Midwest, Game 1

We played a pathetic game today. I have a few excuses to give in the first place. The opposition team was not exactly the team i thought we were going to play. They had brought in a few players who played for a different team last season and this team was almost as good as our team when the toss was done. But, only almost. We were certainly the better team.
We made 159/9 in the 35 overs and i did not get to bat, because of some incomprehensible strategy of our captain who sent the guy who would have otherwise batted at number 11 at number 8. It was frustrating given the impeccable way i batted during practice, on friday. The total, as such, was very modest. The fact that the newly laid mat was a batsman's paradise only worsened our cause. Even with the kind of bowling we had, this total was atleast 20 runs shy of what'd have been a defendable total.
I opened the bowling from one end and ended up with figures of 4-0-24-1. After my spell, i felt i was gonna end up being the costliest bowler, but in the end i was the second most economical bowler of the 6 bowlers that were used! That sums up the kind of day we had with our bowling. Our fielding was even worse! I dropped a return catch off my bowling(though i had the guy in my next over and he had added 7 more runs to his total before getting out) and a slightly difficult chance at midwicket in the 22nd over. There were a few more catches dropped and some poor outfielding and a lot of overthrowing. They chased the target down in 24.5 overs and won by 6 wickets. A former India under-19 player who played for them scored an unbeaten 78 and he had just one life(the midwicket catch that i dropped).
In my opinion, we failed to deliver in every department of the game. I'd give a major credit for our loss to the uninspired leadership of our captain, which can, to a very small extent, be credited to a REALLY PATHETIC DAY he had with the ball. We have to play a level above our potential in the games that follow to make it to the playoffs.

I'll provide link to the scorecard of this game in my next post in a few days.