2018 Regal league - First Round Game - Super Kings vs. Punjab XI on 5th May (Sunday) at Lindsay 1:30am - Super kings win by 69 runs
Super Kings 188 for 5 in 20 overs (Jeffrey 110 n.o, Aditya 56)
Punjab XI 119 all out in 18.3 overs (Sodhi 30, Ravi 3/9, Neeraj 3/9)
Driving to the ground on a Saturday afternoon after
a overnight rain and playing the first game at Lindsay, thought that if
at all we play the game today, it will be a low scoring game.
Further, Punjab playing their first game in the league against Warriors
at this ground last week, very nearly beat the Warriors. As an
umpire, watched their admirable debut as they bowled reasonably well and
with good hitters were well on course to win as they needed only about 30 runs
in 5 overs with 5 wickets remaining. Also in the morning game, Panthers just then had thumped out champions Tigers by bundling then out for 55.
So,
thought that we should bat first and considering some hitters in the
Punjab line up, felt that we need a minimum of 140, With Neeraj in the
lineup, if we apply ourselves to negotiate the first few overs, should
be manageable.
Punjab XI won the toss and to my
delight, they opted to bowl. Shiv and Jeffrey opened the batting.
Having seen the three quarter length that Punjab bowled last weekend,
felt that Jeffrey will do well provided he select the right balls to hit
as he has so much power and finesse as we keep seeing how he hits
during the practice sessions. Shiv’s wife had come with their cute dog
“Izzy” and really wanted Shiv to do well in front of her since he got out very early last time when she came.
Unfortunate
as it is, we not only lost Shiv for a duck but also Venkat for a duck.
Both got out to tame pushes, probably playing a bit too early with the
ball not coming on as made a disastrous start to be 7/2. But with
Aditya and Neeraj to back Jeffrey, who made his top score for Super Kings
last week only, I was confident that we can make a par score of 140 if we don't lose more than three wickets by the 14th over.
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| Aditya, brilliant batting |
Aditya was as always excellent with his stroke play and was particularly so pleasing with his off side shots through extra covers and it is indeed a treat to watch how we plays those inside out shots with bent elbow and knees. Jeffrey was in his own zone and was so quick to pick the length and deposit the ball over the boundary with extreme finesse. There is no better site than to watch a tall and well build batsman caressing the ball with so much poise and muscle. He is such a clean and beautiful hitter of the cricket ball I have seen and am all the more happy to see him realize his full potential. Aditya got out caught almost at the long off boundary for a 42 ball 56 with two boundaries and two sixers. Well played Aditya and it's such a great turn around for Super Kings after you joined us. Keep it going buddy.
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| Brilliant hundred by Mr.Jeffrey |
Kiran
gave very good support to Jeffrey by scoring run a ball before getting
run out for the umpteenth time which is such a waste indeed and it’s
high time, he does something to sort this out which unfortunately
requires many hours at the gym to get into sprinting for runs rather
than ambling through. But am always happy when Kiran does well since he is so committed to practice and can always see his attitude to do well.
Jeffrey
went beserk as we scored another 58 runs in the last 5 overs as he started hitting, rather belting sixers one after the other and it was such a fabulous
battling display indeed as he hit five sixers and a boundary off his
last ten balls. Imagine that! What a spectacle to see such an awesome
display. When he neared his hundred, we were screaming to have him slow
down but he didn’t and went about his business without any care expect
to pick the ball on length and hoist it all over the boundary.
Carrying
his bat through, Jeffery was the first centurion for Super Kings with a
superlative unbeaten 110 studded with 7 sixers and five boundaries off just 55 balls.
Hats off buddy as I won’t forget today for a long, long time. When I clicked him for this picture, he was shy and so modest. what a player!!!!
Expecting 140, thanks to the brilliance of Jeffrey and Aditya, Super Kings made their best ever score of 188/5 in 20 overs. Wow! what a feeling.
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It
was obviously a tall order for Punjab as we stared the bowling with
Karthik and Aditya who both bowled well, keeping a tight line. Karthik got the first wicket, thanks to a neat catch by the well positioned
Neeraj at fly slip. Karthik continued his miserly spell of three overs
for 17 runs and what was impressive was his great line and length and
he certainly augers well as a key decisive bowler at any situation.
Unfortunately
Anurag who took over the bowling started disastrously bowling from the Congress end giving away 18 runs in his first over. Bulk of the scoring
was done by “Lovely” who smacked a gigantic six of a full toss and a
thumping boundary. He is the same batsman who smacked a quick fire 50
odd in the last weekend game nearly getting them through with a flurry
of sixers. Although we had such a massive score, anything can happen in
Cricket if such fearless guys continue to hit so well.
