CCC 1 Vs HASLINGDEN
07/20/03
By: Ani Khandekar

The atmosphere at the ground this morning was all of confidence and an urge to come back strongly after a forgetful warning from last weekend's game. This Sunday seemed to be a very fruitful one as both Team 1 and Team 2 beat their opposition with authority. For Team 1 Prasad won the toss this morning and without much ado, was quick to elect to field first. The entire team was focused on getting quick break throughs, keeping to the basics and restricting the opposition to a bare minimum. Due to the ever unpredictable forecasts of the weather experts, a thunderstorm was expected in the late afternoon and it was decided to cut short the game by 5 overs a side. We realized later that the thunderstorm that came across the field was not by the weather gods but by one of our own skin - Ravi Nair!
Prasad and Gautam opened the bowling for CCC. While Prasad was struggling with his line and length, Gautam was bowling well within himself without trying too hard and getting the ball to swing very well
and do all the talking. Gautam scalped the opener with a beautiful out swinger which also received a little kick off the pitch. The ball swooned up from a thickish outside edge in to the gully region. The other opener (T. Richard) who was beginning to find the middle of the bat regularly was caught behind by Ravi P off Gautam again.

Having bowled the opening spells, Prasad and Gautam made way for Ani and Kaushal to pick up the bowling. Dryden and W. Dixon were starting to get in to their mould and were piling up a useful partnership. The Caribbeans were frantically hitting the bowl, but were definitely eyeing a sizeable total. Just before the drinks break Ani bowled one of his favorite slower deliveries to see W. Dixon play a very early shot and lose his off stump. Score at drinks was 66/3 in 15 overs. After the drinks break, the opposition did not seem to have a fruitful session. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals with some good tight
bowling backed up with a reasonable effort in the field.

The opposing team captain continuously had heated arguments with his own team members and umpires. Well good for us I would say! With some good/fancy catching we were able to restrict CCC for just 141/8 at the end of the stipulated 30 overs.
Prasad came back strongly to cover up for his earlier lapse and captured three wickets in his spell. At one time he was in for a hat-trick having rattled the stumps in succession. Gautam also picked up three wickets in his entire spell. Ani and Sunny were the other
wicket takers.
After a hearty lunch, the CCC opening pair of Ravi N and Gautam was out there to prove a point and also make sure we earn a hefty net run rate at the end of the day. Ravi N had said earlier that he felt very confident this morning and how right he was! From the very first over, Ravi N was driving the ball as though he had been batting for a few hours. The ball coming from the meat of blade was running around all over the field. Some of Ravi's shots were classic drives timed to perfection. Gautam at this point was playing a good second fiddle and was aptly supporting his partner and rotating the strike. Ravi then got
some his favorite leg side pulls in place and the Haslingden XI was soon chasing the ball on the leg side and seeing it disappear in the wilderness. CCC posted their 50 in just 7.1 overs with the bulk of scoring picked up by Ravi's bat. Gautam also picked up his shots by now and the score was increasing two-folds. At one stage CCC was 86/0 in 11 overs. At this time everyone started looking at Ani with a wicked smile and reminded him of the first game when he was padded up from the first ball waiting for his turn. Five 4s and two 6s accompanied by several shots in the deep saw Ravi post a very commendable 73 and lose out to a skier in the deep. The score was on 113 when the first wicket fell. Gautam was on 31 and CCC needed another 30 odd to win. Ani did start off confidently and picked up a nice meaty four off Dryden's bowling.

Gautam played some very intelligent pulls and was inching towards a well deserved 50. The team had another 8 runs to win when Ani played a very predetermined irresponsible strike only to sky the ball at mid-off. Prasad walked in asked to curtail from taking any runs and giving Gautam a chance to get to his half-century. With the score at 140, two runs away from victory, Gautam was on 46 and was getting countless instructions from the outside towards getting to his landmark, and he gladly took it all in his stride. A well timed pull to the fine-leg saw the ball roll across the boundary only to see a wide smiling Gautam and a triumphant CCC. The day's win was truly a classic team effort with good disciplined bowling and very entertaining batting. That certainly was a good comeback from a loss last week. And in the end the weather forecast did eventually come true...except that the thunder wasn't by the Gods but by the blades of Ravi and Gautam!

The team then decided to fathom the two victories of the day by rolling down a few well deserved beers at Mulligans!