Washington Cricket Club

Scorecard

Washington Cricket Club WCC-WMCB v DC United on Sat 25 Aug 2012 at 10:00 AM
Washington Cricket Club Won By 4 Wickets to make it to the Semi-Finals

Match report Third time you-know-what for Washington who defeated DC United by 4 wickets to make the Semis for the 2012 season

The Rain Gods (Devils?) finally decided to stop playing with our emotions and allowed a game to complete.
It seemed a bit like Groundhog day( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/) the same two teams met up at the same ground for the third successive time for what seemed like an unending Quarter final game. Same opposition faces, same toss result (We lost a third time) and same beginning. We bowled first.

Jagan opened and he was unlucky to miss out on an opening-over wicket as Palash who hasn't kept this season and is injured dropped a relatively straightforward chance off their main batsman. He was filling in for Rajiv who arrived a few overs into the game. Fourth over another chance. Another drop. This time Anil not managing a swirling skier at midwicket off Sharath. Washington seemed flat in the field for the first 10 overs. DCU were 48/0. Sameer and Anil replaced the opening bowlers and between 10 and 20, we managed to grab 2 wickets, Viral claiming both. One, an LBW and the second courtesy great reflexes and presence of mind by Rajiv, who stumped the hapless batsman in a flash. Another couple of chances went begging as Sharath dropped Karthik off Sameer at long on and Ankit missed a simple run out chance off the same batsman, digging ourselves a deeper hole. At 20, they were 100/2.

With a freshly mowed outfield, dry conditions and well set batsmen, it seemed we were in for a leather hunt, looking at a 220 plus target. As it happened, the WCC beast woke up finally and the last 20 overs saw a heartening intensity resulting in a fightback worthy of a playoff team. Viral and Ankit again bowled excellently in tandem, keeping it tight and creating chances. Ankit mixed his pace well with subtle line adjustments causing their No.4 to pat back a catch to him and deceived their topscorer Karthik in flight, caught well at backward point by Anil and at 30, DCU were restricted to 140/4. We hadn't bled runs and had picked up a couple wickets as well.
The last 10 overs were needless to say, very crucial. Either we chase 220 plus or reduce them to under 200 which needed a momentum changing spell by somebody. That somebody was Rahul. He steamed in from the near end and let rip some very pacy deliveries on the unsuspecting lower middle order. He had Beenish, DCU's consistent middle order bat, comprehensively cleaned up with a brute of a yorker that crashed into the base of middle and dislocated it. It could have easily been the toe. Better the stump than the toe. He then had No. 8 edging a pacy one outside off to Rajiv who held on to another sharp catch. Meanwhile, Viral trapped No. 7 in front for a blob and Ankit redeemed his earlier missed run out chance with a superb direct hit that ran out No. 6. The tail was not to be allowed to wag and Sharath finished them off with 2 wickets off the last over of the innings. Rajiv saved his best for the last as he dived to his right to an edged ball that was dying on him as well and held a really brilliant catch to dismiss No. 10. Off the 4th ball of the final over, No. 11 charged Sharath and heaved a couple of minutes too early and had enough time to turn around and watch the slow offspinner hit the top of off to finish off the innings(I exaggerate of course). DCU ended up with 179 off 39.4. From 100/2 off 20 to 179 all out, it was a fascinatingly awesome fightback by our boys to set ourselves a decent, and not a huge target to chase. Credit to Ankit, Viral and Rahul who bowled superb spells at different phases of the innings, supported by all the other bowlers. Special mention to Rajiv, who was outstanding behind the stumps.

So, 180 to get on a fantastic afternoon.

We needed to conserve wickets and pace our innings smartly if we were to avoid any heart attacks. For that, we needed the top order to buckle down and play gritty cricket. Sameer and Raj opened and were looking quite comfortable before a rare misunderstanding cost us Raj(1). Sameer stroked to short covers and called before the ball passed the fielder. He changed the call but unfortunately Raj was way too down the wicket by that time resulting in an easy run out. Palash went in at No. 3 and him and Sameer steadied the early loss. After 10, we were 41/1.
Post the break, Sameer and Palash carried on for a few overs at a lesser run rate but that was part of our strategy: Keep wickets in hand and stay in the game. Palash (8) went lofting the slow medium bowler to long on. The important thing was the innings was steadied by the time he got out. Sameer continued anchoring the innings as he done often recently, striking a boundary here and there. Rajesh(4) went in at No. 4 and got out soon shuffling across to an inswinger and was struck in front. We had lost two quickly and needed a partnership. Viral went in at 5 and played responsibly along with Sameer, eschewing the big hitting but nevertheless scoring boundaries off bad balls and rotating strike. After 20 overs, we were 84/3. A nice platform.
Post the break, Viral and Sameer continued the partnership at the same pace to take Washington to 123/3 after 29 overs. Sameer got to his half century, playing a really good anchoring role at the top of the order. A 50 in a chase in a play off game. Well done him! We had constantly maintained a RR of 4 keeping wickets in hand. With 3 balls to go before the 30 over break, Viral played across one off his backfoot, and was LBW for a well made 29 under pressure. Sharath went in at No. 6 and immediately got off the blocks in a hurry. After 30 overs, we were 131/4.

