able to catch his breath, he began to free his shoulders, flicking Karthik for a four and then launching him way over midwicket for a huge six to spoil the mood of the over for the Pats. 77 for 1 after 9 overs.

Kiran Gade came on to bowl the last over before the drinks break and it was progressing sedately with singles and a couple of wides until Vinoth ushered in the break with a six over long off. 89 for 1 after 10 overs.

At the half-way stage every imaginable cliché from the Ravi Shastri bot was applicable. NCC was ahead of the game but anything could happen (and usually does). 

Everyone in the NCC pavilion (and their grandchildren) knew that Gowtham was saving his overs so he could bowl to Danial. Right on cue, the 11th over featured the return of Gowtham. Once upon a time, before Life intervened, both the players were teammates at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska. Since then they have had a few good battles in different tournaments and the spectators were looking forward to see who would come out on top of this one.

Like two boxers warily testing each other out, neither player made a major strike as Danial was content to push away the ball into the gaps. The pressure of trying to compensate got to Vinoth who had a couple of swings-and-misses to end the over but no harm done. 5 runs accrued to the total 94 for 1 after 11 overs. Gowtham's analysis read 3-0-13-0.

The senior-most Patriot, Bhaskar Krishna, came on to bowl his unique brand of fast-ish off-breaks and other assorted balls in his armory. Across many state lines and midwest leagues, Bhaskar has accrued a reputation of being a wily and cunning bowler. Unfortunately, for him, Danial and Vinoth did not buy into that reputation. Two fours (Danial) and a six (Vinoth), separated by singles, ensured that Bhaskar would end the over having conceded a momentum generating 18 runs to the total. 112 for 1 after 12 overs.

By now Vinoth was swinging at every ball within his arc, and connecting lustily with most of them. Kiran came on to arrest the momentum. Two, Four, wide, wide ... and then he got the big wicket of Vinoth, who mis-hit a tired-looking shot to pop up to Kaushik inside the circle on the leg-side. All season long Vinoth has been threatening to cut loose and, finally, he produced just the type of knock the think tank has been expecting from him. 

Vinothkumar Rajendran  c (Sub) Karthik C b Kiran G  68 (48b 3 Fours, 4 Sixers) SR 141.67

120 for 2 in 12.3 overs. Definitely a job well done by the openers, setting the stage for the middle order to explode.

The ball after a wicket is a crucial one. Kiran bowled a full toss well above waist height and Danial needed no further invitation, hammering it for a six. The free hit was then sent to the long-off boundary and Vinoth's dismissal was already receding from the mind. 22 runs from the over. 134 for 2 after 13 overs.

The Super Sub, Kaushik, came on to bowl in place of Deepak and was greeted by the new batsman, Asif Iqbal, with a front-foot, leg-side drive over midwicket. The fielder on the boundary scrambled backwards desperately, falling over in his excitement only to see the ball sail well past him and land more than 10 yards further away. Kaushik responded by bowling a bouncer that surprised Asif. The batsman was only able to mistime a hook shot that ballooned up to midwicket where Kiran took a comfortable catch, jogging backwards, over his left shoulder.

Asif Iqbal  c Kiran G b Deepak A  7 (4b 0 Fours, 1 Sixers) SR 175.00

140 for 3 in 13.3 overs. The next batsman, Ramesh Suvvari, began in his inimitable style, flicking in the gaps and scurrying a pair of twos and a single to end the over. 145 for 3 in 14 overs.

With the game running away, Gowtham came back for one last fling. Like a good understudy, Ramesh quietly took a single so the main players could take center stage. Gowtham steamed in and attempted a yorker, targeting the stumps. He missed his mark slightly and Danial's bat came down in a blur, all speed and timing, sending a flick-drive high into the air. For a split second, the midwicket fielder thought he had a chance at it. But only for a split second. The ball was still climbing as it crossed the midwicket boundary and eventually came down near the road beyond the electric poles. For a couple of seconds there was complete silence followed by gasps from everyone at the ground. Gut punches do not come in more emphatic fashion. 

The next ball was quietly put away in the gap at cover for a single by Danial (somewhere Shastri approved the sensible batting). Having missed with his yorker, Gowtham sent down his next weapon - the head-hunting bouncer. Ramesh is no stranger to fast bowling (having opened the batting in earlier matches and even being involved in an unbroken stand of 210 runs with Ali Hussain against the Knights). Ramesh met the bouncer right in front of his face and had so much time that the hook shot propelled the ball in front of midwicket over the fence for a resounding six. Two singles later, Gowtham bowling was done for the day. 16 runs in the over. 161 for 3 in 15 overs.

