NCG registers a big win against NCA

7/30/2009
Author: Siraj Ahmed

Sensational bowling performances from Bimal and Rohan and brilliant all round effort from Sunny helped NCG register a big win against NCA

NCA won the toss and elected to bat. Arun and Sujay opened for NCA against Kishore who started proceedings for NCG. The experiment to hand the new ball to Kishore did not prove fruitful as he had a bit of struggle to gain control over the swing. Kishore and Prudhvi conceded some extras. Just when it looked like Sujay was looking to capitalize on the wayward bowling, NCG made a tactical bowling change with Sunny replacing Kishore. Sunny took a stupenduous return catch to send the dangerous Sujay back to the Pavilion. Considering that Sujay had made a big score in the earlier match, it was a big wicket for NCG. Srinivas joined arun at the crease and both batsmen struggled against tight bowling from Sunny and a settled Prudhvi. Prudhuvi's brilliant bowling was rewarded when Srinivas chipped him straight to Rakesh at midwicket who took a smart catch. NCA captain Srimanth joined Arun at the crease and immediately showcased his attacking intentions. Srimanth has some luck going his way as Siraj could only get his figertips to a hard chance at point, off the bowling of Sunny. NCA went into the first break at 53/2 thanks to the extras.

Just when NCA looked like heading for a good score, Bimal produced a outstanding delivery to uproot Srimanth's stumps. Srimanth had no clue against a Bimal special that deceived him in the flight and turned substantially to knock his middle and leg stump. Aniket came to the crease but he was up against a charged up Bimal who produced another peach of a delivery to shatter his stumps. With both the batsmans back in the pavilion, lot of responsibility rested on Arun and Akshay. Bimal was not finished yet, and came back to trap Arun LBW. Three big wickets from Bimal turned the match in NCG's favor. Rohan was introduced from the other end. Akshay tried to dominate proceedings, but chipped Rohan straight to Siraj at short midwicket, who took the catch at the second attempt. NCA went into the second break struggling at 68/6 thanks to brilliant effort from Bimal.

Hitesh and Jaideep tried to bring some respectability to the NCA score, but a brilliant tumbling catch from Sunny running backwards at point, put an end to Jaideep's innings. Rohan had bowled a wonderful delivery to induce the top edge from the southpaw, which was sensationally taken by Sunny. Rohan kept bowling brilliantly and was duly rewarded when Hitesh and Shriram has no clue to his accurate and fast Yorkers, which sent their stumps cart wheeling. Brief resistance offered by the last wicket pair of Satish and Krishna was ended when Nandakishore trapped Satish LBW to end the NCA innings. Brilliant figures of 3/11 from Bimal and 4/14 from Rohan to restrict a mighty NCA batting line-up to 89 runs. Arun top scored for NCA with 25 runs and Extras was the second highest scorer with 19.

Bimal and Kalyan opened for NCG against charged up NCA bowlers Aniket and Srinivas. An aggressive looking Bimal was the first wicket to fall, caught by Jaideep off Srinivas. Kalyan did not last long against a barricade of short deliveries from Aniket and was caught at point by Jaideep, tilting the match slightly in NCA's favour. Siraj joined Kishore at the crease and survived a close LBW shout off Srinivas. Both batsmen realized that keeping wickets was crucial as they were chasing a relatively smaller total. Kishore took some chances and tried to be aggressive against Aniket. An unusually cautious innings from Siraj and a solid effort from Kishore got NCA to 33/2 at the first break. Immediately after the break, Siraj fell to a dubious LBW decision off Jaideep. Umpire failed to pick up a clear inside edge onto the pads.

Sunny joined Kishore at the crease and swung the match in NCG's favour with some nerveless batting. Though Jaideep bowled well to induce a couple of edges and keep the proceedings tight, the experienced batsmen rotated the strike brilliantly and took the match away from NCA. Kishore had some luck going in his favour with Krishna dropping a sitter at cover and makeshift wicket keeper Srimanth putting down an edge off Jaideep. NCA tried everything to break the partnership bringing Arun, Srimanth and Sujay into the attack to get the breakthrough. The desperation showed when fast bowler Srimanth even turned to bowling off-spinners at the end, in search of a wicket. Barring a rare lapse in concentration from Sunny, as he mishit a Sujay delivery to Akshay(who dropped a sitter), NCG cruised to victory. A thumping win for NCG by 7 wickets with 3.3 overs to spare. Kishore was unbeaten on 33 and Sunny remained unbeaten on 24 to complement his outstanding contribution in the field. Jaideep was the pick of the bowlers for NCA with 1/8 off his 5 overs.

It was a brilliant team victory for NCG with everyone contributing to the success. The bowlers were outstanding with stellar performances from Bimal and Rohan to restrict NCA to a small total. Fielding was electric, Sunny leading the way with two brilliant catches. Composed batting from Kishore and Sunny taking NCG to the total with ease, leaving NCA bemused.

Rohan was awarded Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling. A proud moment for the Maratha lad with his parents watching him from the pavilion.

Score Card - NCG vs NCA