Titans vs International CC 06/14/2015 @ Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

Post date: Jul 1, 2015 3:27:02 PM

Saying we had a nail biter over the weekend would be an understatement … I am still biting my nails while writing this.

Sunday was scorching day (temp close to 90 degrees) and we all reached at the ground with some difficulties as there was a marathon event going on. The game was supposed to start at noon but instead it started 45 mins late. Our lucky charm, Prabhu, went for the toss and came back with a fake face. Within few mins, Prabhu and Varun were in the middle to start the innings. Prabhu decided not to disturb the scoreboard and came back to us within a flash. Just kidding, he was unlucky to get LBW in the first ball he faced. We didn’t have a very good umpire in this game. Anyways, Srinu went in and we thought a big partnership was on its way as they were both playing in a confident way. Varun (12 runs) started to relax his muscles and he hit a boundary but got caught out after a couple of balls. Then our newbie Suresh joined Srinu in the middle and he was also unlucky to get LBW on the very first ball he faced. Sourav decided to go in. Sourav is making a habit of getting the team out of a tight situation and looks like he loves this new role. Srinu and Sourav started a healthy partnership of some 40+ odd runs. They were playing good but we both came back to the pavilion. Sourav (23 runs) got caught out trying to clear the long off boundary and let’s not say anything about the way Srinu (18 runs) got out :) Srinu, just messing with you … you had a superb innings with your signature crisp cover drives. Vidya and Kalyan were in the middle and started to build up a small partnership. Vidya (15 runs) got out again when he was looking like as if he is in there for a big innings. Rajesh joined Kalyan and started to accelerate the score a little bit, but failed.

As soon as Rajesh got out, Shan (who is in prime form) went to the middle. Right off the bat he started middling the ball and was hitting the ball with brute strength. I had the best seat in the game and the shots were sounding like as if someone was hammering nails, hard, on fresh drywalls. He was hitting those balls as if he is playing some galli cricket with few kids ... absolutely no mercy. He hit 42 in just mere 18 balls. Chaitu and Vineet moved the score by another 10 runs. Titans got bowled out for 165 runs. From ICC, Deepak and Ricky bowled well, taking 4 and 3 wickets respectively.

We knew we could defend this total with the bowling powerhouse we have. Bowlers were pumped up after looking at Shan’s big hitting at the end. But ICC had different plans, their opener Yessvanth started swinging his bat right from the first ball. If he was connecting the ball, it was going for a six. Prabhu got the other opener early and Srinu got the next batsman. Then one of their solid batsman Dhairya came into the crease and a big partnership started. By this time, Yessvanth was struggling with cramps and he couldn’t go on any further after scoring 38 runs. He got retired hurt and we agreed to make him come back when he was ready. Dhairya was the next man to go. He got run out from a brilliant throw from Sourav (still not old enough).Chaitu, Suresh and Kalyan took care of next 3 batsmen in quick succession. They were 90+ for six and we thought we had the game, then the scary partnership between Rory and Prateek began. On one side Rory was picking the right ball to hit boundaries and on the other hand Prateek was giving him good support. The game was slipping out of our hands, and in within no time they were 140+ for six. The next few overs needs detail description, so please be patient :)

ICC needed 26 runs in 6 overs and we knew we can give a good fight. I was thinking about bowling options and was planning to give it to Suresh but out of the blue, Shanmug came out confident and said that he wanted to bowl and break the partnership. He was confident and I took that risk. Oh man, that risk failed big time. Rory enjoyed every ball and scored 14 runs in 30th over. I wouldn’t lie if I say that everybody thought the match slipped out of our hand. Equation came down to 12 runs in 5 overs, they were planning to take singles and crawl towards victory. Vineet bowled a tight next over conceding just 2 runs. We saw little bit of light at the end of tunnel, 10 runs in 4 overs. Suresh bowled next over and gave away 5 runs. Our shoulder dropped again and our heads were down, and all that I was thinking was that we won’t be able to go to Wegmans after the game :) Anyways, the next 3 overs were just spectacular to watch.

Legendary 3 overs:

• 33rd over - Vineet (1 wkt 2 runs) - Rory was caught in a deep square log. Shanmug caught a well judged catch by covering quite a distance. He bowled a tight line and just gave away 2 runs.

• 34th over - Suresh (2 wkts 0 runs) - Probably the best over we have seen this year (under crunch situation). Yessvanth came back and started swinging from the first ball but a straight catch went to Kalyan and we know Kalyan doesn’t drop much. Ricky came and left after 3 balls. Suresh caught his catch off of his own bowling, it was a hard hit straight shot. It was a maiden over too. A bowler got his MoM just for one over in the day, it rarely happens. But he thoroughly deserves it, that one over changed the entire momentum and result of the game. He finished with 5 overs 13 runs and 3 crucial wickets.

• 35th over - Vineet (1 wkt no run) - In came 11th batsman and I knew Vineet will eat him and will he would not even bother to burp. Everybody started chanting, 6 balls 4 runs. The batsman defended the first ball - 5 balls 4 runs, Swing and miss - 4 balls 4 runs, Swing and stumping appeal - 3 balls 4 runs, No clue to batsman - 2 balls 4 runs, step down swing and miss and stumped - The Titans were screaming and jumping all over the ground.

It was unbelievable, I still can’t believe it. Beer never tasted so good. I don’t remember when did we last win like this. May be Sudhir does :)

Lesson learned:

• Catches - In any game catches are very important. This game would have finished in our favor if we would have caught Yessvanth and Rory’s catches early on. It’s good to have a close game like this but nobody wants to be in losing team shoes.

• Noise - There were lot of music going around the ground and we know we are very vocal on the ground. There was absolutely no communication possible between teammates on the ground due to this but we have to improve on this. Sometimes we have to communicate with each other without saying anything. Don’t know how to work on this right now, but we will work on this as a team.

Anyway not complaining, win is a win and it does not matter how you get it. But the job is not done yet, we have a long way to go. Keep this winning momentum going and stay calm. Stay focus in the entire 80 overs and leave everything else at home.

You already know this, needless to remind you … TRUST YOUR TEAMMATES and NEVER GIVE UP … EVER.

Score Card

Match # 9602

Titans Cricket Club v/s International Cricket Club

Fairmont Park field

06/14/2015(35-over match)