Finals..Part II

At halftime, it was obvious that our opponents were in a better position than they thought they would be. However I knew pretty well they might be reasonably edgy when they came out to bat as I was , even though the target wasnt difficult to chase. This, being a final and with most of the crowd supporting our team, I was confident that it wasnt going to be easy for them.

They tinkered with their batting lineup for the final (to my surprise and to which i thought wasnt a bad idea).But when they faced the first over, i could see that they were more nervous than i thought. They were over-cautious and were more content to defend than to score runs.
Adding pressure to ourselves, we dropped a chance in the second over when a pretty good fielder mistimed his jump to catch the ball that flew off the leading edge. But our team opening bowlers were superb and very consistent and absolutely gave nothing away. Slowly pressure started getting on to them and a simple dismissal of their main batsman when he spooned a drive straight to point put them immediately on the back foot after which they never looked back.

Though one or two batsman in their team played some good shots, they never really threatened us and if we had taken our catches, the game would have been over long back. Inspite of our bad catching, our fielding and bowling was pretty much on the mark and we gave only just 13
extras on that game, while on an average, we were giving around 20+ in games running before the finals.

It was one of the best team performance, as everyone contributed to our success, be it bowling,batting or fielding or even catching. (yeah we eventually did take some catches..:) )
Surprisingly our celebrations after the game wasnt that exciting, as we were expected to win, apart from happy smiley faces of our team...

I thought our opponents bowled really well and had a good plan entering the game. But somehow they were unlucky and if they taken some catches or got some extra luck along the way, who knows what would have happened!!At the same time we were unbeaten during the tournament and it was a deserved victory for us...

This ends our cricket season here and I wish good luck for the people who are graduating and moving on to the next stage of their lives...

Finals..Part I

It was a very very hot day. Early in the morning, I had to help a friend move their stuff to a new apartment. Even though i didnt really lift heavy stuff, after all the move, i was sweating like a pig, because of the conditions. I was also careful not to hurt my hand or finger before the game during the move. After the move, i took much needed rest and was getting ready for the evening game. As i was about to head to the ground, there was a sudden rain out of nowhere. I was disappointed at first thinking that rain would play spoilsport. But when i looked outside, it more or less seemed like passing clouds and in fact, the rain helped cool down the temperature by a few degrees.

I was looking forward to the finals. I was in good form leading up to the finals and was consistent during the warm up games.I did my usual warm-ups before the game and I was hoping that we would win the toss and bat first and to my fortune, we did exactly that.

I usually like to face the batting when opening. But that day, When i walked to bat, I was definitely nervous. As the bowler was setting his fielders, I was thinking to myself " Dont get out first ball". I havent played a tournament game in two weeks and I was facing a bowler who has been bowling pretty good first over during the tournament.

I did my usual nervous prod outside the off stump, the first ball i faced. Luckily it was wide and didnt catch any edge and aptly called wide. That ball took the pressure off and I was slowly getting to feel comfortable, but not totally yet. My feet, for some reason, was moving slow. A drive to cover point area, which got the middle of the bat,for a single, got me off the strike. I felt really confident after that shot. I had a very good partner who was in good form as well and generally was setting the tone in the first few overs. He did the same that day as well and got things going. But unlike last time, the opponents bowled really well and didnt give easy scoring opportunities nor did they concede extras.

I got my rhythm going when i drove through the offside for a couple. The next ball was full toss and I flicked it through mid wicket. The fielder at short mid-wicket stretched full hand and stopped the ball and in one motion threw a direct hit at the stumps. I thought the ball would miss the fielder and was starting to take off for a single. When i realized that there was no run, i turned back and while doing so, i slipped. I couldnt recover in time and the direct hit found me short. I was very very disappointed to get out in this fashion, as this was probably the last game of this cricket season.

My other opening partner continued to play well and was keeping us in the game. Though we didnt score at a rapid rate, we were keeping wickets in hand and were playing sensible cricket. Every shot was encouraged and supported well by our cheerleaders with their antics and bringing in distraction. A short cameo in the final few overs got us to a respectable target and we knew we had a good chance to win...if we bowl the way we have been bowling and concede less extras.

Law of Averages...

It has been a very hectic and wild couple of weeks for me. ISA cricket tournament and a well deserved vacation to DC, VA and NC kept me totally occupied and very active. I had a wonderful time during the trip and hopefully I will find time to write about it in the future.

Having lost in the fun tournament in the semis, I was much determined to show better results in the next tournament and thats exactly what has happened...

Yes, our team is in the finals which we are scheduled to play this Saturday(14th). I agree that we have a good team, but still it needs a good overall effort to win a game. We all know that any team can lose to any other team on a given day. Thats why we played all games seriously and have been unbeaten till the finals. We cannot predict what will happen then, but we definitely know that our team will try its best to win.

In the midst of all, I have been enjoying some glorious batting form for the past few weeks. Luck has also been coming my way with an occasional mishit dropping short of fielders and edges short of keeper. Nevertheless I have played some good cricket shots in between. Apart from my usual off side shots, I have got better at playing pull shots on the leg side and I am really happy for doing that consistently. I have been batting so well that I haven't failed even once in my last 10 or so batting appearances.

But at the same time,I am extremely nervous that the law of averages is going to catch up soon and I just pray that it doesn't happen during the finals. I am not a bad player under pressure and usually I count myself to perform in the key matches. But this situation is very much different. I have to keep up with my current form and expectations are more. I have never been in that situation before. Usually I will be under the radar and I used to get away with it. Now, at least I know two quality bowlers who are going to target me for the finals and will be well prepared to go against me. If luck doesn't go with me initially, then I better prepare for a tough time ahead.

I am looking forward to an exciting finals, irrespective of whether I am gonna click with my bat or not. At the same time I am sad that an amazing cricket season will soon come to an end. I will definitely remember this season for making lots of new friends and my new improved batting form.