Till Valhalla
ICC Chairman
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- Jun 5, 2011
- Profile Flag
- Papua New Guinea
Time to drop Manjrekar.
Story Indian Cricket League 1993 - Second Half of the Season is on! Who will qualify?
- Thread starter Bevab
- Start date
Bevab
Staff Member
Talk about nepotism indeed.
Bevab
Staff Member
April 8, 1993
Round Two
Wills Classic Calcutta vs Prestige Bangalore @ Eden Gardens
2:30 PM
Wills Classic Calcutta vs Prestige Bangalore @ Eden Gardens
2:30 PM
It has taken five games to get the first afternoon game of the season. Eden Gardens is promising us a green, pace friendly pitch suitable for both teams who prefer their star pacers to do the job. Both teams are still missing one player each away on duty who were involved in Natal's domestic final yesterday. Further we have unconfirmed reports that Garner won't play today due to picking up a knock in the last game.
Calcutta's team certainly doesn't lack batting depth, that's for sure. They have brought in McMillan for Garner who is confirmed now to be injured. Azharuddin on the other hand has rather controversially dropped the legendary Greenidge after one failure and replaced him with two metre Reid instead. To offer some batting depth down the order they have gone with the previously retired Roger Binny instead of Wassan who disappointed last game and Jadeja has been pushed to open. A team that is lacking in batting depth compared to Calcutta but one that won't mind having three quality overseas bowlers.
Azharuddin wants to bat first again and set a total that he knows his bowlers can defend. Imran Khan is satisfied with the result as he wanted to bowl first on this pitch. Like yesterday's match we have two captains being fine with the toss result, who will prove to be the beneficiary in the end?
Calcutta's team certainly doesn't lack batting depth, that's for sure. They have brought in McMillan for Garner who is confirmed now to be injured. Azharuddin on the other hand has rather controversially dropped the legendary Greenidge after one failure and replaced him with two metre Reid instead. To offer some batting depth down the order they have gone with the previously retired Roger Binny instead of Wassan who disappointed last game and Jadeja has been pushed to open. A team that is lacking in batting depth compared to Calcutta but one that won't mind having three quality overseas bowlers.
Azharuddin wants to bat first again and set a total that he knows his bowlers can defend. Imran Khan is satisfied with the result as he wanted to bowl first on this pitch. Like yesterday's match we have two captains being fine with the toss result, who will prove to be the beneficiary in the end?
After a nervy start possibly due to the lack of practice between these two, Raman is sent packing back to the shed after Patterson bounces him out and forces a poorly executed hook shot. Prabhakar and Imran offer a reprieve at the other end and Jadeja manages to score just enough off them with Viv slowly establishing himself. They take Bangalore to 36/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Viv however continues to be tied down, first by McMillan's sedate pace and then Venkataramana's spin. He is forced into making an error, one that Venkataramana takes full advantage of. Azharuddin walks in and tries to rebuild the innings with Jadeja, watching him score a fifty. A score of 62/2 seems slightly short of what they would have wished for at the fifteen over mark.
Jadeja then takes control, punishing Ajay Sharma's loose deliveries and being respectful of Venkataramana's more accurate ones. McMillan is also the target as Azharuddin starts going after him but he takes one risk too many trying to get the scoring rate up and loses his wicket to the big man. Stephenson comes out by this time and Jadeja is in full swing, taking the main pressure on himself and scoring runs off Prabhakar whilst avoiding Patterson's more ferocious deliveries. He manages to get the score just below 150 in the end, contributing around 60% to it. A laborious performance indeed at the start but one rich in perseverance and smart batting by the end. Has he done enough?
Viv however continues to be tied down, first by McMillan's sedate pace and then Venkataramana's spin. He is forced into making an error, one that Venkataramana takes full advantage of. Azharuddin walks in and tries to rebuild the innings with Jadeja, watching him score a fifty. A score of 62/2 seems slightly short of what they would have wished for at the fifteen over mark.
