COLUMBUS CRICKET CLUB
CCC OUTPLAYS AKRON IN THE SEASON OPENER.
It
was 5th June ’05. A hot and muggy
forecast welcomed Akron CC to Columbus.
The first game of the Midwest Cricket Tournament between CCC and Akron
at Hannah Park was scheduled to begin in a few moments.
Akron
won the toss and put CCC to bat.
Ravi
Mangipudi and Vinod kumar opened the innings for CCC. They got CCC to a decent start.
Vindy & Ravi played well to put on 20 runs for the first wicket.
They were both middling the balls and just when it looked like they were
getting set for a long innings, Vindy was out feathering a lifter to the
keeper. Ravi was next to go - he was out playing a tired shot. Abhi walked in and got to the task from the
get go. He played with an air of
confidence playing some beautiful shots.
Abhi was well supported by Hari (18) and Manju (17). Abhi was still keeping one end going and was
looking set for a 100. It took a brilliant catch by Gurpreet Chhibber to send
Abhi back to the pavilion on 60.
Bharat went in after Abhi and played a good cameo giving an exhibition
of some sweetly timed shots. He
perished after making an entertaining 38 of 17 balls, again caught well by
Gurpreet. CCC ended the innings scoring
217 runs of 35 overs with useful contribution by Vinod Kosike (12 off 14
balls). I thought we would have added
another 50 runs, but for some good catching and disciplined bowling by Hari
Parthasarthi ensured that Akron had to chase no more than 6.2 an over.
Akron’s woes were not yet over. A devastating opening spell by Amit and Sekhar put Akron on a backfoot right from the beginning. They were 3 for 9 in 3 overs, Akron never really recovered from that. Later Vineel joined the party and ensured that Akron had absolutely no chance of getting back in the game. Vineel struck regular blows and finished with the first 5-wicket haul {5-21} of the season. At the end it was a very disappointing performance by Akron Batsmen with the only resistance coming from Avinash Baji who top scored with 33. Avinash was finally snared by Wilson Fernando, who picked up his first wicket in a Midwest game, with Hari effecting a smart stumping. Akron was all out for 60 in 16.1 overs.
Observations:
CCC Batsmen should learn to
put a higher premium on their wicket.
When you are well set and looking good it will be prudent to play a long
innings and stay till the end. It is
difficult for a new batsman to walk in during the slog overs and score
quickly. If you get out facing a very
good ball, there’s no problem. But don’t throw your wicket. Remember, the next time you walk in to bat,
you begin from zero. Every player, no
matter how good he is, always has an off day.
So capitalize and make the most of it when the sun is shining on you J
Wilson Fernando
Abhijeet Deshpande
Bharat Jataprolu
Ravi Mangipudi