Now that he was warmed up, Danial got into another groove altogether. A groove that very few batsmen in Omaha inhabit. Some batsmen are able to hit singles and boundaries with similar bat swings, without losing shape or appearing to be trying too hard. Danial belongs to that group and, in the past few weeks as the NCC batsmen around him started to deliver, has demonstrated why he's among the most destructive batsmen in the city. 

Danial was charged up and the bowler who suffered was Kaushik. A flick to the long leg fence, a drive to deep cover, and a flick-drive to deep midwicket all fetched fours and a couple of braces that followed were enough evidence that Danial was doing as he pleased as he reached 50 off just 21 balls. The last ball of the over was met with another drive on the up in the gap between long-on and deep midwicket. Achyuth raced to his right and backwards from long on to the longest part of the ground and timed his leap to snag the ball even as it was racing past him to pull off a spectacular catch to end Danial's blitz.

Danial Faisal  c Achyuth K b Deepak A  50 (22b 6 Fours, 2 Sixers) SR 227.27

In spite of the wicket, NCC managed to score 17 runs in the over. 178 for 4 after 16 overs. If the Patriots could slow things down in the next 3 overs and keep NCC under 200 it would be a great finish to the inning for them.

Ajinkya Paikine took off his keeping pads and tried his hand at some slow, spin bowling. Ashish Sathyan was new to the crease but that did not stop him from threading a cover drive to the fence past three fielders off the first ball. The next ball was a typical Sathyan double. The third ball was once again scythed by Ashish, except it went up in the air as opposed to far and Gowtham settled under it at mid-off for a simple catch to end the cameo. 

Ashish Sathyan  c Gowtham M b Ajinkya P  6 (3b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 200.00

184 for 5 in 16.3 overs. The batsmen crossed over while the catch was being taken and that was a good thing. Ramesh stepped back and pulled a short ball high over square leg to snatch back the momentum with a six. 

190 for 5 in 17 overs. 

Kaushik pulled things back spectacularly with Jainil Savaliya struggling to find the middle of the bat. 3 dot balls and 2 singles to Jainil sandwiched a solitary single by Ramesh. 3 runs in the over. 193 for 5 in 18 overs.

The pressure of the quiet over told as Ramesh tried to clear the longest boundary where Bhaskar comfortably took a routine high catch to end the flashy inning. 

Ramesh Suvvari c Bhaskar S b Ajinkya P  21 (12b 0 Fours, 2 Sixers) SR 175.00

If Ajinkya thought there would be a respite having taken a big wicket, it was immediately dispelled by Jainil. Having struggled to time the ball, Jainil took the proactive measure of hopping down the wicket to meet the ball and sent it high over long-off's head for a huge six to take the NCC total to 200. C S Manish and Jainil then proceeded to take singles and doubles on offer, collecting 12 runs in all in the over, to take the score to 205 for 6 in 19 overs.

The last over was bowled by Vijay Yajjala. All six balls produced the same result - a cross batted slog by Manish. The veteran missed three of them, connected with two (a four and a couple), edged one to third man for a couple and watched a wide ball go by to scarf up an underwhelming 9 runs in the final over. 

214 for 6 in 20 overs

Jainil Savaliya  not out 10 8 balls  (0 fours 1 six)  SR125.00

C S Manish not out 11 9 balls (1 four 0 sixes) SR 122.22

The Patriots' task was a simple one - score big upfront, score big through the middle, and score big at the end. An asking rate of close to 11 runs an over is a daunting one, especially if a team has to sustain it for 20 overs. 

The instructions in the NCC huddle were simple - make the Patriots earn their runs. Limit the extras (wides) and look to always take wickets with attacking fields.

Harish Bv and Ajinkya Paikine squared off against Ramesh. Ajinkya made the first thrust by dragging a ball outside the off stump to the midwicket boundary to send notice that it would not be a simple defense. Two balls later, he tried the same thing, except this time the ball was even wider and all Ajinkya did was chip it up for Danial to accept the generous offering at mid-on. 

Ajinkya Paikine  c Danial F b Ramesh S  4 (3b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 133.33

5 for 1 in 0.4 overs. Gowtham quietly played out the next two balls. 5 for 1 in 1 over.  210 runs needed in 19.0 overs (114 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 11.05

During the regular season, the most consistent batsman in the MACL league was Gowtham, so much so he topped the run-scorers charts with an incredible tally of 549 runs in just 10 innings, including a whopping 149 in one match. Here's another incredible stat that shows how consistent Gowtham has been. In his T20 career in SPC, he has batted 32 times. He has scored at least 25 runs on 27 of those occasions! To say, his wicket was the key is an understatement.