Jadeja then takes control, punishing Ajay Sharma's loose deliveries and being respectful of Venkataramana's more accurate ones. McMillan is also the target as Azharuddin starts going after him but he takes one risk too many trying to get the scoring rate up and loses his wicket to the big man. Stephenson comes out by this time and Jadeja is in full swing, taking the main pressure on himself and scoring runs off Prabhakar whilst avoiding Patterson's more ferocious deliveries. He manages to get the score just below 150 in the end, contributing around 60% to it. A laborious performance indeed at the start but one rich in perseverance and smart batting by the end. Has he done enough?
Stephenson continues his prolific first over damage with the wicket of Gooch this time. Azharuddin however tinkers with the bowling order too much this time with four bowlers in four overs which allows Prabhakar and Jones to settle down and get a decent partnership going. It ends however when Reid finally gets a wicket after bowling persistently in the powerplay at the very end. Calcutta have 35 runs at this stage having lost 2 wickets.
It only takes a few balls before Vengsarkar gets going, going after Ayub this time. He forces mistakes out of Jayasuriya and Razdan too before losing his partner Prabhakar to the latter. That brings in his captain with whom he builds a solid partnership straight off the bat. At the fifteenth over mark they'er 69/3, seven runs ahead of Bangalore. Vengsarkar then starts rapidly scoring, perhaps anxious to finish the game quickly. Imran's brighter start settles down into a slow anchor act as Viv and Ayub aren't brought into the attack after their couple of overs were expensive and Jayasuriya starts firing it in to take the pitch out of the equation.
They still have a clear superiority over Bangalore's score by the 20th over of nearly twelve runs. It is then that Azharuddin gambles and brings in Stephenson, who he saved for the last ten overs. With him he bowls Jayasuriya initially who has adapted to the pitch like an experienced spinner in his last season. They are aided by Razdan coming back in and bowling absolute peaches that are near impossible to score off. Stephenson then dismisses Imran with his classic moon ball just as the RRR gets back up to five. Still, with Vengsarkar nearing fifty it seemed only a matter of time. However McMillan struggles to get going and Vengsarkar's fatigue finally catches up with him due to the afternoon start. Stephenson closes out his spell with a a slightly expensive final over but Razdan and Reid do immense justice to their last overs. This brings the RRR from nearly 7 to 8 and then well above 10 and finally 14 by the time the last over comes in. That is deemed more than enough to take the risk that Azharuddin gambled on ten overs ago as he hands the ball to Binny, who nevertheless gives away only one run in the end. Despite the murky start Azharuddin and his crew have done an absolute heist, choking the life out of Calcutta's chase that seemed to be a done deal ten overs ago.
It only takes a few balls before Vengsarkar gets going, going after Ayub this time. He forces mistakes out of Jayasuriya and Razdan too before losing his partner Prabhakar to the latter. That brings in his captain with whom he builds a solid partnership straight off the bat. At the fifteenth over mark they'er 69/3, seven runs ahead of Bangalore. Vengsarkar then starts rapidly scoring, perhaps anxious to finish the game quickly. Imran's brighter start settles down into a slow anchor act as Viv and Ayub aren't brought into the attack after their couple of overs were expensive and Jayasuriya starts firing it in to take the pitch out of the equation.
They still have a clear superiority over Bangalore's score by the 20th over of nearly twelve runs. It is then that Azharuddin gambles and brings in Stephenson, who he saved for the last ten overs. With him he bowls Jayasuriya initially who has adapted to the pitch like an experienced spinner in his last season. They are aided by Razdan coming back in and bowling absolute peaches that are near impossible to score off. Stephenson then dismisses Imran with his classic moon ball just as the RRR gets back up to five. Still, with Vengsarkar nearing fifty it seemed only a matter of time. However McMillan struggles to get going and Vengsarkar's fatigue finally catches up with him due to the afternoon start. Stephenson closes out his spell with a a slightly expensive final over but Razdan and Reid do immense justice to their last overs. This brings the RRR from nearly 7 to 8 and then well above 10 and finally 14 by the time the last over comes in. That is deemed more than enough to take the risk that Azharuddin gambled on ten overs ago as he hands the ball to Binny, who nevertheless gives away only one run in the end. Despite the murky start Azharuddin and his crew have done an absolute heist, choking the life out of Calcutta's chase that seemed to be a done deal ten overs ago.
