Thursday 19 May 2011

Too much for Kochi

Well despite coming so close to the target of 152, the Kochi Tuskers Kerala eventually lost their plot towards the end when they fell 11 runs short of a tie and 12 runs short of a victory. Whatever, victory and losses happen in the game of cricket. But, looking at the Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the way they batted was too pathetic. There have been many instances where a total of 151 has been defended and many instances where the same total of 151 has been chased with little effort. Yesterday, Kochi had enough wickets in hand to overcome the total.

But, all that they needed was some quick timing of the ball which never seemed to be the case whatsoever. They never got the scoreboard ticking, meaning neither did the Kochi Tuskers lose wickets at regular intervals nor did they put up a big partnership enough for them to taste a victory. Looking at these, one can confirm that the pitch was a tough one for batsmen of the mindset of a T20 game. Runs never came loosely and batsmen had to work hard to score even in singles and doubles. Only batsmen with enormous can be expected to do miracles.

But, this was no international match where the best players are picked from the lot to represent their nation. Notable scores from the Chennai Superkings include Mike Hussey who scored 32 runs no matter the number of balls he took in scoring those runs. And then there was Wriddhiman Saha who was instrumental in setting up a total for his team that eventually went on to become a winning total. It was strange to see that Muttiah Muralitharan went wicketless in this game and was the only bowler to do so from the Kochi team. Likewise, there was more juice from the batsmen of Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

There was a batsman in Brad Hodge who score the only half century of the match and that too he did it quickly by not consuming too many deliveries. However, if not for Brendon McCullum, no other batting performances in the Kochi team can be of a highlight. One has to applaud Brad Hodge for fighting for the Kochi Tuskers till the end when they ran out of overs. Hodge remained unbeaten till the end of the innings. One mistake that can be realized from the Kochi Tuskers was that Vinay Kumar should should have been sent in before Jadhav who was a better batsman.

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