While NCC was focused on Gowtham, it was Harish who thundered away and crashed the party. Ashish Sathyan, who was entrusted with the second over, is menacing when he gets late swing. He did not get that swing on Sunday and Harish punched him over cover for a six and Gowtham repeated the dose, this time for a four. 13 runs in the over. 18 for 1 after 2 overs. 197 runs needed in 18.0 overs (108 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 10.94

In a surprising move, Ramesh was replaced by Jainil. As a bowler Jainil's strength is to pitch the ball just short of good length and getting it to jag back in or swing out with little change in his action. Harish sat back on the crease and waited for the ball to do its bit. When the ball moved away he pounced on it to pound two fours - one to deep cover and the other off the edge to third man. 11 runs in the over. 29 for 1 in 3 overs. 186 runs needed in 17.0 overs (102 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 10.94

Ashish came back for his second over and kept things quiet, except for one short pitched ball that was hit way over the boundary by Harish, who was beginning to get into a dangerous mode. 11 runs. 40 for 1 in 4 overs. 175 runs needed in 16.0 overs (96 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 10.94

Jainil bowled a much better over, hurrying Gowtham with his extra pace and bounce. The fourth ball, however, was short and wide and Harish sliced it over the point boundary. The next two balls were among the fastest of the match, thudding into the keeper's gloves before Harish could finish his swing. 7 runs in the over. 47 for 1. 168 runs needed in 15.0 overs (90 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 11.20

With the required rate still hovering over 11, something had to give and when it did the Patriots were ahead of the game. Ramesh was brought back to continue from where he had been abruptly left off after the excellent first over. However, after Gowtham took a quick single, Harish relished the fuller length balls from an increasingly helpless Ramesh, thumping the ball majestically in the arc from point to long-off. Six, Six, Four, Six, Four - 27 runs from the over and the Patriots were definitely in the hunt. In the midst of that carnage, Harish reached 50 off just 17 balls. 74 for 1 in 6 overs.  141 runs needed in 14.0 overs (84 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 10.07

With things getting uncomfortable, Suresh turned to his lynchpin, Asif Iqbal. Asif  managed to hurry the batsmen for pace but still conceded three boundaries to Harish, two of them off thick edges to point and third man and the third an exquisite off drive on the up that simple raced away to the left of long-off. 16 runs in the over. 90 for 1 in 7 overs. 125 runs needed in 13.0 overs (78 balls) with 9 wickets remaining. RRR: 9.62

Suresh brought Jainil back and, by now, the bowler was well into a good rhythm, getting the ball to cut in or swing away from the same spot on the pitch. After two singles, the third ball was pitched on the 5th stump, drawing an ambitious drive from Gowtham. It instead moved away and took the outside edge and swirled up in the air to the Suresh, fielding at point. Suresh and Cornelius (subbing for Ashish) nearly collided on the field but the captain at least held onto the crucial catch! Gowtham had been contained to less than 25 - goal #1 fulfilled.

Gowtham Maranani  c Suresh G b Jainil S  15 (18b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 83.33 

92 for 2 in 7.3 overs

The batsmen crossed over while the catch was being taken and Harish capitalized by brutally smashing a six way over long off to stall the slight shift in momentum. 8 runs in the over. 98 for 2 after 8 overs.

117 runs needed in 12.0 overs (72 balls) with 8 wickets remaining. RRR: 9.75

Suresh Gorantla has reinvented himself as a bowler seemingly on a weekly basis. Each time he comes with more tricks up his sleeve and greater control and variation in his armory. On Sunday, he slowed down the pace and focused on wobbling the ball from outside the off-stump. The very first ball was punched by the new batsman, Achyuth, straight to the cover fielder. For some inexplicable reason (nerves?) Achyuth just took off and did not stop. Unfortunately for him Harish did not budge. Vinoth calmly collected the ball and lobbed it back to Manish to complete the simplest of runouts. 98 for 3 in 8.1 overs

Achyuth Kalluchi  run out (Vinothkumar R/C S M)   0 (1b 0 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 0.00

Bhaskar Setti came to the crease with the required run rate under control and the situation needing his experienced hand. He began in typical style, chipping away singles until Suresh decided to test Bahskar's ability to hit short pitched bowling. Four runs later, Suresh went back to his normal bowling. 9 runs in the over. 107 for 3 in 9 overs.

108 runs needed in 11.0 overs (66 balls) with 7 wickets remaining. RRR: 9.82

The very first ball of the next over by Asif produced a fast bowler's second favorite mode of dismissal. The ball was angled in and landed in line with the stumps, then rose sharply while moving away and squared up Bhaskar, inducing a thick edge that travelled comfortably to Manish behind the stumps. Cheteshwar Pujara woke up in a cold sweat in Surat when the dismissal happened. The Patriots bus was starting to teeter but they still had two good batsmen left. One of them, Kiran Gade, came in and punched an attempted yorker right over the bowler to the straight boundary. The last ball of the over was another short of good length delivery that rose more than anticipated and, unlike earlier deliveries, came in after pitching, cramping Kiran for room. The batsmen  tried to cut the ball, based on the bounce, but the inward movement ensured it caught the inside edge en route to the stumps.