This worm graph should tell you all that needs to be told. Calcutta were absolutely cruising, at one stage their run-rate was above 5 and the RRR was at 4. Even when they reversed it seemed like it wasn't a big deal, even when it was 40 runs needed off 48 balls it didn't seem like the time to panic. And yet, despite having an experienced batsman who made a fifty at the crease, they lost. McMillan had apparently arrived only yesterday after his domestic season, was it the right decision to include him seeing how he cost the game with bat and ball?
For Bangalore there is only one graphic to tell the story of their batting and that is this. An absolute one man show today.
Imran Khan: "We threw that one away. It was a poor showing and I'm very disappointed. Still have faith in the boys of course but we will have to play better in these crucial moments and convert them into wins instead of losing. I must take blame too, I lost my wicket at a bad time and left Dilip (Vengsarkar) feeling all the pressure. It's a learning lesson for all of us in the end. We must do better next time."
Mohammad Azharuddin: "Can't complain about that win (laughs). It was a great one, really glad that everyone held their nerve till the very end in both innings. We were better in the 50/50 moments but we must be cautious to not get too confident, we will take it one step at a time. (On changing the team in an unexpected manner) I wanted to reward the players who have trained well. No decision is taken without the coach's input or advice. Lloyd was in favour of dropping Greenidge and he was too, he agreed that he wasn't fluent last game and team balance meant he would miss out this time. His journey with us isn't over yet, we still have a month ahead of us. Reid did a fantastic job and so did Jadeja. I asked three players in the middle-order on who wanted to open and said if they didn't want to I would make Stephenson open instead. Jadeja came up to me and agreed to open in a minute. It worked out well (smiles). Stephenson as always was great. We may make more decisions in the next match too, keeping our opponents on their toes is a good way to keep ourselves ahead."
Bevab
Staff Member
Wanted to finish off the second round today but power supply has been very erratic and so I’m not risking the old laptop at the moment. May finish it off tomorrow if I wake up early and get some of the stats updated and do a little roundup of the action so far (with some news/speculations/storylines) for anyone not willing to go through my borked attempts at 90s English and ramblings in these long, winded match reports. 
Bevab
Staff Member
Finally got the internet and power issues resolved. May just do a short post-match summary for the last game of round two and move on given it's been a while since the last update sadly. 
Bevab
Staff Member
April 9, 1993
Round Two
Tollywood Cricket Nagar vs Madras Rubbers @ Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium (6:30 PM Start)
Tollywood Cricket Nagar vs Madras Rubbers @ Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium (6:30 PM Start)
A positive knock from Aravinda de Silva was not enough to get his side their second win as Madras Rubbers opened their ICL account with a solid win in a packed Hyderabadi stadium.
Despite losing badly in their first game Madras made only one change with the now available Lamb brought in for Houghton. Tollywood went in unchanged with their victorious XI from last time. Despite a positive start off Raju after choosing to bat, Tollywood's inability to score off Kumble proved to be their undoing in the powerplay with Sidhu being dismissed. It would be followed by a brief reprieve with Smith and Sharma holding on and squeezing runs from Harris but he would eventually send Smith back. It brought in de Silva who would play a bright and enterprising knock that looked to be on a different pitch while Sharma was struggling. Raju and the part-timer Border would struggle to contain the marauding de Silva at times. Qadir and Shastri kept the other end safe from runs though and Harris would finally get Sharma in the death overs to give Madras a target of 152.
