Hawkes Vs Legends (FO5- 01/09/2011)

This game had everything in it, weather ,family ties (Piyush Yadev & Anil Yadev),Last game for some,and anticlimax.Hawkes and legends had met twice before and Hawkes had come up trumps on both occasions.This legends team had some new talents this time around and were doing very well this season.As it was really really cold and foggy in the morning due to the mountains lined up on one side of the ground our game time was pushed to 9 AM.We had some good practice but myself personally could not feel my fingers at all, so was little worried how our bowlers will be even able to get the lengths right.We as always :) lost the toss and had to field first.

Bowling-Fielding:

Opening spell started with Piyush Yadev and Pranai bowling very tight but their openers kept the score card ticking by singles which was worrying sign.But an absolute brilliant catch from Raj at gully fully stretched on his left side and picking the ball just inches above ground gave us the necessary break and broke the opening partnership which was worrying us.Pranai was constantly asking the bowlers to keep the fingers wet to get a grip on the fluffy new ball.Chai too was at his flexible best and stopped some singles to keep the pressure up.The second wkt also came in quick succesion and this time it was Raj getting Sunil tomar(their trusted batsman) out at covers by a excellent catch above shoulders from Ravine with sun in his eyes.Our bowlers very quickly found the line and length and troubled the batsmen on the off stick.Piyush Yadev's brilliant and very difficult caught behind down the legs catch was a huge blow for legends confidence as they never got into strides.Legends ended the first 10 overs at 35/3or4 and were on track for about par score (80-85).Piyush Yadev's excellent spell culminating in a wicket of Monarch Shah ct at deep midwkt by Anil was a key point in the game as Monarch was looking very dangerous.After the break came the Amazing Anil Catches which ultimately won him the MoM.To catch even a simple catch in this weather was tough as one cud not feel the palms of the hands to place them correctly underneath the ball but to run full tilt and catch them was quite brilliant.The most toughest was Anil yadev's wkt with Anil Komma running from deep mid wkt to mid wkt and catching slightly below waist high was a huge blow to Legends as Anil Yadev is known to be a mainstay and hard hitting batsmen in legends batting.The period also involved a perfect maiden over from Pranav as the batsman could not do anything but defend get beaten and leave the delivery.Raj had also found his strides in his later spell and was pressurizing the batsmen.Pranai was also finding his strides as well and kept it tight (shud have got a wkt as some us felt the batsman nicked it).Excellent bowling rotation stratergy from Chai and Pranai kept the batsmen at bay and kept the pressure up which involved a perfect yocker from Raj cleaning up the batsman.Chai bowled a brilliant spell involving a outstanding lastover and polished off the tail in grand fashion.Fielding effort from everyone was a huge contributing factor in how effective our bowling was where we stopped conversions of 1's to 2's.Legends ended up with 72 All out in 19.5 ov which was under par on 360 deg ground with flat non sandy pitch.

Batting:

Our top order had been given very good directives from Pranai and Chai and were full of confidence.Venki and Purab went to open the innings in their charecteristic Full of energy fashion.The start given by them was awesome and put Legends on backfoot defensive mode at the outset.They maintained almost 6runs per over rate with very quick singles and converting 1's to 2's This start settled what ever the early nerves that were there in the team.Purab played his favourate pick up shot from the middle and made quick runs.On the other end Venki was also picking gaps in the off running hard as usual.No wonder he is called the energizer bunny in our team he energizes everyone everytime and all the time he is on field. more over this could be his last game for us before he left for India for good.We will definilty miss him on the field.After the quick start we lost Purabs's wkt to a little rush of blood as he danced down the wkt and got stumped for well made 12(14) which was against the run of play (21/1 in 4 ov).After this Kartik(myself) Joined the party and kept the score ticking with Venki.Venki too fell for a pull shot to mid wkt for well made 12(17).With both openers gone after doing their job to perfection it was left Kartik and Ravine to get the score near to the target.Ravine's confdent strokes, Kartik's rotating the the strike and aided by Legends extras kept the scoring rate always above 5 runs per over.You know you are doing good in terms of runrate when the opposition feels and doubts that they have bowled 1 extra over when they hear the score :) and

confirm with umpires.Kartik hit a very nice shot before the break over deep mid wkt for 4 (I felt it wud carry over for 6 when I hit it :) )at 10 ov break time the score read 49/2 in 10 ov and looked like Legends shoulders were droping a little.We know Legends are a very ressilient team and Ravine and Kartik progressed well after 10 ov.Ravine hit an exquisite pull to squareleg for 4 where the timing was perfect.Ravine was playing fantastically till he got runout agaisnt the run of play on a noball on a risky and not necessary 2'nd run which I should have called a no-go.I believe the score was arnd 64/3 in 13 ov.Anil walked in but his partnership with kartik was brief as Kartik Got out Bowled to Sunil Tomar when the score was 68.This brief period was slighly blot on a perfect day where we lost 2 more wkts in quest of finishing the game.Piyush Yadev and Pranav brought the ship into the bay and finished the game.73/6 in 15.4ov. It was comprehensive victory and a well deserved one too.Performance in every

dept was clinical and very professional.Anil was judged the Man of the Match for absolutely turning the game with those catches with out which things would have been lot different.This makes him the first time we gave MoM for outstanding fielding skills kudos to Anil simply the best outfielder in Hawkes. Anil might be playing on and off from now on so this was a special game for him too.But I am

not giving you any farewell yet you are in the bay and should come and play key games :).The new players played very crucial roles in the game, welcome to the team guys! All in all as Pranai put it in a time tested formula Catches Win Matches!! so here we go into round of 16, pre quarterfinals, for Gold cup where we will meet team Kuch Bhi X1 and the saga continues...

Score Sheet: http://www.cricbay.com/scoresheet.asp?matchid=4592

-Kartik