The title does say it all except for the marvellous chasing done by our batting. They should guts, determination and a little bit of maverickness. The bowling side was not weak and was continuously trying to exploit our weaker areas and most of the time, till the last 2 overs actually, we had answers to all their questions.
The match this time was played in Salmiya ground opposite City Centre. The only thing good about this ground was the view though. We decided to field first and this time Wicky showed a bit of innovation by asking Nisar to bowl the first over. Nisar took the challenge well and went for only 3 runs in the first over. Amad started bowling with Nisar. Nisar's second over was a bit expensive with him getting hit for a six twice. Amad bowled a total of 4 overs with the ball crossing the boundary 4 times and him taking a wicket.
Wicky came in the middle and bowled his heart out and with some good pace. I think he looks more threatening bowling fast and for variation he can work on movement and length. His clean bowled with the middle stump uprooted out of the ground was just simply classic. About 2-3 chances were created in his over, each with a degree of complexity though, and discussed in detail in the fielding section. In the end he took 2 wickets.
Abdullah bowled 4 overs in the middle and was hit at least for 2 boundaries /sixes in each over. He didn't manage to find line, length and/or rhythym.
Sajjad, our guest player for the match, bowled 3 overs and bowled well but again was not able to control the boundaries. Ahmed came to bowl in the end and took 2 wickets with the help of good catches from Nisar and Abdullah and long off and long on boundaries, respectively.
Finally Sameer Bhai bowled the last over rather safely. In the end we went for 203 runs. In the hind sight rotation of bowlers in the middle might have prevented the score from crossing the 200 mark as Abdullah's 4 overs proved the most costly of all the bowlers.
The match this time was played in Salmiya ground opposite City Centre. The only thing good about this ground was the view though. We decided to field first and this time Wicky showed a bit of innovation by asking Nisar to bowl the first over. Nisar took the challenge well and went for only 3 runs in the first over. Amad started bowling with Nisar. Nisar's second over was a bit expensive with him getting hit for a six twice. Amad bowled a total of 4 overs with the ball crossing the boundary 4 times and him taking a wicket.
Wicky came in the middle and bowled his heart out and with some good pace. I think he looks more threatening bowling fast and for variation he can work on movement and length. His clean bowled with the middle stump uprooted out of the ground was just simply classic. About 2-3 chances were created in his over, each with a degree of complexity though, and discussed in detail in the fielding section. In the end he took 2 wickets.
Abdullah bowled 4 overs in the middle and was hit at least for 2 boundaries /sixes in each over. He didn't manage to find line, length and/or rhythym.
Sajjad, our guest player for the match, bowled 3 overs and bowled well but again was not able to control the boundaries. Ahmed came to bowl in the end and took 2 wickets with the help of good catches from Nisar and Abdullah and long off and long on boundaries, respectively.
Finally Sameer Bhai bowled the last over rather safely. In the end we went for 203 runs. In the hind sight rotation of bowlers in the middle might have prevented the score from crossing the 200 mark as Abdullah's 4 overs proved the most costly of all the bowlers.
Fielding
Ground fielding was much better this time with no free runs being given to the batsmen. Catching was a bit of both the worlds since there were 4 taken and 5 dropped. The dropped, though, all had a degree of complexity in them and with analysis and a solution for each I am sure we can prevent from this happening in the future.
The first catch went towards Bilal at point and was a bit high. Catches at point are never easy mainly because of their speed and angle. Its very difficult to decide from the word go where your hands should be to pocket the catch. It requires reflexes and agility. I think we should identify a permanent member of our team for this position and let him develop expertise required to field in this position. I think Bilal can be the ideal person for this position. Other options can be Abu Bakar, Wicky and Ahmed.
Second catch which went down went so high in the air that it was almost scary. Rizwan came a bit late to take it, since he was in 2 minds whether he or the bowler should go for it. I think the keeper should always go for such catches, since he has the safest and biggest pouch in the whole field. Obviously this requires a bit of practice for the keeper and Rizwan should keep this in mind next time we go for fielding practice and ask someone to help him with it.
Third catch fell between the bowler and long boundary. I was there at the boundary and at first was in doubt whether to go for the catch or stay back to stop the boundary. Finally my natural instinct took me to the ball and in the end it fell short. So it turned out to be the usual result of such confusion, I wasn't able to either catch the ball or stop the boundary. This is one of the usual cases that our fielders on the boundary are faced with. My solution would be to train 3-4 fielders on the boundary line and they should pratice accordingly. The ground rule during matches and pratice should be that one who is nearest to the ball must go for the catch and the one who is near to him should back him up in order to stop the boundary. The philosophy being, attack is the best defence. I think that me, Abdullah, Nisar, Ahmed and Sameer Bhai can all be tried and reserved for boundary fielding. The thing to remember for boundary fielders is backing up. Since anything can happen in an uneven ground with lot of stones.