Despite losing Srikkanth and Amarnath in quick succession to Donald's fiery start, Shastri managed to settle in and build a partnership with Lamb who stuck around for longer tan Houghton in the previous game. Shastri would take advantage of Reiffel and Sharma being loose with the ball and score quickly before Lamb's dismissal to Cronje. Border's arrival meant a change in strategy as the captain started taking on the bowlers with Cronje suffering in particular. Shastri resorted to blocking out Chatterjee at the other end for a sedate fifty in the end and was sent back by the spinner eventually. A quick cameo from Amre was all that Madras needed though to all but confirm a win that seemed to be in their grasp right from the positive start given by Shastri. Border and Harris stuck around in the end to get the better of Srinath and Donald, giving Madras a win that they would have desperately wanted after a bad loss at their home.
Despite losing badly in their first game Madras made only one change with the now available Lamb brought in for Houghton. Tollywood went in unchanged with their victorious XI from last time. Despite a positive start off Raju after choosing to bat, Tollywood's inability to score off Kumble proved to be their undoing in the powerplay with Sidhu being dismissed. It would be followed by a brief reprieve with Smith and Sharma holding on and squeezing runs from Harris but he would eventually send Smith back. It brought in de Silva who would play a bright and enterprising knock that looked to be on a different pitch while Sharma was struggling. Raju and the part-timer Border would struggle to contain the marauding de Silva at times. Qadir and Shastri kept the other end safe from runs though and Harris would finally get Sharma in the death overs to give Madras a target of 152.
Despite losing Srikkanth and Amarnath in quick succession to Donald's fiery start, Shastri managed to settle in and build a partnership with Lamb who stuck around for longer tan Houghton in the previous game. Shastri would take advantage of Reiffel and Sharma being loose with the ball and score quickly before Lamb's dismissal to Cronje. Border's arrival meant a change in strategy as the captain started taking on the bowlers with Cronje suffering in particular. Shastri resorted to blocking out Chatterjee at the other end for a sedate fifty in the end and was sent back by the spinner eventually. A quick cameo from Amre was all that Madras needed though to all but confirm a win that seemed to be in their grasp right from the positive start given by Shastri. Border and Harris stuck around in the end to get the better of Srinath and Donald, giving Madras a win that they would have desperately wanted after a bad loss at their home.
pillowprocter
Panel of Selectors
Why is Allan Border opening the bowling?
Bevab
Staff Member
That's one of many bugs in the game, it doesn't order the bowling lineup in the way they bowled. Kumble and Raju were the ones who opened the bowling for Madras and Harris was first change in this particular match.
Sherlock Holmes
PlanetCricket's Sherlock Holmes
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2014
Lalit Modi doing his job well
Till Valhalla
ICC Chairman
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2011
- Profile Flag
- Papua New Guinea
Needed batters to be a bit more aggressive.
Bevab
Staff Member
April 10, 1993
Round Three
Hero Delhi Nationals vs Wills Classic Calcutta @ Feroz Shah Kotla
4:30 PM Start
Hero Delhi Nationals vs Wills Classic Calcutta @ Feroz Shah Kotla
4:30 PM Start
Two teams in desperate search of their first win clashed on a rapidly crumbling pitch in a weekend match at the home of Hero Delhi Nationals. While they went with an unchanged XI, Calcutta opted to bring in Rice who was finally available for McMillan who was confirmed to be unfit and debutant Joshi for Khurasiya to strengthen the bowling.
Having won the toss, Delhi chose to bat first and raced away to a positive start without losing wickets, managing to keep Patterson from settling into a rhythm while seeing off the dangerous Imran and Prabhakar early on. It took a while before Venkataramana could take the first wicket of the day, dismissing Boon. That would only worsen things though as Crowe came in and built a mighty partnership with Bhave that lasted for nearly a hundred runs and fifteen overs. Despite Rice's excellent debut, the duo of Crowe and Bhave were able to profit from the Calcutta spinners struggling to be reliable, posing problems for Imran. He wasn't helped by Prabhakar and Patterson having off days too which forced the great man into bowling his full quota in the death overs. Despite obtaining an edge that was taken neatly by Karim from the half centurion Bhave, it wasn't enough to stop Delhi from posting a decent total on a pitch that seemed tougher and tougher to bat as the game went on.
