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GCC-ODI, Game # 6, 2001
Edmonton and District Cricket League - Premier Division
Scona v Greenfield Cricket Club
Millwoods, Edmonton
Saturday, June 09, 2001 (45-over match)

Result : Scona won by 1 wicket.

Toss : Greenfield
Umpire : Kamlesh Patel
Greenfield MoM : Salman Choudhary
Scorer: Nuhad Hussain

Greenfield Innings

How Out

Bowler

 Runs 4's 6's
V Subramanian c L Persaud b O Smith 27 4 0
F Choudhary run out 4 0 0
+R Nair c & b b R Mellow 12 0 0
S Turner lbw b L Persaud 0 0 0
Z Marikar c M Davidson b L Persaud 8 0 0
A Prasad c +D Battaloo b D Hall 1 0 0
S Choudhary c +D Battaloo b C Mallete 67 6 1
P Arumugam run out 0 0 0
*A Rauf lbw b C Mallete 43 3 1
R Maikala not out 9 1 0
H Kumar not out 5 0 0
EXTRAS : b 1, lb 5, w 22, nb 3 31
TOTAL : (all out, in 33.3 overs) 207 RR: 4.60
 
Bowler O M R W wd nb
O'Neil Smith 9 1 37 1 3 2
Leon Persaud 9 2 19 2 3 1
*Desmond Hall 9 1 24 1 2 0
Ron Mellow 4 0 33 1 8 0
Charlie Mallete 9 0 48 2 2 0
Jacob Ramkhelawan 4 0 31 0 2 0
David Redoy 1 0 9 0 2 0


Scona Innings

How Out

Bowler

 Runs 4's 6's
L Persaud c F Choudhary b A Prasad 40 4 1
+D Battaloo c *A Rauf b P Arumugam 0 0 0
R Mellow run out (*Arees) 0 0 0
D Redoy c +R Nair b A Prasad 20 2 0
M Davidson c P Arumugam b A Prasad 10 0 1
*D Hall b S Choudhary 19 2 1
J Ramkhelawan run out  (Steve, +Fahad) 46 1 2
L Vieira c *A Rauf b V Subramanian 7 0 0
C Mallete not out 28 1 1
R Persaud c +R Nair b S Choudhary 0 0 0
O Smith not out 5 0 0
EXTRAS : b 7, lb 4, w 19, nb 3 33
TOTAL : (for 9 wickets, in 44.5 overs) 208 RR: 4.60
 
Bowler O M R W wd nb
Prashan Arumugam 9 0 25 1 5 2
*Arees Rauf 9 1 25 0 1 0
Ram Maikala 5 0 37 0 6 1
Salman Choudhary 8.5 0 45 2 6 0
Arvind Prasad 4 0 26 3 0 0
Steve Turner 1 0 11 0 1 0
Venkat Subramanian 8 0 28 1 0 0
             
Match Report by Arvind Prasad:

AThe match between Greenfield (GCC) and Strathcona (Scona) was of special importance to both the teams. GCC, because they had lost both their games against Scona last season and were looking forward to improve this record, and Scona, because they had so far lost all their games this season and they were out to prove themselves.

The weather condition was perfect for cricket. GCC had the regular team with the exception of Sunil was sitting out with an injured foot. Salman replaced him. GCC captain Arees won the toss and elected to bat since the GCC batting had flourished while batting first in the previous two occasions. Venkat and Fahad opened for GCC. Fahad was unfortunately run-out very early in the innings. Venkat and Rajeev set about repairing the damage and Venkat played a swashbuckling knock of 27 studded with four hits to the fence. He was out when the score was 43 in the 13th over. Steve was adjudged leg before in the very next over and Zaufer also perished trying to take the arial route once too often. Arvind, pushed down the order, was out next, caught brilliantly by the keeper down the legs. At 61 for five off 20 overs looked ominous. GCC’s woe continued with Rajeev getting out after playing a gritty innings and Prashan running himself out. At 73 for seven off 23, GCC had literally dug its own grave. Arees walked out to join Salman and that was the end of joys for Scona. Arees played a gallant captains knock and Salman gave him excellent company, matching stroke for stroke. They put on 95 for the 8th wicket before Arees (43) was out trying to force the pace. Salman took the gauntlet after Arees’ wicket and reached his 50 in style when he lofted Charlie over deep mid-wicket for a massive six. He too was out trying to score at a fast pace after a majestic 67. Arees and Salman ensured GCC put up a fighting score to defend and Ram and Hemant played out till the end to end the GCC innings with 207 for 9 off their allotted quota of 45 overs.

