Match report for the game vs Hunters at CherryHill

Result - Himalayan lost by 2 wkts.
Himalayan Highlights:
Lali - 28 runs, Saurabh - 23 & 3 wkts, Jana - 16 runs, Chandresh - 2 wkts

The 2009 WCL season had finally begun and we were all very excited to play the first game of the season. We had quite a few new players in our team who were every eager to perform and strut their stuff. The game was at the CherryHill ground in Baltimore which meant an early start for the guys given we had matting responsibilities as well. The weather was forecast to be a dry and a hot 90 degs, so everybody was prepared for a literal baptism of fire for the season opener. Saurabh came to his first match with only one shoe. Firdouse kindly offered a pair of extra shoes which were a size too small for Saurabh. We decided to warm up while Saurabh tried to figure a way to avoid his worst nightmare, having to play in slippers!

Hunters won the toss and elected to field first. Our opening pair of Chandresh and Ashesh started out very well and looked to put up a good score. Unfortunately Ashesh was run out with the score insignificant. Lali was in next hoping to create a partnership with Chandresh. We needed to anchor a good stand in order for us to go the 40 overs and get near a target of 200 runs. A mix-up on a call for a single saw Chandresh run-out as well. This was a disastrous start for us, our running between wickets was certainly hurting us at this stage. Jana and Lali played patiently and saw us into the first break of the innings. The Hunters bowling attack was disciplined but wayward at times giving away a lot of extras. The pitch was inconsistent with the odd ball not bouncing and keeping very low. The short boundaries at CherryHill looked enticing and pulling a nice juicy short ball would have been nice, unfortunately we did not take full advantage of the powerplays. Jana played a good knock of 16 runs including a great 6 before getting out. Srini was in next and was looking very dangerous. He unluckily got bowled with only 3 runs under his belt. Ananth came in and played very well given the heat was unbearable at this time. Ananth and Lali continued and preserved their wickets by not taking risky runs. When we were looking to keep this partnership intact, the pair were broken again with Ananth getting out for 10. At this time the score was pretty mediocre at around 80 after about 23 overs.
Lali was still trying to find the gaps and work the ball around but the run rate was no where near what we wanted it to be. He eventually got bowled for 28 runs. In came Saurabh looking to stamp his mark and having found his phantom shoe. He fired away and looked to be very dangerous getting boundaries at will. He and Vijay looked to go on but the pair did not last long. Our tail was not wagging and the rest of the guys got out cheaply. We were eventually bowled out for 137 in 32 overs. Pity we could not bat the entire 40 overs.

After a quick lunch of Idli and some other scrumptious food provided by some of the guys, it was off to battle in the field. It was a definite relief fielding in the late afternoon compared to earlier in the day. We felt that our total was very defendable given the Hunters just finished fielding in very hot conditions. Their batsmen were bound to be exhausted. We had a stellar start with Srini striking in the first over, pretty normal for Srini as he had done this many a time with his exquisite line and length. The slight breeze across the ground was certainly helping the swing and also brought relief to the fielders. Danish bowled in tandem with Srini but was having trouble controlling the ball in the windy conditions. Our bowlers did a great job pinning down the Hunters batsmen as their scoring rate was very low. We got the top order out pretty quickly as they continued to toil away trying to reach the target. Saurabh, Chandresh and Vijay were the others among the wicket takers. Our bowlers were very economical as we made the batsmen earn the runs needed. Unfortunately we dropped a couple of catches and a caught behind was not given at a crucial stage in the match. Despite that our guys gave 110% as we fought to the end. We had a Murali situation with Ashesh being no-balled for chucking, the umpire was pretty incompetent on the rules throughout the entire game. Hunters reached the target of 138 with 15 balls to spare and only 2 wickets at hand. The fine pool of talent in our team definitely gives a fighting chance this season. This victory would have been sweet if we got there. Good job guys!

Written by Lalindra Jayatilleke