And so it proved in a second innings where Calcutta simply couldn't handle the pressure of the chase. Despite a good start from Botham leaking too many runs, Kapil managed to keep his end devoid of runs and was later aided by Matthews in the powerplay doing the same. Matthews would draw first blood, getting a skied shot from Gooch. It would spark an early mini collapse from Calcutta as Kuruvilla, brought on after the powerplay to afford him the luxury of boundary riders dismissed Jones and Matthews bowled Vengsarkar through the gate. Imran and Prabhakar could manage some runs off Chauhan and Matthews later on but an inspired bit of fielding by Kapil sent Prabhakar back and Kuruvilla returned with a fiery vengeance, dismissing both Rice and Sharma in the same over to practically end the contest there. As Imran battled his way through fatigue with Karim, runs were hard to come by with the now accurate Botham and Waugh keeping the duo from counter-attacking. It would culminate in Imran losing his wicket to Waugh, with who else but that man Kuruvilla taking an excellent running catch. Karim did his best with some late runs to try and boost the NRR but by that point Kuruvilla and Kapil ensured that it would be no more than scant consolation.
Having won the toss, Delhi chose to bat first and raced away to a positive start without losing wickets, managing to keep Patterson from settling into a rhythm while seeing off the dangerous Imran and Prabhakar early on. It took a while before Venkataramana could take the first wicket of the day, dismissing Boon. That would only worsen things though as Crowe came in and built a mighty partnership with Bhave that lasted for nearly a hundred runs and fifteen overs. Despite Rice's excellent debut, the duo of Crowe and Bhave were able to profit from the Calcutta spinners struggling to be reliable, posing problems for Imran. He wasn't helped by Prabhakar and Patterson having off days too which forced the great man into bowling his full quota in the death overs. Despite obtaining an edge that was taken neatly by Karim from the half centurion Bhave, it wasn't enough to stop Delhi from posting a decent total on a pitch that seemed tougher and tougher to bat as the game went on.
And so it proved in a second innings where Calcutta simply couldn't handle the pressure of the chase. Despite a good start from Botham leaking too many runs, Kapil managed to keep his end devoid of runs and was later aided by Matthews in the powerplay doing the same. Matthews would draw first blood, getting a skied shot from Gooch. It would spark an early mini collapse from Calcutta as Kuruvilla, brought on after the powerplay to afford him the luxury of boundary riders dismissed Jones and Matthews bowled Vengsarkar through the gate. Imran and Prabhakar could manage some runs off Chauhan and Matthews later on but an inspired bit of fielding by Kapil sent Prabhakar back and Kuruvilla returned with a fiery vengeance, dismissing both Rice and Sharma in the same over to practically end the contest there. As Imran battled his way through fatigue with Karim, runs were hard to come by with the now accurate Botham and Waugh keeping the duo from counter-attacking. It would culminate in Imran losing his wicket to Waugh, with who else but that man Kuruvilla taking an excellent running catch. Karim did his best with some late runs to try and boost the NRR but by that point Kuruvilla and Kapil ensured that it would be no more than scant consolation.
Imran Khan: "We wilted under the pressure of a good total on that pitch. It was a disappointing day all around for everyone involved and there's much work ahead to be done. We aren't out yet but dangerously close to being so and we need to win so that these set of players start believing in themselves and each other. Right now it's disappointment all around, not much else left to say."
Kapil Dev: "That boy Kuruvilla showed a lot of heart and courage to bounce back the way he did after the first two games (smiles). Never lost faith in him, we backed him from the start of the tournament and told him that we trusted him to win us a game when it mattered. Having a hand in five wickets is a special day for anyone and I hope to see him play for India one day, he is very talented as he showed today. Bhave played very well too, he is another who should be playing international cricket. Boon and Crowe as always showed their class. Everyone was on point with the ball too. A comprehensive win and one we needed, let's see if we can get going with this in the bag."
