Modus Hopper Random: Yapp Goes to Pachiyappa's

Friday, 9 February 2018

Yapp Goes to Pachiyappa's

My view from the boundary

Hopperational details

Date & Venue

Friday 9 February at MRF-Pachiyappa’s, Chennai

Result

Madhya Pradesh bt Tamil Nadu by 8 wickets

Competition

Group C, Vijay Hazare Trophy (One day game, 50 overs per side, white ball). An intense group phase with matches close together is followed by knockout quarter-finals and so on.

Hopping

First cricket game seen outside the UK. With the admirable help of a tuk-tuk driver who earned himself a big tip, I reached the venue with about 15 minutes to spare. The ground is within a college and was not easy to find.

Pre-match preparation

This would be a must-win for Tamil Nadu given disappointing results so far in the group stages. Both sides are mid-table in their group of seven.

This match in one sentence

In the end, a comfortable win for Madhya Pradesh batting second, built round a second-wicket partnership of 209 between Rajat Patidar and Rameez Khan.

So what?

Tamil Nadu will now struggle to reach the knockout stage of the competition from 5th and a 1-3 record (it may already be impossible, as I have not had chance to check the remaining group fixture combinations), and Madhya Pradesh are now in 4th with a 2-2 record.

The drama unfolds

Two gentlemen of the press introduced themselves and patiently listened as I explained the twin obsessions of blogging live sporting occasions and investigating my family tree which had brought me here. I cannot speak highly enough of the warmth of the welcome I received. I soon had a seat under the spectator canopy, near the official scorer, and was involved in a conversation on English history, sport and politics with a reporter. His knowledge on these matters was deeply impressive.

On the field, Madhya Pradesh had won the toss and elected to field. Their first breakthrough came with the first ball of the third over with a catch to the wicketkeeper down the leg side. By half-way through the seventh over, both openers had gone, the second wicket coming with a leading edge and an easy catch at midwicket. Both wickets fell to Ishwar Pandey.

This brought Jagadeesan and Aparajith together, and with good running they got to 50 with no further losses. Boundaries were hard to come by, even during the opening powerplay field restrictions. The first six did not come until the 23^rd over. These two compiled a century partnership and Jagadeesan reached his fifty before Aparajith was bowled by Ankit Sharma for 43 with the score at 129-3, and just past the half-way mark in the innings.

Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar came to the crease, and the run-rate crept up to five-per-over but without many boundaries. Jagadeesan was technically dropped on 91, though it was a tough chance, and he added insult to injury by glancing the next ball to fine leg for four. With Jagadeesan on 96, Vijay needed lengthy treatment, and in the next over he pinched the strike with a single after five dot balls. It had been quite some time since Jagadeesan had faced a delivery. He reached 97 with a single, 98 with another risky one that led the umpires to consult the third official over a run out, 99 with a cut to third man and was then caught behind. Not his day, and the end to a partnership of 65 runs.

Jagadeesan nears the century that wasn't to be

After that, Anirudh came in and made a rapid 39 as Tamil Nadu tried to accelerate. Vijay Shankar himself was then sixth out for 84. Would they now make 300? Scoring at around eight an over, they limped finally to 302-9 in their fifty overs. Wickets fell regularly towards end, including Ravi Ashwin for 4, and two wickets fell in the last over, which only gave four singles. Given the small size of the playing area and the lightning-fast outfield, it felt about 25 runs short of a par score, but runs on the board are always a good thing. Ankit Singh Kushwah finished with 3-59. Lunch was taken with both sides feeling confident. A pre-prepared lunch tray appeared for me – the hospitality shown to me was wonderful.

Vijay Shankar heading into the 80s

Tamil Nadu looked sharp and alert in the field as they set about defending the total. To my untrained eye their opening bowlers looked a shade quicker. Nevertheless an impressive 50 opening stand was achieved in the ninth over, before a low catch at mid-off accounted for Naman Ohja for 39 off the bowling of Aswin Crist.

By the 14^th over, the score was 85-1 in comparison with Tamil Nadu’s 57-2 and it began to look ominous. Slower bowlers put a brake on the scoring rate to some extent, but a missed catch from a spiralling high ball was the first of several misfields that we were to see. The batsmen at the crease, opener Rajat Patidar and Rameez Khan, occasionally had the rub of the green as lofted shots fell into space, but Rajat reached his century in the 29^th over. When a crazy bounce on the hard outfield resulted in another boundary, the Tamil Nadu confidence appeared to be evaporating in the heat. Madhya Pradesh needed a fraction over 5 an over with 20 to go, and the run rate was to steadily decrease as the certainty of their victory increased. The quicker bowlers were brought back but were despatched to the boundaries.

Rajat gets ready to resume, 100 not out

Rajat finally fell for 158 to end the partnership of 209 and Harpreet Singh Bhatia arrived to help end the contest. Rameez was 78 not out as the scorebooks were closed on an impressive 8-wicket win with just over four overs to spare.

For me, an absolutely fantastic day and a great feeling to add this to my life experiences.

Ground Pix