Kiran Gade  b Asif I  5 (4b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 125.00

113 for 5 in 10 overs.  102 runs needed in 10.0 overs (60 balls) with 5 wickets remaining. RRR: 10.20

At the half-way stage of the inning, the Patriots were ahead of where they needed to be. Having scored 113 in 10, they needed fewer in the second half - 102 runs. Unfortunately for them, they had used up 5 wickets to get there. One man stood between NCC and the victory - Harish.

Right after the drinks break, Suresh came back with a plan. Having seen how easily Harish was handling the pace of the faster bowlers, Suresh slowed it down considerably and lobbed it up outside the off-stump. Unable to control himself, Harish reached for the ball and attempted a slog to midwicket. He got more elevation than distance. Ramesh raced in from the boundary, judged the trajectory, slowed down and took the catch reverse cup as it came hurtling back to the earth near the 30 yard flag! Having endured a beating at Harish's hands, Ramesh was relieved to have taken a great catch to end the inning - and deserved all the accolades he received in the huddle.113 for 6. Dagger in the heart of the chase!

Harish Bv  c Ramesh S b Suresh G  78 (31b 7 Fours, 7 Sixers) SR 251.61

By now Suresh was in great rhythm, and ended the over with no further damage. 4 runs in the over with 1 precious wicket. 117 for 6 in 11 overs. 

98 runs needed in 9.0 overs (54 balls) with 4 wickets remaining. RRR: 10.89

Asif continued his good day giving away just six runs, in spite of a boundary that came out of nowhere by Sudhir Kondappali. The other 5 balls were seriously fast and bouncy, more reminiscent of the Asif we have come to expect. 6 runs in the over. 123 for 6 in 12 overs. 

92 runs needed in 8.0 overs (48 balls) with 4 wickets remaining. RRR: 11.50

Suresh bowled an over similar to the previous one wherein one ball was slugged away to the boundary by Vijay Yajjala but all the others were tough to put away, yielding the stray single. 7 runs in the over. 130 for 6 on 13 overs.

85 runs needed in 7.0 overs (42 balls) with 4 wickets remaining. RRR: 12.14

At this point in time, after 13 overs, NCC had also been similarly placed at 134 for 2. Runs-wise there wasn't much separation but the 4 extra wickets were crucial. It is a measure of how devastating Harish's knock was that it wasn't until the 13th over that the Patriots actually fell behind the over-by-over scoring of NCC. 

Vijay Reddy typically opens the bowling for NCC; his strength being the ball that swings in from the 5th stump. Having ceded the new ball to Ashish, Vijay finally came on in the 14th over and had the batsmen in trouble right away, inducing inside edges one after another with his inswing. The fifth ball was pushed out wide, and Sudhir reached for it and sliced it to Jainil, hovering about 3/4ths of the way to the point boundary.

Sudhir Kondapalli  c Jainil S b Vijay R  7 (9b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 77.78

132 for 7 in 13.5 overs. The over was then completed with no further damage to the wickets column. 3 runs in the over. 133 for 7 in 14 overs. 

82 runs needed in 6.0 overs (36 balls) with 3 wickets remaining. RRR: 13.67

Mahek Patel had patiently waited in vain for his turn to bat and then fielded, as usual, with great verve and enthusiasm in the cover region. He was given the 15th over and produced six balls that teased the batsman's outside edge repeatedly. One edge even flew through a vacant second slip area. 4 runs in the over. 137 for 7 in 15 overs.

78 runs needed in 5.0 overs (30 balls) with 3 wickets remaining. RRR: 15.60

Vijay's next over was on the money. The first three balls found his namesake unable to clear the fielders. In desperation, Vijay, the batsman, took off for a nonexistent run off the 4th ball. Vijay, the bowler, calmly collected the ball on the leg-side and threw the wicket down to run out the striker as he ran to the bowler's end.

Vijay Yajjala  run out (Vijay R)   12 (23b 1 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 52.17

137 for 8 in 15.4 overs. Vinod Yarroju threw his bat at the ball and smashed two fours to end the over on a happier note for the Pats. 9 runs in the over. 146 for 8 in 16 overs.

69 runs needed in 4.0 overs (24 balls) with 2 wickets remaining. RRR: 17.25

Sriram Surapaneni came on to bowl his flattish off-spinners. Once upon a time Sriram was not only the captain of NCC but also the leading wicket-taker in the MACL and HCL. Those days are in the past while he focuses on the joys of spending time with a young child at home resulting in sporadic appearances on the cricket field. His over showed NCC what he was capable of with six balls pitched exactly where they used to pitch in his heyday. With no room to swing across the line and no freebies on offer, Vinod tried to manufacture a run but only succeeded in getting Kaushik Chittam run out.