Kapil Dev: "That boy Kuruvilla showed a lot of heart and courage to bounce back the way he did after the first two games (smiles). Never lost faith in him, we backed him from the start of the tournament and told him that we trusted him to win us a game when it mattered. Having a hand in five wickets is a special day for anyone and I hope to see him play for India one day, he is very talented as he showed today. Bhave played very well too, he is another who should be playing international cricket. Boon and Crowe as always showed their class. Everyone was on point with the ball too. A comprehensive win and one we needed, let's see if we can get going with this in the bag."
Bevab
Staff Member
April 11, 1993
Round Three
Prestige Bangalore vs Tollywood Cricket Nagar @ Chinnaswamy Stadium
6:30 PM Start
Prestige Bangalore vs Tollywood Cricket Nagar @ Chinnaswamy Stadium
6:30 PM Start
On a delightful Sunday evening, we witnessed a game of cricket that looked like a premonition of what it could become in the future filled with explosive batting and some wonderful exhibition of pure skill.
While Tollywood went in unchanged again, Bangalore brought in the now available Marshall instead of Reid. Tollywood elected to bat as they wanted to test Bangalore's chasing skills. After seeing of Stephenson's first over, they went on the charge, striking at Marshall and Wassan's length deliveries. Chetan Sharma finally brought his pinch hitting prowess to the front on a pitch tailor made for batting with a fast outfield, scoring multiple boundaries. It wouldn't end there though as Sidhu would soon join the party once the spinners came to the party, with Jayasuriya and Ayub both not being spared. Razdan was reduced to a mere afterthought, conceding 24 runs in just two overs.
It necessitated a change of strategy from captain Azharuddin who decided to go all in on defensive bowling but it changed little with the duo scoring at a run rate of 6 consistently. Eventually the party had come to a stop with Jayasuriya taking an acrobatic catch off his bowling to get rid of Sharma. Smith's arrival only brought more misery though as he went on a rampage, sending Wassan and Ayub's figures into the gutter. Jayasuriya himself didn't fare much better and it forced an early return for Stephenson who wouldn't be able to stop the initial onslaught. He did however have more success in the death overs, with Marshall also finally finding his footing to restrict Sidhu and Smith to more manageable levels. Stephenson also got the wickets of Sidhu and later de Silva, showing his superb expertise in the death overs for a third game running. In an innings where the next least expensive bowler conceded over seven runs, Marshall and Stephenson's efforts looked incredible.
Donald would have his prey in his first over yet again as Jadeja couldn't last against the fiery quick. Raman and Viv opted to play it safely in the next few overs, respecting Srinath and Reiffel. They didn't do so for long though, starting with Sharma and Chatterjee conceding runs badly. It wouldn't stop even after Cronje was introduced as Raman in particular went on the offensive, allowing Viv to play the patient waiting game. Increasingly aware of the danger a settled Viv could pose, Patil tried to get his wicket with more overs from Chatterjee and the returning Reiffel but the latter would only end up being smoked by Raman and milked for runs by Viv while Chatterjee merely continued to be smashed. The onslaught forced the early return of Srinath and Donald before things threatened to go out of control. By this point though the legendary West Indian was seeing the ball excellently and took Donald to the cleaners in an over that nearly went for twenty runs. Reiffel returned for his final two overs only to be given the same respect as Raman brought up his century first and Viv later on. Only Srinath would escape with scarcely believable figures as the duo took Bangalore to a mighty win over a side that has been very impressive in their first two games. It took us eight games and now we have two centurions on our list after there were none in the first seven.
While Tollywood went in unchanged again, Bangalore brought in the now available Marshall instead of Reid. Tollywood elected to bat as they wanted to test Bangalore's chasing skills. After seeing of Stephenson's first over, they went on the charge, striking at Marshall and Wassan's length deliveries. Chetan Sharma finally brought his pinch hitting prowess to the front on a pitch tailor made for batting with a fast outfield, scoring multiple boundaries. It wouldn't end there though as Sidhu would soon join the party once the spinners came to the party, with Jayasuriya and Ayub both not being spared. Razdan was reduced to a mere afterthought, conceding 24 runs in just two overs.
