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.
