2009/09/20: Hattrickers

Hattrickers won the toss and decided to bat first, I guess they had done their homework and knew we aren't comfortable chasing in crucial games. Anand was going to open the bowling for us, a very tight first over, and the score 1-0 at the end of first over. Sreeram came into bowl from the other end, bowled a gentle loosener which the batsmen pulls and pulls well to get a boundary, what a start! How often do you see a boundary hit just in the second over? But Sreeram pulled things back and it was 5-0 at the end of 2 overs. At the end of five overs Hattrickers were 17-0. I came into attack and got one of their openers to nick the bowl to Nagesh, we got our first break-through and an important one at that, as things were just starting to slip a bit for us.

Hattrickers continued to pick 1s and 2s and were helped by the un-even bounce which resulted in a few no-balls. At the end of 8 they were 28-1, things looking comfortable for them. Kunal came into attack and got Naveen to hit one up in the air, Sreeram took the catch safely, Hattrickers now 28-2. Kunal and Mohit both kept it tight and at the end of 10 overs, Hattrickers were 33-2. I think honors were shared in the first half of their batting, but the next phase was very crucial as they could easily run away and get a big total with 8 wickets in hand. But we have been in this situation before and knew exactly what needed to be done.

Kunal and Mohit continued to bowl and the next three overs didn't exactly go as planned. 17 runs were taken in the next 3 overs, with Sumeet (their best bat) hitting a six of Mohit over mid-wicket and Vijayaraj hitting Kunal for a six over long-off. Frankly things were getting out of hands, but as usual, in came a magic moment. Batsman nudged it on the leg-side, slightly to the right of Ganeri who picked the ball single-handled and hit the stumps straight to effect an amazing run-out. Hattrickers now, 50-3 but still had plenty of wickets to post a massive total easily in access of 80.

I was brought back in attack, bowled a tight over but without wickets. Karan came in from the other end, he wasn't having a great day so far, but everyone knew he can come back at any point, and so he did. He took the big wicket of Sumeet and hattrickers now 4 down, things starting to go our way. I continued to bowl from the other end, bowling my final over. The new batsman was a left-hander, so the field had to be re-adjusted, I bowled a ball angled across the batsman, who nicked it for a simple catch to Nagesh, Hattrickers 5 down. Next ball was hit powerfully down the ground and a misfield resulted into a boundary. Having seen the batsman go down the track, Nagesh decided to stand-up and I decided to bowl a slower delivery, it worked out great as the batsman missed it and Nagesh dislodged the bails, Hattrickers now feeling the heat at 62-6 at the end of 16 overs. I finished my spell with figures of 3-14.

Sreeram came back into attack and first ball produced a wicket, bowled out, 62-7. Karan finished up from the other end, with score at 66-7 at the end of 18 overs. Sreeram produced another good over, with a wicket in it, Anand taking a safe catch at deep square-leg, 69-8. Mohit bowled the last over and produced 2 wickets in 4 balls to bowl out Hattrickers for 71. The last wicket was an awesome single-handed caught and bowled by Mohit. So the target was 72 and was not going to be easy with the pitch offering some inconsistent bounce.

Anand and Kunal were going to open the batting for us. Both of them started steadily as always and started getting runs in 1s, at the end of 3 overs we were 7-0. In the 4th over, Anand nudged a ball and Kunal called him for a run, with Anand slightly on the backfoot, it was always going to be tight. The throw was good and the bowler took the bails off before appealing frenetically. Umpire took his time and raised his finger, we had lost a big big wicket, almost like India losing Sachin in a big chase, but that was it, Anand was gone, but the chase was still on. In went Mohit to join Kunal who was now nicely middling most of the balls but was finding it hard to hit the gaps. Soon after Mohit was out of a full-toss, a simple catch to mid-wicket, indeed a soft dismissal, we were no 14-2 at the end of 6 overs. Puneet, the in-form batsman went in, with pressure starting to build.

At the end of 8 overs we were 18-2 and the dug-out was starting to panic a little. 54 required in 12 overs and it wasn't too bad yet, but we had to get things moving now. A new bowler was introduced and boy was that a relief, he was taken for 8 runs, 3 coming off a no-ball and Kunal-Puneet doing nicely to take 1s and 2s of the remaining balls. So at the end of 9 we were 26-2. Next over produced 4 singles and we were reasonably happy to be at 30-2 at the end of 1o overs. By no means, this game was over and most of us knew it was going to be a tight finish.

During the break, Puneet and Kunal were asked to force the momentum in the next 2-3 overs and that is exactly what Puneet did. It was the second ball after the break, Naveen bowled a short delivery which sat up nicely for Puneet to pull and did he pull well, it was out of the park for a 6!!! Everyone in the dug-out went crazy and from that point onwards there was no looking back for Champs.

At the end of 11 we were 39-2, with Puneet playing his best innings till date. Next 2 overs got us 6 runs, with Kunal struggling a bit to get the scoreboard moving. At the end of 13 overs we were 45-2. In the 14th over, Puneet again decided to go after the bowling and connected well to get a boundary over mid-wicket, another great over for us, score now 54-2 at the end of 14. With just 18 to get of 6 overs and 8 wickets in hand, the game was pretty much sealed. But of course, we play like India, so we had to provide another twist. Next over was the most bizarre over with 3 wickets falling at the score of 55 and a drop catch of Sreeram (to his advantage it was hit very powerfully), Puneet holing out at deep-cover for a wonderful 24(26), Kunal lofting it straight to long-off for a well grafted 18(43) and then Ganeri caught out at gully off his first ball.

Given that we bat deep, still the game was pretty much in our control, 16 needed now in the last 5 overs. Sreeram was facing Naveen and hit him for a huge six over square-leg, for a moment Sreeram's heart was in his mouth when the fielder was getting in position to take the catch, but the ball was always going to clear him. 10 to get now, Naveen bowls a full-toss and Sreeram hoiked him for another six, this time over mid-wicket. Amol hit the winning runs and we were home comfortably in 16.5 overs.

Sreeram deserves a special mention for not just the 2 6's he hit but how he made a closely fought game look so one-sided and simple.

Puneet was rightly awarded MoM for the game and boy did he play well, to me his innings changed the course of our chase. Also not to forget our bowlers who did great to restrict Hattrickers to 71 after they were 50-2 at the 13 overs mark. (8 wickets falling for 21 runs in the last 7 overs).

Lets rock in the finals!!

Composed by: Nimish!