Summary:
Berkeley – 104 All Out
Vishnu – 4 for 12 in 9 Overs
Asteroids – 105 for 7 in 39 Overs
Kedar & Sathy – 19
Priyankar – 17 Not Out
Nabeel – 13 Not Out
https://www.crichq.com/#fixtures/421151/1st_innings
After a tough loss in the last game, Asteroids were looking to bounce back and secure their first win of the season. They were up against a very tough and disciplined Berkeley side.
Previous encounters with Berkeley have always been tough, hard fought wins and this game sure followed the same script.
Berkeley won the toss and elected to bat on a warm day. Asteroids started off the game with Vishnu and Chetan opening the bowling. Berkeley openers raced to 20/0 in 4 overs by running hard between wickets and putting away anything short. Vishnu started to hit his length and struck in his 3rd and 4th over. He was supported well by the Sunnyvale Slip cordon taking sharp catches at gully.
Chetan was at his miserly best at the other end which led to a mix up between the two batsmen, it was Vishnu again who was in the game with a sharp stop and an accurate throw to get Aswath run out.
Just as Berkley were looking to go into drinks break without losing any more wickets , Vishnu was brought back and struck with his 1st ball to remove the dangerous Natwar.
Berkeley went to the first drinks break at 50 for 5 .
In the second session Sunnyvale bowlers and fielders were all over the Berkeley like a rash. Vishnu struck 1 more blow just after the break and bowled out his quota of 9 overs just conceding 12 runs. Asteroids continued to attack with Sathy / Nabeel from one end and spinners from the other end. Berkeley tail found it hard to get runs and their patience quickly ran out. Akshay and Priyankar wrapped up the tail with Berkeley all out for 104 in 33 overs.
Chasing a small total , the plan for the Sunnyvale top order was to spend some time in the middle and build some confidence for future games. But Berkeley bowlers and fielders were on the ball from the first over. Venky fell of the 2nd ball of the innings , Rohan, Akshay, Arun and Srikanth quickly followed him with Sunnyvale reeling at 17 for 5 in 9 overs. Kavash was the chief wrecker picking up 4 wickets, he was ably supported by Harish who picked up 2 wickets from the other end. After the drinks break Sathy and Kedar set out rebuilding by playing positive cricket and running hard between wickets. Kedar (19)soon fell after hitting a six by finding deep mid wicket of a log hop. Sathy (19) followed him soon after nicking to the keeper of Kavash. Berkeley team had their tails up and were buzzing in the field with a win close in sight. Little did they know that they had to go through two fighters at the crease.
Priyankar and Nabeel gave a lesson to the Sunnyvale top order on how to bat when things were tough. Plan given to Priyankar and Nabeel was to take 10 runs at a time and thats exactly what they did. Strong defense , leaving the balls out side off and taking calculated risks of anything full / short was the hallmark of the partnership.
An unbeaten partnership of 45 runs ensured Sunnyvale won with no more wickets being lost. Priyankar scored a priceless 17* of 51 balls and he was supported by Nabeel who scored valuable 13* of 63. They were also supported by the Berkeley bowlers who bowled 30 wides which was the top scorer in the innings.
It was much needed and morale boosting win. The team is starting to gel with players knowing their roles and what is expected from them.
MOM: Vishnu ( 4 wickets )
MVP: Priyankar ( 17 runs & 1 wicket ) / Nabeel ( 13 runs and 1 wicket )
Positives: Bowling and Catching , Players showing ownership , getting involved in the game. Seamers were on the money from ball one.
Negatives: Top order needs to show more application. Have a plan when playing on Ortega. Rotate the strike and not get bogged down. Asteroids spinners ( excl Chetan ) need to step up , too many bad balls.
Sunnyvale Cricket Club 