Story AirTel Deodhar Trophy, 2012- Match 4: High scoring game.

[RPHKR]

Northern storm has better batting. Two teams have mediocre bowling. Looks like the storms will grab the victory.

 

[Vivek7]

Comon Mustangs!

 

[Prithvi]

First Innings:
The crowd went absolutely mad, yes absolutely mad, when Sourav Ganguly walked into the crease along with Abhishek Jhunjhunwala. "Dada Dada" was the chant in unison, the crowd was near to 68,000. It was Yuvraj Singh, who took the new ball- a strange strategy by Virat Kohli. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala didn't keep the crowd waiting as he gave strike to Ganguly right on the first ball. Sourav played a elegant strike for a single, after ducking an unexpected arm ball. Jhunjhunwala played couple of balls well, but Yuvraj managed to shatter the stumps of Jhunjhunwala, as he provided the first breakthrough to the Storm. Rajgopal Satish walked in at 3, and he played pretty well.

Crowd went ballastic as Ganguly scored a boundary in the third over. The duo were scoring runs more than run a ball as they used all possible opportunities what the Storm bowlers gave. Ganguly hit Angelo Mathews for two sixes in the very same over, what made the crowd go absolutely mad. The Eden Gardens was almost roaring when Dada was on fire.

Ishant Sharma sent back Satish after "more than run a ball" inning from him. When Kohli introduced Harbhajan Singh, Ganguly had to fall because Harbhajan had his own plans of removing Ganguly. He bowl a slow full-toss bowl, what Ganguly tried to hit for a six. It was straight in the hands of Angelo Mathews, who was fielding at boundary. The crowd maintained pin drop silence, but Manoj Tiwary didn't let his people sit silent.

Manoj Tiwary and Dwayne Bravo played some strong defensive type of knock for about 8 overs. They never wasted an opportunity, but Storm bowled at right areas, what didn't let them risk. Dwayne Bravo played few shots here and there, sending one directly to the crowd. But finally, after 8 overs, Dwayne Bravo fell to the magic of Yuvraj Singh. Angelo Mathews took the third catch of the match to send Dwayne Bravo out.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni walked in, Manoj Tiwary started firing, as MSD played slowly initially. Manoj slowed down a bit, just before he crossed his fifty run mark. MSD too reached his fifty mark, with just couple of boundaries to his name. As soon as the 100 run partnership was achieved, both of the batsmen started firing from both the ends. Dhoni hardly ran for singles, as MSD was out playing by hitting boundaries almost every ball he faced. Manoj Tiwary reached to his century in around 110 balls. Dhoni finished his century with a huge six in the penultimate ball and the last ball was also hit for a huge six, what took Mustangs to a very high total of 324, with Manoj Tiwary and Dhoni adding up 228 runs in just 200 balls at the end with two wonderful centuries.

Dhoni plays a unorthodox shot in his century.​

Harbhajan was the bowler with best economy, Mathews got hammered badly, as his average crossed 9 even after he was given 8 overs to bowl.

EASTERN MUSTANGS innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Abhishek J'Wala                    b. Y Singh       1     3    0    0   33.3%
Sourav Ganguly      c. Mathews     b. H Singh      33    27    2    2  122.2%
Rajgopal Satish     c. Mathews     b. Sharma       22    19    2    0  115.8%
Manoj Tiwary        not out                       110   130   11    2   84.6%
Dwayne Bravo        c. Mathews     b. Y Singh      27    34    2    1   79.4%
MS Dhoni            not out                       121    90    8    6  134.4%
LR Shukla                                         
Lasith Malinga                                    
Pat Cummins                                       
Shabaz Nadeem                                     
Ashoke Dinda                                      
 
 Total:  324/4       Overs:  50.0          Run Rate:  6.48      Extras:  10

NORTHEN STORM Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Yuvraj Singh         10.0      0      50      2      5.00     1      0 
Angelo Mathews        9.0      0      82      0      9.11     0      0 
Ishant Sharma        10.0      0      66      1      6.60     2      0 
Varun Aaron           8.0      0      49      0      6.13     0      0 
Harbhajan Singh      10.0      1      45      1      4.50     0      0 
Harmeet Singh         3.0      0      25      0      8.33     0      0 
 
 
EXTRAS           Wides: 3      No Balls: 0      Leg Byes: 7      Byes: 0 

Total: 324/4          Overs: 50.0         Run Rate: 6.48      Extras: 10

 

[Fenil]

Dhoni scoring a 90 ball 121? I hope this is the year 2012.

