ROCC defeated TCC by a convincing 56 runs at Blacksburg, VA. Originally, this match was scheduled for June 12th 2005, but due to unavailability of the ground, both teams mutually agreed to play at VT grounds instead. As always, there was a threat of rain lingering throughout the week, but in the end it turned out to be a good day for cricket.

We showed up at 10:45am after a long drive up there. Aravind lost the toss and ROCC decided to bat first given that this ground was very small. It turned out to be a real smart decision 'cos the openers literally launched into the bowling. Our bowlers seemed blindsided by the overall conditions, especially the near boundaries. Anything pitched in line of the stumps or down the leg was duly dispatched over the ropes with little effort by Vishal and Hiren. 63 runs in 6 overs speaks for itself! Uchil secured the first breakthrough getting Vishal lbw, but the flow of runs continued to hurt us. Ashutosh, the bespectacled leftie played beautifully alongside Hiren. I got Hiren lbw with the score at 121 off 15 overs or so. Ashutosh continued the assault with Amar and the pair continued on till 184 when Nutty accounted for Amar, courtesy a splendid catch in the deep by Ravi. This ground was definitely not suited for 1s and 2s and bowling from a usual run-up was a bad idea as our bowlers started to realize, albeit a little late. We finally stemmed the flow of runs toward the end with some good bowling. Ground fielding was pretty good, but Ashutosh was given a reprieve when he was around 60 or so, with Nutty being the unfortunate bowler. He had inflicted enough damage by then already by holding one end up and the rest of their squad batting around him. ROCC finally wrapped up their innings at 237 for 9. Charan bowled magnificently with figures of 6-0-26-2 and was unlucky not to have more wickets in the bag.

ROCC treated us to some good pizzas and we started off the run chase knowing fully well that it was an uphill task and that it required someone to make a big score. Unfortunately, we did not start well. Cashif was dismissed off the 3rd ball miscuing a hit to Ashutosh and tragedy followed. Senthil was out the very next ball and we were staring down the barrel at 1 for 2. Ravi and Aravind seemed to have things under control. The ROCC bowlers were being very magnanimous with their extras. Ravi was declared caught behind for a ball that clearly brushed his thigh pad and it was 3/21. I decided not to bother the scorers this time and decided to gift Saurin his 4th scalp without breaking a sweat. Charan went in at no.6 and was lucky to have catches dropped left and right. Aravind was looking good in the middle, but made a bad choice of shots and was caught in the deep for 26. Sundar and Charan carried on for a while with Cashif running for Charan since he had a little knee discomfort. With Charan out at 88, Sundar was running out of partners. He seemed in very good nick with the traditional cracking Gundappa-like square-cuts and the usual lofted shots sailing over the fielders. He tried his best to encourage the tail and succeeded to some extent with Riaz and Nutty pitching in their bit. A little more support to Sundar would have tilted the match in our favor. Sundar was the last man out for a well-made 52 having come in with the team in dire straits. We finally were all out for 181.

With a better all-round performance, we ought to bounce back in the coming matches, given that we have a hectic schedule ahead. Come on, gang!

Go TCC!