Our second game of the season was against PWCC. On a clear, hot and humid day PWCC after winning the toss, elected to bat. Srini and Deepak Gupta, opened the bowling for us and kept things quiet. Srini and Deepak G picked up one wicket each and PWCC were 58/2 at the end of 10 overs. PWCC had a very strong 4th wicket partnership adding over 100 runs in 15 overs. None of the bowling changes worked and we were not disciplined in our line, giving away too much room. Finally Deepak Hiremath provided us the vital break throughs by dismissing both the set batsmen with some classic leg spin. He bowled beautifully with bounce and spin to keep the batsmen guessing and ending up with 4 wickets !!!! Suresh Neelapala supported Deepak H well from the other end and picked up 3 wickets to restrict PWCC for 208/10 in 33 overs. It was an excellent comeback by us considering PWCC were 138/2 in 21 overs.
Our batting innings did not start well and we lost Suresh Neelapala in the very first over to a very debatable LBW decision. Saurabh and Suresh Y gave the innings some stability with a good partnership; they both got out in quick successions. Sameer and Srini then got a great partnership together and scoring at above 5 runs per over. Srini played some really aggressive shots and scored his first fifty of the season and with his new GM bat J. Srini reached his fifty with a huge six and also dispatching the ball to the Potomac. PWCC had to get a new ball and after taking the shine off it the innings was resumed. We looked well on course to reach the target but two quick dismissals of Srini and Deepak H took the momentum away. Sameer and Nirun played well and kept scoring freely, till Nirun, who was batting without a helmet, got hit on the nose while playing a sweep shot. It was a very bad injury with a split on his nose and blood flowing profusely. Nirun went off the field and soon Sameer was run out. Still needing about 60 runs of 8 overs we kept fighting, but PWCC kept chipping at the wickets making the target very difficult. We were little unfortunate with Ritesh injuring his hamstring while taking a quick single. Deepak G played a good cameo with his new bat striking some good blows and getting us close to the target. In the end we fell short by 8 runs, but it was a good fighting effort.
Deepak H, Suresh Neelapala bowled excellently with good line & length and variation; and Srini, Sameer & Deepak G batted well and showed good of application. This was a good effort by some of our players and the team can do much better riding on these performances. A good work out, a good competitive but fair game. Nirun hope you have a speedy recovery and will be fit for our next game against Bengals2.
One note of caution: Guys please wear helmets while you bat or keep close to the wicket. The pitches in the league are not well prepared and often have variable bounce which may cause some serious injury.
Saurabh
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