The last catch which I wanted to discuss was a flat and powerful shot which went directly to Sameer Bhai's chest. And the faster it went in the faster it came out. Since these catches are at eye level, therefore it is very difficult to judge their speed, and second issue in these catches is whether to take the catch fingers up or fingers down? We need practice for these type of catches as well.
There was a missed stumping as well off Abdullah's bowling and I think Rizwan would know better the mistake he made there, and we all are confident that he would learn from his mistake and not repeat such a mistake.
Incidently the batsman who was their highest scorer, got the most breaks. In the end he got 4 chances and if just one would have been taken, then outcome of the match would definitely have been different.
I think if we can arrange a one hour fielding session once every 15-20 days then it would do us a world of good. Groups of 2 can be made for the first half and they can practice as per their particular role in the field during matches and work on their weaknesses. Roles of each can be identified by the Captain. In the second half everyone can practice together as in a match situation.
Batting
Highlight of the match was our batting though, which went against all odds and almost chased down the score. Nisar batted wonderfully once again showing his mettle and why we rely him to score big and give us a solid start everytime.
The batting was opened by Abdullah and Nisar and they got us off to a flier, which was required if we had to come close to the target. We were scoring at almost 12 runs per over, till their bowling decided to test us with some spin and short pitch stuff. Abdullah was the first to go while trying to run the ball to the third man. Sameer Bhai went in and started a good partnership with Nisar. He hit one six off a spinner which was wonderful to watch, it seemed so effort less that it almost looked like he was blocking the ball. Too bad he couldn't continue since he too fell to a short delivery.
Nisar, who was joined in with Wicky, then showed brilliant skill of adaptation to the new line and specially the length which the bowlers were bowling. Wicky was at the other end and both had decided how to go about maintaining the required rate. While not trying to hit the ball hard they caressed and showed the bat to the ball to hit it for boundaries and sixes. At that time after finding and executing the solution to their strategy we were confident of winning the match since the required run rate was in check and plenty of batting was to follow.
But we suffered from the twin disaster of almost back to back dismissals of Wicky and Nisar. Which put us on the back foot. Still the target was achievable. Ahmed and Sajjad came in and did well initially to make the required 10 or more runs per over. But towards the last overs Ahmed couldn't find an answer to the short pitched ball above his stomach height and thus was unable to find either boundaries or doubles which were required at that point in time. In the end both he and Sajjad got out and there was too much to finish for Bilal and Abu Bakar.
Anyways the team played really well and apart from a few dropped half chances, we were always fighting hard and giving the oponents a tough time. Hopefully with the development of safe catching we would be able to win matches more consistently.
Batting
Highlight of the match was our batting though, which went against all odds and almost chased down the score. Nisar batted wonderfully once again showing his mettle and why we rely him to score big and give us a solid start everytime.
The batting was opened by Abdullah and Nisar and they got us off to a flier, which was required if we had to come close to the target. We were scoring at almost 12 runs per over, till their bowling decided to test us with some spin and short pitch stuff. Abdullah was the first to go while trying to run the ball to the third man. Sameer Bhai went in and started a good partnership with Nisar. He hit one six off a spinner which was wonderful to watch, it seemed so effort less that it almost looked like he was blocking the ball. Too bad he couldn't continue since he too fell to a short delivery.
Nisar, who was joined in with Wicky, then showed brilliant skill of adaptation to the new line and specially the length which the bowlers were bowling. Wicky was at the other end and both had decided how to go about maintaining the required rate. While not trying to hit the ball hard they caressed and showed the bat to the ball to hit it for boundaries and sixes. At that time after finding and executing the solution to their strategy we were confident of winning the match since the required run rate was in check and plenty of batting was to follow.
But we suffered from the twin disaster of almost back to back dismissals of Wicky and Nisar. Which put us on the back foot. Still the target was achievable. Ahmed and Sajjad came in and did well initially to make the required 10 or more runs per over. But towards the last overs Ahmed couldn't find an answer to the short pitched ball above his stomach height and thus was unable to find either boundaries or doubles which were required at that point in time. In the end both he and Sajjad got out and there was too much to finish for Bilal and Abu Bakar.
Anyways the team played really well and apart from a few dropped half chances, we were always fighting hard and giving the oponents a tough time. Hopefully with the development of safe catching we would be able to win matches more consistently.
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