This was the same score GCC had put on against ECC and won. Their bowlers were confident of winning this game too. Scona innings started at a decent rate and their first wicket fell to a brilliant catch by Arees at short covers off Prashan. In the every next over, # 3 bat Mellow, foolishly ran himself out and put Scona under unnecessary pressure. David joined Leon and the two batted authoritatively and added 50 odd runs at a brisk pace with a number of hits to the fence. Arvind was introduced into the attack in the 15th over and immediately got results when he dismissed both Leon, caught by Fahad in the deep, and David, caught behind, within a space of five balls. This brought GCC right back into the game, but not for long. The two new bats smashed Arvind for 15 runs in his next over, but in his third over Arvind got rid of Davidson, caught at point by diving Prashan. The game swung in favor of GCC again. Arvind and Steve were both hit off the attack by their captain and vice-captain. Arees had to resort to his medium pacers and at the break, the score was 124 for five off 25. Scona was well above the required run rate and GCC had to get wickets quickly if they were to stay in the game. After the break, Jacob was run-out by Steve’s accurate throw from square leg and in the very next over Salman uprooted Desmond’s middle stump with a slower delivery. GCC was back in the game again with the advantage that Scona’s tail was now exposed. The batsmen played at a slow rate and cautiously, but Venkat and Salman got a wicket apiece to put Scona in real trouble. It all boiled down to 11 runs needed of last over, the first ball of which was smacked for a six over square leg by Charlie. Salman responded well by giving only one run in the next four balls. Thus, Scona now needed four runs off the last ball. All the players were posted in the fence as Salman bowled the last delivery. It was called a wide and the wicket-keeper fumbled. The batsmen ran for a run and finding them out of their crease the ball was thrown at the non-strikers end. With no one to back up, it resulted in an over throw and finding the batsmen struggling to get in their crease another run-out was attempted which ended up in yet another over-throw! By the time the ball was collected, 1 wide and three over-throw runs had taken Scona home even as GCC players watched in horror and disbelief. 4 runs were scored with the ball neither touching the bat nor crossing the ropes!

Man of the Match, Salman Choudhary was undoubtedly the man of the match with his brilliant batting performance and extremely good bowling. Batting until the very end, he demolished the Scona bowling with ease and grace. Almost half of his runs were scored in boundaries.

Thoughts and comments: GCC went on to score 207 after being 7 down for 73, an amazing recovery, thanks to Arees and Salman. One might rejoice at the string of batting successes that GCC has enjoyed, but in retrospect, GCC has to look carefully without getting too confident. There are two important factors concerning this match to keep in mind. First, Salman is not a regular GCC player and may not be available the next time. Secondly, both Venkat and Salman (when on 6) got a life each, early in their innings. The spinners did not bowl well. Arvind bagged two quick wickets in one over but his bowling went down thereafter. 19 ‘wides’ did not help the cause either. When chasing a good score like 207 off 45, a series of wides in the very first few overs demoralizes the fielding side. The batting side sits comfortably with these ‘free’ runs and extra balls. The fielding was ordinary compared to GCC’s usual fielding, 4 overthrows, 2 missed run-out chances and 4 misfiled runs virtually took the game away from GCC.

Scona in my opinion had an ordinary game. They let GCC off the hook in the first innings, 3 missed chances and a staggering 22 ‘wides’ bears testimony. Two close games lost in a row by GCC. 20 odd runs in 3 overs in both games could have gone GCC’s way if they had remained focused and mentally relaxed (not physically). Cricket is not about winning or losing, but outsmarting the opponent in at least 50 per cent of the cases. GCC probably has the most talented side in Edmonton. Arees who can demolish any bowler at his will, Venkat (of the teams/players I have had the chance to watch), the second-to-none ever-agile nimble footed Rajeev, who would feature as one of the best keepers, the knowledgeable Steve, who probably knows everything about the art of leg spin bowling. Not to speak of never-say-die attitude of Ram, ever thinking Hemant and the Power-Hitter Zaufer. The players have to be thinking and planning all the time. The talent only helps in proper execution of these plans. Being focused means not simply watching the game, but planning ahead every moment. We have to be mentally tough to tackle situations of this nature. On a positive note, we battered the whole 45 overs and scored 200 plus runs. Overall GCC has learnt to play as a unit and gained confidence to take on any good team. Although last week’s game was disheartening, GCC players are capable of turning the wheels around. We must never dwell on our past performance, but learn from these and move on with confidence.