Report by Ahsan
Summary: Entourage win by 30 runs
Entourage 205/3 (Sanket 54 (46), Jag 42 (30), Narsi 43 (21))
Cougars 175/7 (Pandiaraj 108 (63); Priyankar 2-0-11-2, Jag 3-0-31-2)
Entourage Innings: Coming from a tense win the weekend before, Entourage squad was fired up to have a go at the Cougars. The entire squad bar one was warmed up and doing fielding and catching drills even before the first two players for the cougars had shown up. The game didn’t start till 10:20 though, thanks to the umpire not showing up till 10:15.
Sanket won the toss, and decided to bat. Jag and Sanket opened the innings, batted well with some great shots all over the park; for the first wicket partnership of 81 in 9 overs when Jag got bowled out to a good swinging delivery. Special mention to Jag’s 6 over covers. Baba then kept the scoreboard moving but was out for 17 due to a very controversial catch at mid on. Sanket, all cramped up, hobbled his way to a respectable 50, but lost his wicket in the 16th over. Narsi and Ranjan then added 65 runs in the last 4 overs, hitting boundaries at will throughout the ground. Both remained unbeaten with strike rates of over 200, Narsi with 43 off 21 and Ranjan 22 off 11, for a final mammoth score of 205.
Cougars Innings: Cougars came onto bat with every intention of chasing down the score. They started with 18 off the first over, and maintained a very healthy run rate of over 10 for a good part of their innings. The openers scored freely from both ends as the pacers struggled to get their line and lengths right. Sanket immediately brought on Asif and Narsi to choke the run flow. One of the openers casually mentioned how Narsi was not spinning the ball enough. Upon hearing this, Narsi laid a barrage of sledges towards the batsman, so much so, that to desperately get off the strike he took a risky single where good piece of fielding from Hetang at square leg gave Entourage the first wicket. A second wicket partnership of 60 odd runs was broken by another run out by Entourage skipper. While the Cougars opener Pandiarajan was still on crease, he received no support from other batsmen as Entourage bowlers maintained a tight line and length and picked wickets and regular intervals. Pandiarajan scored 108 off 63, a valiant effort, but not enough to trouble Entourage. Good catching and fielding with all around positive energy saw the Cougars inch their way to 175 and lose by 30 runs.
Special mentions: Great opening partnership between Jag and Sanket, laid the foundation for the later fireworks by Narsi and Ranjan. Good bowling from both spinners Narsi and Asif, and great support from Jag, Ahsan and Priyankar. Good fielding, NO DROPPED CATCHES!!!
Positives: Great positive energy, and the right mindset and attitude in the field.
Negatives: Pacers need to tighten their line and length.
Sunnyvale Cricket Club 