Kaushik Chittam (Super-Sub)  run out (Sriram S)   2 (2b 0 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 100.00

151 for 9 in 16.5 overs. 7 runs in the over. 153 for 9 in 17 overs.

Cornelius Aleti is the oldest player in the MACL. Well into his 60th year, he retains the enthusiasm of a person without the last digit in the age. As the designated 12th man for the match, he came to the ground and when Ashish had to leave, fielded in his place and was rewarded with the 18th over. With one wicket to get, Cornelius delivered just that. Karthik Rao tried to disrupt the rhythm by walking across the stumps. Cornelius was not fooled by it and bowled a straight ball that the batsman missed completely to be bowled.

Karthik Rao  b Cornelius A 1 (4b 0 Fours, 0 Sixers) SR 25.00

3 runs in the over. 156 all out in 17.4 overs. NCC won by 58 runs.

With the win, NCC completed step 1 of the two step journey, reaching the Division II final. More importantly, they finally defeated Patriots after 11 years of futility. While Harish was blazing away the game was in the balance but once his resistance was accounted for, the game was practically over. 

As a bowling unit notorious for bowling wides, NCC bowled just 10 wides in the whole match, none of them went for extra runs. 5 of those wides came after Harish got out in the 11th over (by which time the match had been decided for all practical purposes). The sustained pressure by the bowlers ensured that the Patriots had to score all the runs and not get any free ones to reduce the target.

Batting-wise there were a few heroes. The opening pair of Vijay and Vinoth played it perfectly, carefully seeing off the initial overs before accelerating to 65 for no loss in 8 overs. When Vinoth was second out at 120, it was in the 13th over. The launchpad had been well set and Danial teed off from there with his blazing 50. The Man of the Match was Vinoth Rajendran for his stage-setting inning at the top of the order.

With the IPL-syle format, the Pats can make it back to the final if they beat UNO next Saturday. Either way, the final is going to be one last hurrah for this year's team. Check back in a week or so to find out how it ended.

The strength of the wolf is in the pack

 The Indian cricket team just did the seemingly unthinkable - beat Australia at it's ultimate stronghold, the 'Gabba! And did it in incredible fashion, chasing down 328 runs on Day 5 against the most potent quartet of bowlers in the world, including the top dog - Pat Cummins who is the #1 bowler by a fair distance.

In no particular order, here are some random thoughts that are floating through my head as I think about the match:

1) Speaking of colossal mismatches - nothing summarizes it better than this - at the start of the Test match, the Australians had collectively taken 1033 Test wickets while the Indians had a sum total of 13 (including 2 by Rohit Sharma who is not a bowler any more...though, ironically he did end up bowling in this match).

The famed Australian quartet took 17 wickets in this Test while the unfancied Indian bowlers took all 20 on offer.

2) Poor Tim Paine. For the last two years he has done his best to revamp the image of the Aussie team. All his hard work may have gone in vain because of his "conversation" with R Ashwin during the waning moments of the Sydney Test where he lost his cool. That may end up defining him as much as Kim Hughes is remembered for his teary press conference or Michael Clarke is for his "broken arm" sledge to Jimmy Anderson.

3) T20 cricket has changed the way we approach targets. When 140 plus runs were required in the last session, no one spoke in terms of time but only in terms of overs left. When 50 runs were required in 8 overs with only 5 wickets in hand, it was considered very achievable - a thought that would have resulted in shuttered doors even as recently as a decade ago (see below). It was a tight equation but 26 runs were plundered off the next two overs by Sundar and Pant and, suddenly, the match was gone from Australia's hands for all intents and purposes (except for minor blemishes from Sundar and Thakur that injected some excitement into the proceedings).

4) In 2011, the India cricket team had a golden chance to win a Test match in the West Indies. Chasing 180 to win, they were 94 for 3 when MS Dhoni agreed to a draw with the mandatory 15 overs (in the final hour) about to be bowled. The batsmen who were still not out or in the pavilion? Dravid, Laxman, Kohli, Dhoni and Harbhajan. As it was happening then, I was flabbergasted at how the Indian captain, fresh off a World Cup triumph, gave up the ghost of the chase so easily. I was thinking of that match as the last hour started in Brisbane. 

At Brisbane, at the start of the mandatory 15 over final hour, India needed 69 runs to win

Batting: Pant (51) and Agarwal (9) with Sundar and Thakur after them

At Roseau, in 2011, at the start of the mandatory 15 over final hour, India needed 86 runs to win

Batting: Dravid (34) and Laxman (3) with Kohli, Dhoni, Harbhajan after them

The fear of failure weighed heavily on the 2011 team. Unencumbered by any such pressures, the 2021 team finally released some of the anguish of that failed chase of a decade ago.