 

[Gaurav_7]

You set Yuvraj as a pacer, right? Or, just put his bowling figures at the top?

 

[Fenil]

Letting Yuvraj to bowl the first over was good move, Prithvi. Quite realistic as many captains tend to open the bowling with a spinner these days.

Manoj Tiwary scoring a OD century and MS Dhoni thumping a 90 ball 121! It just can't get better than this.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Tiwary has an ODI century to his name, no? And, Dhoni is a good stiker too. Plus, they both play for HH...

 

[Prithvi]

You set Yuvraj as a pacer, right? Or, just put his bowling figures at the top?

No, I managed Northen just to make sure Yuvi bowls first. I took mostly all decisions what sim takes, exception Yuvi's bowling entrance.

----------

Manoj Tiwary scoring a OD century and MS Dhoni thumping a 90 ball 121! It just can't get better than this.

I bet you'll repeat this dialog once again after full match

 

[Gaurav_7]

Aah, alright. I forgot we could manage a team too in CS. Leagues effect, ha ha.

 

[Prithvi]

Aah, alright. I forgot we could manage a team too in CS. Leagues effect, ha ha.

haha, but that is pretty interesting tbh. That is just like CUI version of you being a manager of a team.

 

[Fenil]

I bet you'll repeat this dialog once again after full match

Don't tell me Viru is going to score double or Bhajji will smash a more than run a ball ton.

 

[Dipak]

This league is fixed. No way Dhoni can score a tonl

 

[Prithvi]

Second Innings:
Chasing 325, the Delhi Duo, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir started off the innings confidently. They never missed a chance, Sehwag looked slow. They both played some classical strokes all round the park, got on to a half century partnership mark. Sehwag looked scored just one boundary, what will help you know the slowness he maintained. But he hit Dinda for a huge six, which was absolutely flawless. The ball hit the roof of the stand and fell into the crowd, what was later counted as 109 meter six. Gautam Gambhir also played some mesmerizing cricket. Sehwag trying to play a straight drive, Dinda's unexpected sling action confused Sehwag and he was given out LBW. Gautam was talking to the umpire, but it didn't get Sehwag back. He was out for 30 runs off 32 balls, not a typical Viru innings.

These two gave a good start what was mostly required to chase down such a huge target.​

Virat Kohli entered the ground, he started off the innings with his trademark boundary, which was placed right between mid on and mid wicket. He was on the money right from the first ball, as he didn't rest himself. He played some mesmerizing shots. Gambhir, at the other end decelerated himself a bit. He reached his personal fifty and after a while, Pat Cummins bowled a unplayable ball, what he pulled, trying to pick the gap between mid on and cow corner. Ganguly, who was at Mid on, didn't miss, as Gauti couldn't place it well.

These two took the game away from Eastern Mustangs​

Yuvraj Singh was the next batsman to walk in. Yuvraj Singh came in a mood just like how he comes to play T20 match. He smashed the bowlers all round the park for boundaries on boundaries. Kohli on the other side got his RCB job, supporting Yuvi just like how he did support Gayle in RCB camp. Yuvraj picked up boundaries from nowhere, but Kohli's mindful inning kept the Storm going strong despite openers failed to give them a start what could let the lower order batsmen have a cakewalk. Yuvraj reached to his half century faster than what Kohli did. He reached in just 23 balls, after which, he scored at a lower rates. It didn't mean that he scored less than run a ball, he didn't let the opponents take rest. Kohli departed on his personal score of 94, in just 69 balls.

By the time Kohli got out, the Storm needed less that run a ball to win the game. Rather, they needed less than "run in two balls" for victory. Mathews played few decent strokes, Yuvraj finally got out on 86 in just 49 balls. He got out after doing the major damage, what confirmed the defeat of Easterm Mustangs. Mathews was joined by Shikar Dhawan, who was in hurry to get the bonus point. But unfortunately, Dhawan had uphil task ahead of him to gain the bonus point, but he finished the game with 8.1 overs to spare.

