Great Win! Transformers are now officially in to playoffs (Knock out stage), after winning 4 consecutive games with Chak De, Peoria Super Kings (PSK), Peoria Knight Riders (PKR) and DC Dynamites(DCD).
Game with DC Dynamites Analysis:
This is one of the toughest fights that Transformers have seen from the opposite team till now. Starting from holding wickets in hand at the early stage of the innings, taking singles in first few overs, making bowlers to think constantly, and keeping the fielders on their toes, whatsoever a tough fight given by DC dynamites to keep the scoreboard ticking till the end overs. But still Transformers have shown great consistency in bowling and fielding and succeeded to restrict them for 71 in 16 overs. Great bowling performance from the captain Sastry (4 overs, 4 wickets and just conceding 8 runs) - one of the best spells in the series and still more to come. And also our “wicket taker” Vinay, backed up Sastry with 2 wickets and giving 19 runs from his 4 overs. Bhargava, Peddi did their job with their tight spells. Susheel chipped in with an useful over.
Coming to overall bowling analysis, even though Transformers bowled well, there is still a lot more room for improvement, they conceded a lot of extras 9(8 wides and 1 lb). In crucial games these will play a HUGE role in deciding the game. They need to come up with a better plan next time, while facing the toughest opponents for the next two games (BNCC, Titans, remember it’s an all Bloomington Finals in CAP-2010). They had experience playing Titans last year (Transformers beat Titans in first round, but Titans moved to second round and placed themselves in finals), but BNCC is totally a new opponent, they have the hardest hitters of the hard tennis ball in their side, so they need to make their moves accordingly.
Batting analysis: 72 runs required in 16 overs, which is an easy score for a team like Transformers, which has depth in their batting line-up till the tail (Do you guys really see a tail???). Susheel and Ravi opened the innings, but got out cheaply leaving 7/2 in 3 overs. Both need to concentrate more in their shot selection. Susheel still owes a big performance. Ravi started well with PKR but got out cheaply yesterday with DCD by playing across the line; team is hoping a big knock from him too. Bhargava and Sastry steadied the innings and kept the scoreboard moving. Sastry once again took the responsibility on his shoulders and showed everyone on what he is capable off. Bhargava looked lucky at early stage (missed out on a stumping chance and a caught behind), but gave the much needed support to Sastry to steady the innings before finally getting runout on 11 leaving the scoreboard at 41/3, and still needing 30 runs from 9 overs. Hemanth replaced him and got out cheaply. He is one of the dependable batsmen that Transformers rely on, and the team is hoping a good knock from him in the coming games. Lokesh gave good support to Sastry by taking singles until later got out for 26, to an unconvincing LBW decision by umpire, in the 12th over when Transformers still needed 9 runs from 4 overs. Here came the “hard hitting” Ramesh, who finished the innings with a straight SIX over the bowlers head and the winning shot over the long off for a single.
It’s a good convincing win, even though Transformers looked little out of ideas at the early stage of the bowling, controlling the easy singles, extra runs and breaking partnerships. They had lost too many wickets, while batting, for a low scoring game. Now they have to focus more & show improvements in the following
1. Bowling:
a. Needed consistent bowling performance and better ideas to break the partnerships,
b. Controlling easy runs from extras
2. Batting:
a. Building partnerships in batting, and more focus needed in shot selection.
b. Taking singles at the early stage of the innings.
c. No easy runouts.
3. Fielding:
a. Stopping the easy singles.
As they are facing the two toughest teams of the tournament, they need to come up with a great game plan to outplay those teams. May be on paper BNCC or Titans looks more commanding than Transformers, but as a team and commitment, Transformers will definitely has a greater chance to outplay them.
SMACK SOME BALL(S)
TRANSFORMER.