10 overs to go. 49 to win.

With 6 wickets in hand, this was not a huge target to get to. With the field spread and the ball getting old, it only required the middle/lower middle order to keep their nerves and play normally. Sameer got out in the 31st over, to a well pitched leg spinner that turned, with Sam out of the crease going for a lofted drive. He was stumped but not before scoring a reliable, clinical 56, that set us on our way. Rahul joined Sharath and they did not take much time delivering the penultimate blows to the opposition. Sharath(22*) drove and cut anything marginally off line or length, while Rahul once again demonstrated his big hitting abilities. 41 off 8 was needed and then 35 off 7. A big over that nailed it in was around the corner and it happened to be the 35th. The leg spinner Beenish, was hit for three boundaries in the over, two by Rahul lofting straight and one by Sharath lofted over square leg, all but sealing the envelope. With 10 needed off 4 overs, Rahul(22) got out mishitting a pull shot off a very slow short ball to deep square leg. Rajiv (10) walked in and with minimum fuss, gleefully dispatched a slow short ball and a slow full toss to fine leg and mid wicket respectively and edged a heave to vacant third man for the final two runs to complete the chase of180 in the 37th over.

A real responsible, playoff chase indicating the team means business. The batting and bowling machinery is working efficiently, looking well oiled. The only eyesore in this game was our fielding, specially the catching. We dropped not only difficult but catchable ones, but also sitters. We also missed a couple of easy run outs. That is an area that is calling for attention. I'm sure the intensity will be a notch or two higher than it was in the quarter finals and we will cover the gaps that need to be covered.
All in all, a satisfying, well-earned win in the quarters.

Coming Saturday, the Semis. A marquee game. Chantilly waits.
As for us, We. Cant. wait.
Bleed one more time WCC, IN BEAST MODE!

DC United Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
10w 2b 5lb 
for 10 wickets
17
162 (39.4 overs)		     
Vijay Karthik ct  Anil (B) Ankit 67
Mitesh Peshave lbw  Viral 29
Sridhar Ramkrishna st  Rajiv (B) Viral 4
Kiran Ambatipudi ct  (B) Ankit 8
Beenish Bhatia b  Rahul 30
Anurag Dandgaval Run out  8
CP Mohan lbw  Viral 0
Neel Sethuraman ct  Rajiv (B) Rahul 1
Ajay Kanduru Not Out  5
Rajesh Bait ct  Rajiv (B) Sharath 10
Venkat Bole b  Sharath 0

Washington Cricket Club WCC-WMCB Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jagannath Surampudi5.002500.005.00
Sharath Parvathavani5.4022211.003.88
Sameer Apte4.002300.005.75
Anil Kumar4.002900.007.25
Viral Patel8.012137.002.63
Ankit Aggarwal8.0132216.004.00
Rahul Bourothu5.0020210.004.00

Washington Cricket Club WCC-WMCB Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
24w 2b 2lb 
for 6 wickets
28
180		        
Sameer Apte st  Beenish 56
Raj Srinivasan Run out  1
Palash Sarkar ct  Sridhar (B) CP Mohan 8
Rajesh Raghunathan lbw  CP Mohan 4
Viral Patel lbw  Anuraj 29
Sharath Parvathavani Not Out  22
Rahul Bourothu ct  Kiran (B) CP Mohan 22
Rajiv Jain Not Out  10 2
Jagannath Surampudi  
Ankit Aggarwal   1
Anil Kumar   1

DC United Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Rajesh Bait4.001700.004.25
Venkat Bole7.002800.004.00
Vijay Karthik7.002900.004.14
CP Mohan7.0127213.503.86
Beenish6.0039139.006.50
Anuraj6.0030130.005.00