NORTHEN STORM innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Gautam Gambhir      c. Ganguly     b. Cummins      61    60    4    2  101.7%
Virender Sehwag     lbw            b. Dinda        30    32    1    1   93.8%
Virat Kohli         lbw            b. Malinga      94    69   10    4  136.2%
Yuvraj Singh        lbw            b. Malinga      86    49   12    2  175.5%
Angelo Mathews      not out                        26    30    4    0   86.7%
Shikar Dhawan       not out                        25    15    1    2  166.7%
Brad Haddin          
Harbhajan Singh      
Ishant Sharma        
Varun Aaron          
Harmeet Singh        
 
 Total:  328/4       Overs:  41.5          Run Rate:  7.84      Extras:  6

EASTERN MUSTANGS Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Pat Cummins           8.0      0      61      1      7.63     1      0 
Lasith Malinga       10.0      0      67      2      6.70     1      0 
Dwayne Bravo          7.0      0      54      0      7.71     1      0 
LR Shukla             9.5      0      83      0      8.44     1      0 
Ashoke Dinda          6.0      0      51      1      8.50     0      0 
Shabaz Nadeem         1.0      0      10      0     10.00     0      0 
 
 
EXTRAS           Wides: 4      No Balls: 0      Leg Byes: 2      Byes: 0 

Total: 328/4          Overs: 41.5         Run Rate: 7.84      Extras: 6

Post Match Presentation:

Well ofcourse, Yuvi is the man who took the game away from us. Bowlers got nice experience on how to face the batsmen when they're in completely destructive mood. 325 was something we could have restricted, even after ViruPaa and Gauti departed. Virat and Yuvi played some out standing cricket, what let us down. Not to forget, its just the first match, yes, this defeat sends our net runrate down and under, defeat in 47th or 48th over- and the situation would have been definitely different. Hoping for positive results, because three wins and you may not have net runrate playing bad role.

Its a day to remember. 2009, against Malinga on this very same Eden Gardens, I and GautiPa laid the foundation to a big chase, We were successful. 2011, against Malinga, myself and GautiPa laid the foundation to the dream chase, we were successful. And now, this. Not to forget the main player behind this big win, YuviPa, who has batted absolutely brilliantly. For some time, I was wondering if I was playing for RCB just because the aggression what YuviPa showed was just like how Gayle does. A happy night, a match I'll never forget.

Well, this is a phase in which I'm testing myself as a slogger. After coming out for cancer, this is my first long aggressive innings and this has worked well. The situation demanded some slog, and bonus point would have made me completely happy, as I batted for a bonus point more than just a victory. Still, I'm happy, this win has boosted our position in table to commanding position.

 

[Fenil]

T20 style knocks by Yuvi and Virat does it. Still I'm not as surprised with the chase I was with Manoj Tiwary (he doesn't have a single OD century in real life ) and MS Dhoni (at that strike rate!) scoring centuries.

 

[Prithvi]

Pitch Report:
This is the second consecutive match of Eastern Mustangs, second consecutive home game. The first professional game at JSCA Stadium, numerous Dhoni fans would be here at the stadium, cheer the local hero. The pitch looks a surface where both batsmen and bowlers will have even support. And as this is a day game, if you win the toss, take the decision depending on your team strengths is what one would prefer.

Toss:
Dhoni and Tendulkar walk into the center with the match officials, crowds goes mad, Dhoni's local crowd watching him play for the first time in front of them. Dhoni spins the coin, Tendulkar takes a wrong guess, what makes Dhoni win the toss. "We'll bat first. Lot to learn from the previous match, although the opponent out smarted us. We're going in with the same XI, there was no so called "flaw" in the previous game, what made me take this decision." Tendulkar says "I'd have love to bat first, the visibility of the ball in the evening becomes tougher, the fog might enter the ground, as this isn't located at midst of city, so one can expect a bit of early fog, what affects visibility. Not to forget that even the fielding side will have the same drawback. Still, I'd have preferred to bat first."