It necessitated a change of strategy from captain Azharuddin who decided to go all in on defensive bowling but it changed little with the duo scoring at a run rate of 6 consistently. Eventually the party had come to a stop with Jayasuriya taking an acrobatic catch off his bowling to get rid of Sharma. Smith's arrival only brought more misery though as he went on a rampage, sending Wassan and Ayub's figures into the gutter. Jayasuriya himself didn't fare much better and it forced an early return for Stephenson who wouldn't be able to stop the initial onslaught. He did however have more success in the death overs, with Marshall also finally finding his footing to restrict Sidhu and Smith to more manageable levels. Stephenson also got the wickets of Sidhu and later de Silva, showing his superb expertise in the death overs for a third game running. In an innings where the next least expensive bowler conceded over seven runs, Marshall and Stephenson's efforts looked incredible.
Donald would have his prey in his first over yet again as Jadeja couldn't last against the fiery quick. Raman and Viv opted to play it safely in the next few overs, respecting Srinath and Reiffel. They didn't do so for long though, starting with Sharma and Chatterjee conceding runs badly. It wouldn't stop even after Cronje was introduced as Raman in particular went on the offensive, allowing Viv to play the patient waiting game. Increasingly aware of the danger a settled Viv could pose, Patil tried to get his wicket with more overs from Chatterjee and the returning Reiffel but the latter would only end up being smoked by Raman and milked for runs by Viv while Chatterjee merely continued to be smashed. The onslaught forced the early return of Srinath and Donald before things threatened to go out of control. By this point though the legendary West Indian was seeing the ball excellently and took Donald to the cleaners in an over that nearly went for twenty runs. Reiffel returned for his final two overs only to be given the same respect as Raman brought up his century first and Viv later on. Only Srinath would escape with scarcely believable figures as the duo took Bangalore to a mighty win over a side that has been very impressive in their first two games. It took us eight games and now we have two centurions on our list after there were none in the first seven.
Aravinda de Silva: "The match was certainly entertaining. A bit sad that we couldn't win in the end after all that. You can't expect bowlers to be competing on a pitch and conditions like this, they were like lambs waiting for slaughter. If this is the direction cricket will go into it may be entertaining once in a while but it won't be if every game is like this. It was a great advert for a new league though and I'm sure the fans got their money's worth out of so many runs. Our plan is to look at what went wrong and then look at working on our mistakes as always."
Mohammad Azharuddin: "Can't complain about three wins in three games. Different people have stepped up each time in the batting department, want to see the same from the bowling too. We'll look at our bowling for sure but it isn't easy judging them in today's batting conditions. Stephenson is one of the best I've seen at executing his bowling plans, no one else in the world would be doing what he did in those last overs for us. Pleased to have him in the team. And of course it was a pleasure to watch Viv today in full flow. It felt like he turned the clock back ten years ago with how he accelerated towards the end. He's the type of player who makes you watch, pick up a bat and go out there to repeat what he had done, he is a magical player."
Mohammad Azharuddin: "Can't complain about three wins in three games. Different people have stepped up each time in the batting department, want to see the same from the bowling too. We'll look at our bowling for sure but it isn't easy judging them in today's batting conditions. Stephenson is one of the best I've seen at executing his bowling plans, no one else in the world would be doing what he did in those last overs for us. Pleased to have him in the team. And of course it was a pleasure to watch Viv today in full flow. It felt like he turned the clock back ten years ago with how he accelerated towards the end. He's the type of player who makes you watch, pick up a bat and go out there to repeat what he had done, he is a magical player."
pillowprocter
Panel of Selectors
Weren't WCC predicted to be first?
Pinch hitter
Smash… Smash… Smash!
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2013
Woorkeri Raman almost played same kind of innings like Vivian...
