(By: Nafis Ahmad,
Commonwealth C.C)
“VINC
AUT MORIRE” (Conquer or Die) – these are the words painted in gold on a crimson
silk damask, that is otherwise known as the Bedford Flag. Courtesy, the flag,
Bedford has its claim to fame as “the home of the Oldest Complete Flag in the
United States”, that was used by the Minuteman, Nathanial Page, to mark the
beginning of the American Revolution. Ironically on most summer weekends,
Bedford now hosts Cricket matches – the sport of the Red Coats, yet the spirit
of the flag comes to fore, every now and then.
It
was one such match up in Bedford this past Saturday (July 31, 2004) – BGSC were
hosted by CCC. The last official league meeting of the sides at Wrentham was a
comprehensive win for CCC, whereas BGSC were victorious in the final of the
Independence Cup, 2004. Thereby, honors at the start of this encounter were
evenly shared; BGSC being the winner of the last meeting of the two sides, were
rightfully and visibly in great spirits and were driven to repeat their
performance of the past year at this venue.
Fazal
won the toss and predictably elected to bat on a hot and humid day. CCC opened
with the left and right (some say Age and Beauty but I will leave that to your
discretion) combination of Basu and Nataraj. Both Age and Beauty came into play
very soon, as both these openers, plied their trade with maturity and executed
beautifully. The 12 over boundary restriction was exploited till the 15th
over, as Bikram perhaps forgot the rule, and the aerial route was used
repeatedly to perfection comfortably posting the first 100 run opening
partnership for CCC this season. Basu scored briskly for his attractive 48 and
missed his well-deserved half-century when he was stumped off Mahesh’s
off-spin. Nataraj (53 off 52) followed Basu immediately due to a run-out.
Nataraj’s innings also included some refreshing boundaries and his signature
on-side wristy flicks.
The
CCC openers formulated a solid platform, and Venkat and Fazal picked up exactly
where they left, and started to score very comfortably. Just as he was looking
his murderous self, Fazal (19) was removed by Vasu. Venkat on the other end was
plundering the bowling and was batting forcefully. Ali joined Venkat but was
back in the pavilion within a flash, leaving CCC in an interesting situation -
148 for 4 in 24 overs. Nafis joined Venkat and steadied the innings by pushing
the ball around and giving Venkat as much strike as possible. The latter
relished the strike and practically murdered the bowling with forceful hits all
over the ground. He completed his marvelous fifty in as many balls and
continued to exploit the demoralized BGSC attack. The 56 run fifth-wicket
partnership was broken when Sameer removed Nafis at the beginning of the 35th
over, and he was replaced by the resident Aussie, Mr. David Hoyle.
Nowadays,
Dave is in an excellent batting form, and an even higher frame of mind. He
brings lots of athleticism and positive energy to CCC. He started his innings
with some good running between the wickets and enlivened the proceedings with
some smart boundaries. Venkat, after playing a splendid knock of 68 off just 60
deliveries, was caught on the boundary, trying to clear the ropes yet again. It
was a remarkable display of batting and there was definitely a touch of his
guru (Fazal) in his off side play. What an exciting prospect for CCC in the
years to come!!!
Dave
continued to plunder the bowling, ably assisted by the lower order. He ended up
with a remarkable 51 not-out in just 28 balls - the fastest fifty for CCC this
season to date. He was merciless against Vasu in the last over of the game,
where he took 25 runs with 3 sixes, all of whom were quite masculine in nature,
contrary to what the bowler was alluding. CCC finished up with 275 for 9 in the
allotted 40 overs; a formidable total, compiled with a mixture of skill,
aggression and panache, which is becoming of this imperious batting line up.
BGSC
opened their innings with Vasu and the equally explosive Prashant Mittal, and
CCC opened up the attack with Sameer and Ali Rana, and took the field with
Johnny Wright, in place of the injured Basu. The tactics to counter the BGSC
batting was discussed during the break between the innings and a strategy to
contain and trouble the effervescent Vasu was devised and communicated. Somehow
the strategy that was discussed was applied in reverse - full length deliveries
with lots of room to drive were fed to the Tamil Nadu opener, and he helped
himself to compile a good total in the first 10 overs for BGSC. Prashant on the
other end played some forceful shots but succumbed to an out-of-character (but
right on the money) athletic catch by Nataraj off Sameer, leaving BGSC, 56 for
1. Vasu was by now limping due to a nagging hamstring, possibly due to the hard
day BGSC had in the field, and was shortly caught on the boundary (on a second
attempt) by Dave off Fazal, for an aggressive 48 in 46 deliveries.
The
danger man from BGSC was gone, and it was smooth sailing from then onwards for
CCC. None of the BGSC batsmen were able to keep up with the ever-increasing
required scoring rate. However, Parak Ananta shone brightly even in this dark
hour for BGSC. He batted with dogged determination, ran hard and did not miss a
single run, placed the ball in the gaps and hit some good boundaries to keep the
scoreboard ticking. He was later on joined by his captain, Bikram Singh, who
also helped himself to a decent 33 before running himself out. Although, after
the fall of Vasu, BGSC were never in a striking distance of the target, Parak
kept going as an Energizer Bunny, and compiled an impressive 77 not-out, taking
his team to an honorable 233 for 9 in 40 overs, conceding only a 42 run victory
to CCC.
The
margin of the victory (42 runs), however, does not speak of the one-sidedness
of the encounter. The margin could have easily been a hundred runs, but a
relaxed approach and several irregular bowlers were used, after the initial
session. One mention of distinction is that of Qasim Butt, who played his first
league game for CCC. He bowled accurately and was quite incisive with his rapid
leg-spinners, certainly a very welcome addition to the bowling armor of CCC.
It
was a true team performance, where four batsmen made nearly 50 or more runs
each, and all of the team chipped in to compile a robust total. This is the
fourth victory on the trot for CCC, that has the same underlying tone – almost
all the players are chipping in with decent individual contributions. Contrary
to last year, this year’s performance belies the notion that CCC is a team that
relies upon one or two superstars. It is a complete outfit with each player
bringing something to the table. As the tournament proceeds, and the team plays
more together, it is indeed shaping out to be a “Commonwealth of (Cricket)
Riches.”