Saturday, June 29, 2019
HCC vs VCC B
A beautiful morning for cricket. The cloudless sky and bright sunshine created ideal conditions for an enjoyable match.
HCC won the toss and chose to field.
Vashu and Pranav opened the batting, the first two overs produced only one wide, as the shots played went straight to fielders. The first run off the bat was played by Pranav fending a bouncer from his body down to gully. A few balls later he was caught behind.
The HCC bowlers were bowling well, keeping the wides down to less than one over. Vashu started hitting the ball harder and secured the first boundary, a four behind wicket, quickly followed by Aarin hitting a four on the other side.Aarin skyed a mistimed shot which the wicket keeper took in front of the wicket – out for five.
Next in was Matthew, he played a few dot balls before hitting an over pitched ball for a well tasks four, soon followed by a very nice straight drive for a second boundary. There was drama when Vashu was clean bowled, only for the umpire to call a ball as the ball bounced twice on its way to the stumps. Vashu punished the bowler’s error with another four well hit four. Matthew was then caught behind, unusually being given out by the umpire, scoring 11.
The innings were proceeding well, as HCC’s junior bowlers came on and the wides tally increased.When the ball eventually pitched on the wicket, Vashu took advantage of hitting his third four or an increasingly confident knock. More drama for Vashu as he was hit on the thigh and retired hurt on 23.
This brought Ishsaan to the crease. Hitting out, he was dropped at cover, but made the fielder regret his mistake by well timed striking and very good running between the wickets turning ones into twos. A lesson for the team. A mix up in the field led to Ishsaan looking for a single which was declined by Pradyumna and left him desperately scuttling back only to be run out.
This brought Vashu back to the crease who hit a lovely four before being bowled ending up with a fine 29. With eight balls to go, Rosalie joined the fray.The last over was an extended affair as the bowler struggled to find the wicket. At the end, Pradyumna finished on 14 not out with Rosalie on 1.
The final score was 137 for 5.
HCC’s opening partnership was starting to look solid, despite two dropped catches, when going for a big hit, the batsman missed a low full toss from Pradyumna which hit the bottom of the stumps, going for 17.
The new pair started applying the pressure as they were flinging their bats at every ball. This cool themed runs but also catching chances, two of which went begging. After being hit for a six off his first over, Matthew bowled a good line in his second. Four dot balls were bowled as the batter swung hard. He is connected with the fifth hitting it high and at last a catch was tasks. In the next over, Rey came on, his first ball got used to four but his second was hit hard straight back to him and he took a great catch.
At this stage, the opening batter really started connecting with the ball, his eye well and truly in, and finally retired on 51.
As the junior batsman came in, they found it harder to score. Feeling the pressure, they started to take risks with the running. Some fine fielding in a run out. After being well ahead on the run rate, the game was getting tighter. Pranev bowled a well pitched ball, with the batsman stepping back into his umpire had no choice but to give LBW.
The next batter was quickly out setting up a grandstand finish. One wicket to go, four runs needed! Matthew came onto his third bowl, but there were only two runs needed to win. Tension was high.A dot ball followed by another and then another and then the coup de grace, the batsman was bowled! Somehow VCC B had snatched a victory from what at one point was looking like a certain defeat. Well done boys and girl !! A wonderfully entertaining victory.
SD
