June 09 2012 - vs Villanova II (TCL)

We won the toss and without hesitancy chose to bat, in spite of morning dew on the outfield. Top order struggled in the initial seven overs to build any kind of momentum, because of the slowness of the pitch and outfield. We were around 15 for 3 in 5 overs and maybe around 30 for 5 in 7 overs. All along Rajesh was struggling a bit, but he dug through, rotated and converted singles to doubles. Then came Kalyan right before batting power play, and played very critical innings, in the process he carted four fours at ease. And Rajesh joined the party and dismissed couple balls to the boundary, and played till the last ball. We managed to set an above par target of 98.

Defending 97, with our bowling attack was a mere formality. Bowlers were mostly disciplined; Kalyan and Rajesh didn’t even have to bowl. Fielding was above par in most cases. Rajesh and Jay affected a perfect run out, Rajesh throwing a flat one from deep extra cover and jay collecting a low one to perfection. It was a good cricketing sight. . My personal highlight is, Sachin took 4 good catches behind the stumps, it could have been easily 6 catches and one stumping.

While Kalyan’s innings was extremely crucial, Rajesh laid the platform by playing a sensible innings and adapting to the conditions and holding the fort in one end, which earned him a well deserved MOM.

-Manesh