First Innings:
Jhunjhunwala and Ganguly started off the Mustangs innings strongly. They scored quickly as well as kept wicket, what was a definite improvement from their previous game. Couple of miss-fields by Western out fielders earned them few boundaries, what made them score 50 in just 47 balls. But Jhunjhunwala fell to the Narine's magic ball, what made him give straight catch to Starc at mid on. Rajgopal Satish and Ganguly constructed their partnership well too. Decent cricket, don't risk but don't miss any opportunities- the concept followed by Mustangs. Satish was a bit faster, scoring more than run a ball. But he gave away his wicket, when he was forced to score high, as Ganguly at the other end became hopelessly slow just before he was reaching his half century.

Then came in Manoj Tiwary, who scored century in his previous outing at Eden Gardens. Ganguly scored his fifty, and then freed his arms. Tiwary was playing with free arms right from the beginning. Ganguly trying to pull a short ball from Zaheer Khan, failed miserably, as he gave a simple catch to the mid on Tendulkar. Dwayne Bravo joined Manoj Tiwary. Bravo allowed Tiwary to fire, as he was ducking the balls and taking singles. Tiwary reached to his personal fifty in just 42 balls. Dwayne Bravo gave his wicket away to Mitchell Starc, leaving MS Dhoni to join Manoj Tiwary. Tiwary tried for a impossible single, Dhoni would have got out, but Tiwary sacrificed his wicket as he turned back and went to the danger end when he was almost 6 yards away from the crease. Rahane had a great throw, as he hit the ball straight to the wickets right from the 30 yards circle. Laxmi Shukla and Dhoni played till the end of the innings, pretty slowly, adding just 37 in last ten overs. Shukla got out on the last ball of the innings.

Their initial fast scoring let them score 293, but 300 could have been a perfect mark considering Shukla and Dhoni ducked about 20 balls.

EASTERN MUSTANGS innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Abhishek J'Wala     c. Starc       b. Narine       26    29    1    0   89.7%
Sourav Ganguly      c. Tendulkar   b. Khan         69    78    6    2   88.5%
Rajgopal Satish     c. Pujara      b. Y Pathan     44    37    4    1  118.9%
Manoj Tiwary        run out (Rahane)               54    44    6    2  122.7%
Dwayne Bravo        c. Sharma      b. Starc        37    47    5    1   78.7%
MS Dhoni            not out                        26    30    2    0   86.7%
LR Shukla           c. Rahane      b. Starc        19    39    1    0   48.7%
Lasith Malinga      not out
Pat Cummins                                       
Shabaz Nadeem                                     
Ashoke Dinda                                      
 
 Total:  293/6       Overs:  50.0          Run Rate:  5.86      Extras:  18

WESTERN WRANGLERS Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Irfan Pathan         10.0      1      49      0      4.90     1      0 
Mitchell Starc        9.0      0      50      2      5.56     0      0 
Zaheer Khan           7.0      0      45      1      6.43     0      0 
Sunil Narine          8.0      0      50      1      6.25     2      2 
Graeme Swann          6.0      0      47      0      7.83     0      4 
Yusuf Pathan         10.0      0      46      1      4.60     1      2 
 
 
EXTRAS           Wides: 4      No Balls: 8      Leg Byes: 5      Byes: 1 

Total: 293/6          Overs: 50.0         Run Rate: 5.86      Extras: 18

​

Second Innings:
Crowd was surprised to see Tendulkar not coming out opening, it was Ajinkya Rahane along with Parthiv Patel. Rahane departed early, where as Patel was standing strong. Even Pujara didn't stand long, as Western were subsided to 28-2. Tendulkar came in at #4, who had huge job in his hands. Parthiv Patel and Sachin Tendulkar played very cautiously initially, but as they had around 40 runs to their partnership, they had to release their defensive mood because of the required run rate, what was touching 7. They both freed their arms, scored aggressively for about five overs. Parthiv, who was trying to go fast, lost his wicket in a very unfortunate manner. His bat broke and the broken fragment dislodged the bails, what was a hit wicket, just after his fifty. Sachin completed his fifty, and Rohit Sharma's vintage form was back. He played just like how test cricket is played, not scoring runs even when there was a room for easy singles and twos. Many echoed that there was a serious fitness issue with Rohit Sharma, what is masked. Finally, after scoring 36 runs from 52 balls, Pat Cummins took his wicket.