5) Rishabh Pant was the first visiting batsman to record scores of 25+ in 10 consecutive innings in Australia (surpassing, among others, Viv Richards who had a streak of 8). He got 23 in the first inning at Brisbane, snapping that streak, but then added 89* in the second inning. His scores across all Tests in Australia read:

25, 28, 36, 30, 39, 33, 159*, 29, and 36, 97, 23, 89* in this series

6) The Indian 4th inning was a tale of two strategies. At one end Pujara scored 56 in 211 balls, typical of a team fighting for a draw and at the other end Gill, Rahane, and Pant scored a combined 202 in 306 balls, symbolizing a team going for the win. Chalk and cheese, black and white, night and day - the beauty of Test cricket is that it can simultaneously accommodate two entirely opposite batting styles. As Harsha Bhogle pointed out in his post-match review after the Sydney Test - Test cricket showed the value of two opposite approaches seeking the same common goal (even there he was referring to Pujara and Pant's approach to the task at hand right at the start of the video). 

7a) At the end of day 4, Indians prayed for rain. And rain is what they got - a rain of runs!

7b) Actually, it DID rain. There were surreal scenes with about 20 overs to go when the ground was bathed in bright sunlight and yet the players were playing in a drizzle from a passing cloud. Maybe the gods felt the need to bless the batsmen as they dreamt the unthinkable.

8) Cummins set a record during the 2019 Ashes series for the most number of wickets in a 5 Test series without a five-for when he took 29 wickets with no five wicket hauls. In this 2020-21 series, Cummins once again led all bowlers with 21 wickets and no five-fors. I do not know if that is a record for a 4 Test series but it has to be up there if it isn't.

But it says something about Cummins: I do not recall him having a defining spell where he blasted away the opposition like Broad or Steyn or even Bumrah seem to have in our memory banks.

9) The man who spent the most time in the middle (after Pujara) seemed to be Nitin Patel, the physio. The number of times he ran onto the field to tend to an injured player almost warrants a sponsorship deal from someone!

10) Over the course of 8 innings (both teams combined), 123 wickets fell on helpful tracks but there were only three 5-for (Pfeiffer in honor of Dean Jones) hauls in the series - two by Josh Hazelwood and one by Mohammad Siraj.

(***PTS messaged me to point out that in the entire series, the number of centuries scored was in the same ratio - Australia had two centurions (Smith, Labuschcagne) while India had just one (Rahane).)

11) In 2018, when India finally breached the Aussie stranglehold we were told that the result would have been different if Steve Smith and David Warner had been there. (And, they did not have Marnus Labuschagne either at that point in time). In this series, they had all of them at various times. In fact, Australia won the Test where Steve Smith contributed only 1 run and lost (or drew) the matches where he scored centuries or fifties. 

I am actually very happy that there were no broken Aussie players or missing players for any reason. There are no excuses left on that front to explain away the losses.

12) The Australian batting line-up was very brittle. Even Labuschagne received numerous lives in all his innings and it could have been much worse for Australia if India's fielding had been as disciplined as its batting or bowling. Even in the first Test at Adelaide, after posting 244, India had Australia reeling at 111 for 7 when Bumrah dropped an easy catch off Paine. The Aussie skipper then counter-attacked (with more luck and lives) and kept the lead down to just 54 runs. The rest is history (36 and all) but think about how the Test may have played out had we gotten them all out for, say, 125 and batted with a lead of 100 plus rather than having to come in the next morning on a fresh day at 9 for 1 and a lead of 63 runs.

13) After the events of the Sydney Test, where tremendous amount of energy was spent in achieving the draw, I was concerned that there would be a let down at Brisbane. I was convinced that if we lost the toss, the Australian batsmen would bat us out of the game. And they were close to doing so - at 200 for 3 (Editor's note: I had previously noted that it was 206 for 2, which was actually the score in the Sydney Test).**. From there onwards, the resilience and fight of the Indian team came to the fore. Getting Australia all out for 369 was a monumental feat. Had they reached 450 or even 400, it would have been devastating.

Actually, Rahane lost all three tosses in the Tests he captained, adding another layer of improbability to the stupendousness of the series win. Time after time, the odds were stacked against the team and they kept overcoming it. All along we had been told that the GOAT (Lyon) would be unleashed in the 4th inning on a wearing wicket while exploiting the footmarks made by Starc. Lyon was more bleat than roar.

