Citizen Division Vs Nepean CC - June 10, 2012
By: Sumit Choudhary
A superbly defended low scorer against Nepean ensured B Burghs couldn’t be written off yet! The stage was set- Burghswere without a single win off the field, the batting hadn’t clicked in theprevious games and chasing seemed to be impossible. The pride was at stake andat the team huddle, Captain Nikhil Manikonda’s assertive tone encouraged theboys to grind in with the bat and back up the bowlers in the field.
Burghs were put into bat by Napean.Nimesh Parmar and Vice Captain Priyank Ahir took initial charge in the middle.Their steady partnership ensured that the initial fast bowlers were seen offand butterflies were settled in the stomachs of the middle order. However,Nimesh’s wicket at a crucial stage slowed down the scoring. But this brought inNavdeep, the Sehwag of the team. True to his name he hit powerful sixes of thespinners and made a vital 26. The middle order inspite of a collapse managed totake the score past 60. With some resistance B Burghs managed to post a totalof 85 runs.
The total on the board was meagre.Nikhil had the message clear for everyone- “We have to win this boys, we haveto win this one”. There was no lookingback. A determined Aman mesmerised the batsmen with his turn and bounce, andwas well supported by the Sultan of Swing- Deepak, aka ‘Dinda’. Both tightenedthe screws and the first wicket fell to an excellent catch taken by Shaileshbehind the wickets off a faint leg side flick. Burghs turned the heat on withbringing in Nimesh and Navdeep who kept attacking the stumps and kept thebatsmen inside the crease. With nothing coming off the bat, Napeans startedtaking risks and commendable fielding efforts were rewarded with two run- outs.Just about when Nepean’s lower middle order looked like inching closer to thetarget, Saunil bounced one in, to which Rajan took an amazingly timed onehanded catch at point.
With encouragement and key messagesbeing continuously passed on by an experienced Shailesh, B Burghs remainedfocused and continued to chip away at the wickets through Dinda and Nimesh. A focused catch at short midwicket by Aman,saw the the back of the last recognised batsman of Napean. Not long after that, in the 33rdover, Navdeep’s ‘You Miss, I Hit’delivery brought the curtains down on Napean’s chase and they were sent back tothe hut for 66. A wonderful team effort thus saw a truly deserved win andbrought back the smiles. Handshakes and Hi5s followed with a message- Let’skeep the momentum going guys!