Tendulkar didn't get enough support from his middle order batsmen.​

Yusuf Pathan performed for peanuts, as he failed to do what he is capable of, and all of a sudden, Western were down to 192 for 5. Requiring 102 to win from 80 balls, Irfan Pathan joined Sachin Tendulkar. Both played some superb cricket boundaries, boundaries and boundaries. In this process, Sachin celebrated his century. They required 30 runs from three overs to win, when Malinga was bought into action. Irfan Pathan was the man on strike and Malinga Magic worked. Although he didn't get him out, Malinga bhowled at right areas, what let Western score just 3 runs from the 48th over. 49th over was a run treat as Laxmi Shukla was hit for 8 runs, what included a huge six from Tendulkar.

Wanting 19 runs to win off the last over, Irfan Pathan had to face Malinga once again. This is what happened!

49.1 Lasith Malinga to Irfan Pathan: No run. Irfan Pathan just defended the ball, couldn't do anything more than that.

49.2 Lasith Malinga to Irfan Pathan: OUT! Clean bowled. Pathan is walking, Malinga celebrates, but oh wait, NO BALL! Malinga has over stepped.

49.2 Lasith Malinga to Irfan Pathan (Free Hit): SIX

49.3 Lasith Malinga to Irfan Pathan: No run. unexpected bouncer from Malinga, Pathan played a shot what couldn't connect it any day.

49.4: Lasith Malinga to Irfan Pathan: Sent down to the third man, Batsmen run for two runs.

Tendulkar is cramping, lies on the ground. Fitness team enters the ground, Tendulkar is taken off the ground on a stretcher. Graeme Swann walks in.

49.5 Lasith Malinga to Irfan Pathan: Ducked! Pathan had no clue or whatsoever to play that ball.

Has Malinga won Eastern a game here? Western need 11 to win from last ball. All Malinga needs to do is bowl a legal delivery, no matter even if it is hit for a six.

49.6: Lasith Malinga to Irfan Pathan: One run. Eastern Mustangs Win! Eastern celebrate their victory, in their home ground.

WESTERN WRANGLERS innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Ajinkya Rahane      c. Bravo       b. Cummins       4     9    0    0   44.4%
Parthiv Patel       hit wicket     b. Cummins      55    57    6    3   96.5%
Cheteshwar Pujara   c. Bravo       b. Cummins       6    11    1    0   54.5%
Sachin Tendulkar    retired hurt                  111   120   11    1   92.5%
Rohit Sharma        c. Dinda       b. Cummins      36    52    2    0   69.2%
Yusuf Pathan        c. Dinda       b. Cummins       8    14    1    0   57.1%
Irfan Pathan        not out                        43    45    7    0   95.6%
Graeme Swann        not out 
Mitchell Starc       
Zaheer Khan          
Sunil Narine         
 
 Total:  284/5       Overs:  50.0          Run Rate:  5.68      Extras:  21

EASTERN MUSTANGS Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Pat Cummins          10.0      0      50      5      5.00     1      0 
Lasith Malinga       10.0      0      45      0      4.50     1      0 
Dwayne Bravo         10.0      0      52      0      5.20     4      0 
LR Shukla             8.0      0      54      0      6.75     1      2 
Ashoke Dinda         10.0      0      62      0      6.20     1      2 
Shabaz Nadeem         2.0      0      13      0      6.50     0      1 
 
 
EXTRAS           Wides: 8      No Balls: 5      Leg Byes: 8      Byes: 0 

Total: 284/5          Overs: 50.0         Run Rate: 5.68      Extras: 21

Despite Sachin century, Lasith Malinga takes Eastern to Victory.​

Post Match Presentation:
Zaheer Khan was sent to the ost match presentation, representing Western Wranglers, as their captain Tendulkar was taken off stretcher to hospital.

Close game, middle order apart from Sachin couldn't deliver properly. Lot to learn from this loss. Update of Tendulkar: He has been taken to hospital, we're awaiting reports from hospital. Hopefully, he should be alright.

Well, close game. SachinPa scored brilliantly, we thought we would lose yet another game, but Malinga played to his expectations, especially those last two overs from him, they were the ones changing the entire course of the game. Cummins justified his presence in the team.

Pat Cummins was named Man of the Match for his 5-fer.​

Exciting ground to play on. Dhoni is a great captain, does all moves at right time. And the time he bought me into bowling, perfect. Lookingt forward for the upcoming games.