Anand continued to bowl well from the other end for three overs going away only 11 runs and taking a good batsman out for LBW.
With
Ravi coming back after a hiatus and having seen Anurag bowling well in
the practice, brought him from the Capital drive end was immediately
rewarded with the precious wicket of Lovely who was well caught by
Aditya at long on. That was precisely the tonic that Anurag wanted as he
bowled his next two overs admirably well to take another wicket. Anurag
is a very deceptive bowler and if he can keep the three quarter length
just outside the off stump, he will create head ache for the batsman
since the bounce is so unpredictable and it is such a great weapon he
has with the big IF on consistency. But he is improving leaps and bounds
since he is such a hard trier and always ready to give his best. A great
team man and a Captain's delight indeed. He bowled a perfect yorker to
get rid of the other opening batsman who was doing great service to us
by virtually crawling in the crease. Neeraj just scolded him for
getting him out (of course to make fun) and it’s such a great feeling when the team enjoys
things when we do well
What
can say about Ravi who looks so tired but still runs well enough to
land the ball in the right areas as he got three wickets within no time
hardly giving any runs. Ravi always gets wickets and it’s so good to
see him right away get into the thick of things. Great show Ravi. You have a lot to do and we bank on a stellar performance by you.
Having
lost our magician Prasannah and with Madhav not playing this Game, it
is mighty important to encourage slow bowling and Prem had signed up to
do this role. It was easy to see that he needs to work a lot and it’s
important for a newcomer to be nurtured and encouraged and a one side
game like this is a perfect foil to get him some run in a match
situation.
Poor guy with all his nervousness, Prem started with so many wides and gave plenty including an above the waist full toss that was gleefully dispatched over the boundary as his first over went for 15 runs with about five wides as well. It was so good to see Shiv egging along and these are the moments that blend us as a team as we all gel together as a family. Prem improved in his second over and it was so good to see that. Super Kings is all about the team and we will continue to encourage everyone who want to perform a certain role, particularly in the first round. Am sure that Prem in the next few weeks will become one of our front line spinner.
Poor guy with all his nervousness, Prem started with so many wides and gave plenty including an above the waist full toss that was gleefully dispatched over the boundary as his first over went for 15 runs with about five wides as well. It was so good to see Shiv egging along and these are the moments that blend us as a team as we all gel together as a family. Prem improved in his second over and it was so good to see that. Super Kings is all about the team and we will continue to encourage everyone who want to perform a certain role, particularly in the first round. Am sure that Prem in the next few weeks will become one of our front line spinner.
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| Victorious Super Kings |
Our
catching was exceptional and it was great to see. Aditya catch two
decisive ones at long on, Ravi one at point, Anurag at mid wicket,
Neeraj at fly slip and even I had one caught at cover off Ravi just to
make sure that my name is in the record books on such a historic win.
What
a great win and an unforgettable day with many records from the team.
Through all these, our newbie Ansad was quietly sitting in the sidelines
along with Kiran (13 players today). It was so great to see the
attitude of Ansad who after the game mentioned that he will merrily support the team
from the sidelines any day as all he wants is our team to do well.
Having been myself in a number of matches in the situation of being in the sidelines, I can understand what he would have gone through even if its for a wee bit of a moment and Super
Kings will be the last team to under utilize any player and he will get
his chances very soon and seeing his attitude will do very well indeed.
Welcome Ansad!
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| With our supporter who brings us tons of luck |
Poor Shiv! He did take one catch and after some of the players mentioned that it had come off the torn mat, asked that the batsman, who was almost on the boundary, to come back again to bat and that deprived of one of Shiv's catches. But knowing him and all others in our team, we play the game with integrity and even if this had happened to Kabir, the best batsman in the league by a mile, we all would have done the same thing.
Finally,
we had an outstanding game when everything worked in our favor. But, just like in life where we see ups and downs, we will go through the same
through the season. We just have to remember what we did as a team today. We
did the simple things right like having the confidence to hit the ball
as hard as possible, having the belief to carry through while batting,
having the confidence to bowl and field well. That’s all we need to
do. We had our stars today but tomorrow others will shine along as well. All we need
to remember is to be in the moment while you are batting, bowling or
fielding.
It’s all being in the moment with that ball. We can make it a great season folks. Just enjoy and support each other as a family.
It’s all being in the moment with that ball. We can make it a great season folks. Just enjoy and support each other as a family.
Go Super Kings
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| Super Kings Batting |
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| Punjab XI batting |