14) Fame is fleeting, ephemeral. Success is occasional, failures are more common. The playing 11 at Brisbane will look nothing like the playing 11 in the next Test against England. In my estimation, only Sharma, Gill, Pujara, Rahane, and Pant are certain to play. The other 6 are unlikely to feature since the following will return: Kohli, Bumrah, Sharma, Ashwin...leaving spots for only 2 other players, who may both be spinners. I do not know when Thakur or Saini or Natarajan or Sundar will play again for India. If you think it is unlikely they'll never play again having contributed to this win, think about this:

The miracle of Kolkata 2001 was the last Test match for: Nayan Mongia and Venkatapathy Raju 

The euphoria of victory did not extend their careers. They were replaced by Sameer Dighe and Nilesh Kulkarni (for whom Chennai was the last Test of his career, too).

15) The value of Pujara's self-denial became apparent to me the moment I realized that when Cummins opened the bowling after lunch, he was already into his third spell of the day. And when Hazelwood replaced Cummins, it was his third spell, too. Drip by drip, drop by drop...the miles started piling accruing on those legs and when the second new ball was available the engine was willing but the body was not as sharp.

16) The loss was disastrous for Australia's World Test Championship (WTC) hopes. Here's what needs to happen in order for Australia get to Lord's for the final.

The unexpected series defeat against India has severely dented Australia's chances of making the top two. Their points percentage has dropped to 69.2, and they will need 89 points from the three-Test series against South Africa - which is yet to be confirmed - to go past New Zealand. That can only happen if they win at least two Tests and draw the third, in which case they will get 93 points from the series.

And, since you asked, this is what has to happen for India:

India have moved to the top of the table, with a points percentage of 71.67, with New Zealand currently second. To stay ahead of New Zealand's 70%, they need 80 more points out of 120 in the four-Test home series against England. They can get there with a 2-0 series win; if they lose one Test in that series though, they will need to win three. Given India's home record in the last eight years - 28 wins, one loss in 34 Tests - they should fancy their chances of securing those 80 points.

The WTC has added a new wrinkle to Test series, providing an additional layer of context where the outcome of a series matters not only to the participants but also to other nations, which is a good thing.

17) After the second Test, I had some misgivings about the umpires. I did not doubt their bias or their skill. Rather, I felt that there might be a subliminal tendency of lenience towards the Australians. For example, there were decisions that were given out to an Aussie bowler while a similar appeal from an Indian bowler was turned down (subsequently overturned on DRS appeal). That was my perception and it was reinforced when a few "out" decisions against the Indian batsmen were overturned upon review. 

The fears that I had turned out to be largely baseless and unfounded. I did not sense any such umpiring bias during the fourth Test and was, actually, very impressed with the umpiring of Bruce Oxenford and Paul Wilson. Sure, they had to overturn a decision or two but there was nothing that was egregiously out of place. In fact, considering how tense the match was they were outstanding. I was particularly impressed with Paul Wilson, who seemed very calm and measured in everything he did. I hope he grows in stature and umpires more games.

And I dislike the rule that an umpire cannot stand in games featuring his home team. In this day and age with the scrutiny they go through and the ability to use DRS to overturn decisions, we could keep one umpire at least from the home nation on the ground, I would think.

18) In the long, storied history of Test cricket, never have 20 players been used by an away team during the course of a series. India did that this time, demonstrating the incredible turnover from test to Test, so much so only two players - Rahane and Pujara - played all 4 Tests for India. High turnover is usually associated with teams that lose by huge margins not series winners. Yet another amazing stat in a series filled with bizarre stats and facts.

19) When the series began: 

Ravichandran Ashwin had 365 wickets in 71 Tests. 

Nathan Lyon had 390 in 96 Tests.

The series ended with Ashwin on 377 (12 in 3 Tests) and Lyon on 399 (9 in 4 Tests). 

Ashwin clearly outbowled and outperformed Lyon in the latter's den (pun intended). I am going to make a very bold prediction - Ashwin will reach 400 Test wickets before Lyon reaches 400. You heard it here first!

19) Prior to the Brisbane Test, the general consensus was that the Indian team should stack it's roster with every healthy batsman available and hedge their bets and bat out for a draw. When the team was announced I was surprised to see FOUR fast bowlers and one spinner. FIVE bowlers on a ground that favors bowlers. It took guts to make that call and, in the end, turned out to be an inspired one when Saini pulled up lame. Kudos to the team thinktank for deciding that taking 20 wickets was more important than scoring an additional 50 runs while facing a larger deficit. 

It also put more onus on the batsmen to perform, knowing that there was little to follow as we effectively played with three #11 batsmen. The top order batsmen didn't score as big as they should have but knowing there was nothing behind them probably made Thakur and Sundar value their wicket even more and score all the runs they did. Runs that won us the game, honestly speaking, since it tired out the Aussie bowlers and demoralized them. Further, in the second inning, even when Agarwal got out (more on that below) there wasn't too much panic since we still had Sundar and Thakur to come. Think about that last sentence again. It's a sentiment that would have been improbable to consider at the start of the Test!

20) When Mayank Agarwal was padded up in the pavilion, I was content thinking that we had a competent player should the second new ball need to be played out in Brisbane. His first inning of 38 was very promising until a strange blunder - trying to punch on the up to the second ball after the lunch break, doomed him. I thought he would have learned from that but he did not. One ball after Agarwal survived a DRS review for caught behind he, inexplicably, tried to loft over the in-field and gave a catch to Wade at short cover. The fielder accepted the chance. Ironical since Wade himself had been guilty all series of gifting away his wicket to the Indians! 

If Agarwal had not perished and had survived till the end with Pant, imagine the plaudits that would have followed him. It is good to "play your natural game" but, at times, some context needs to be enforced. 

And, no, I would not have applauded his courage if that drive had gone to the boundary. I know it for a fact because, even as Cummins was running in, I was thinking to myself - play out the over, play out the over, expecting something disastrous to happen.

21) Shubman Gill scored: 45, 35*, 50, 31, 7, 91 - 259 runs @ 51.80 

I watched almost every ball of all his innings. I do not recall him being hit on the body even once. Every other batsman had moments of concern or times when they were flinching and getting hit, including Labuschagne and Smith. I do not know if it my mind blocking it but Gill came out unscathed, I think. He plays beside the ball and his technique will be tested in England or whenever the ball moves in the air but speed did not bother him one bit. Take a look at these highlights (see above/below) and just listen to the sound of the bat hitting the ball - it is hitting the sweet spot more often than not (look at the 1:12 mark as Isa Guha points out, too). And when you hook Starc in front of square leg (at the 2:25 mark, for example) it means you have a lot of time to play the ball. What a player. I hope he stays hungry and grounded and plays for another 15 years. (Touch wood). And if he does that...uff....who knows how many runs he will score.

22) During the first inning of the 4th Test, the broadcaster's shared an amazing bit of information. According to their ball tracking software, Pat Cummins had not bowled a single ball down the leg side in the whole series. In the whole series. Just think about that. To bowl at his level and not stray even once is as much evidence as anyone needs to support his standing as the #1 bowler in the world. What a bowler. Test after Test, inning after inning, spell after spell, over after over, ball after ball, he just ran into and through the wall relentlessly attacking the batsman. If Pujara was the immovable wall, Cummins was the irresistible force. 

23) On his YouTube channel, Ashwin sat down with the fielding coach, R Sridhar, and got him to reveal what happens off the field while the action we know so well unfolds on it. Ravi Shastri comes out looking really good from a tactical and leadership point of view. Many nuggets of information are revealed with a good dose of humor and self-deprecation. 

It's in Tamil but has subtitles if you don't follow the language. Well done, Ashwin.

24) One moment stood out for me from the above video. Sridhar pointed out that, after the dismal batting collapse of 36, the conventional wisdom was that the batting should be strengthened. Instead, the Indian think tank went the other way - strengthened the bowling by making it a 5 bowler attack and relying on Jadeja to replace Virat Kohli. What a masterstroke it proved to be. Simply brilliant. Especially when Yadav pulled up lame in the second inning.

I still think Ravi Shastri is more of a rah-rah guy than a nuts-and-bolts coach but he has, smartly, surrounded himself with very competent coaches in the specialist positions of his support staff. While they take of the nitty-gritty stuff, he is able to macromanage the whole thing in his typical, bombastic way. Kudos to him and his support staff for keeping the players focused on the big picture while not dwelling on the past.

25) BD asked if if I thought Brisbane 2021 trumped Kolkata 2001 as the definitive Test win for an Indian team. This was my response to him: 

On an individual basis, Kolkata 2001 still comes out on top, in my opinion. Considering the context (following on 274 runs behind, playing a team with a streak of 15 straight Test wins, the Final Frontier, and the fact that in the Aussie team there were at least 5 all-time Australian Greats - Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Ponting, Waugh and 4 Modern Greats - Hayden, Junior Waugh, Langer. Gillespie and the last 2 - Slater and Kasprowicz - were no mugs by any stretch of imagination) the Kolkata win was more improbable and seminal.

As a whole, this Test series has to be almost the best ever, even factoring in recency bias.

Each Test had its own script and context. No two Tests were similar and all were enthralling.

Every Test, every session was meaningful. No lulls...no periods of boring domination. (The 36 was mesmerizingly bewildering and so out of the blue... it wasn't domination so much as dream-like. It's how Hazelwood would have dreamt bowling a perfect Pfeiffer would be when he was a kid).

26) As Julius Caesar once proclaimed: Veni, Vidi, Vici.