Story Indian Cricket League 1993 - Second Half of the Season is on! Who will qualify?

Tollywood Cricket Nagar

Coach : :eng: Micky Stewart
Captain : :ind: Sandeep Patil
Media Prediction : 4th (Batting ⭐⭐⭐ | Bowling ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ )

:ind: :local: :bat: Navjot Sidhu | 60 Lakhs :goldo:
:eng: :os: :bat: Robin Smith | 30 Lakhs :goldo:
:saf: :os: :bat: Peter Kirsten | 4 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Jacob Martin | 4 Lakhs :bro:




:zim: :os: :wkb: Andy Flower | 30 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :wk: Syed Kirmani | 15 Lakhs :bro:




:sri: :os: :ar: Aravinda de Silva | 75 Lakhs :goldo:
:saf: :os: :ar: Hansie Cronje | 28 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Chetan Sharma | 20 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Sandeep Patil | 15 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :ar: Utpal Chatterjee | 9 Lakhs :bro:
:aus: :os: :ar: Paul Reiffel | 3 Lakhs :goldo:




:ind: :local: :bwl: Javagal Srinath | 60 Lakhs :goldo:
:saf: :os: :bwl: Allan Donald | 25 Lakhs :goldo:
:nzf: :os: :bwl: Willie Watson | 14 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Salil Ankola | 7 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Saradindu Mukherjee | 1 Lakh :bro:
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They started out buying players you could describe as entertainers and that's what this film industry inspired team had done by the end with a set of players who you would pay to watch live. The entertainment doesn't just stop when their batting ends though with a high octane pace attack featuring Donald, Srinath and Reiffel ready to challenge anyone who dares to try go after them. They have also smartly recruited players to keep them on their toes in the English anchor Smith, experienced gloveman Kirmani, South African WC hero Kirsten and finally Watson who knows a thing or two about bowling with utmost accuracy. No matter what happens, this side will be a joy to watch so you better not miss the ride.

Predicted XI


  1. :local: Navjot Sidhu​
  2. :local: Chetan Sharma​
  3. :os: Robin Smith​
  4. :os: Aravinda de Silva​
  5. :os: Hansie Cronje​
  6. :local: Sandeep Patil :c:
  7. :local: Syed Kirmani :wk:
  8. :os: Paul Reiffel​
  9. :local: Utpal Chatterjee​
  10. :local: Javagal Srinath​
  11. :os: Allan Donald
 
Wills Classic Calcutta

Coach : :eng: Ray Illingworth
Captain : :pak: Imran Khan
Media Prediction : 1st (Batting ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Bowling ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ )

:aus: :os: :bat: Dean Jones | 1.2 Crores :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Dilip Vengsarkar | 20 Lakhs :bro:
:eng: :os: :bat: Graham Gooch | 15 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Amay Khurasiya | 2 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bat: VVS Laxman | 2 Lakhs :bro:




:ind: :local: :wk: Saba Karim | 6 Lakhs :bro:
:saf: :os: :wk: Dave Richardson | 3 Lakhs :bro:




:ind: :local: :ar: Manoj Prabhakar | 70 Lakhs :goldo:
:pak: :os: :ar: Imran Khan | 65 Lakhs :goldo:
:saf: :os: :ar: Clive Rice | 45 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Ajay Sharma | 9 Lakhs :slvo:
:saf: :os: :ar: Brian McMillan | 5 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Sunil Joshi | 1 Lakh :bro:




:wi: :os: :bwl: Patrick Patterson | 20 Lakhs :goldo:
:wi: :os: :bwl: Joel Garner | 5 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Madan Lal Sharma | 5 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Margashayam Venkataramana | 3 Lakhs :bro:
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If you were to design an ICL squad in a fever dream this would be a good approximation of it. Wills Classic Calcutta have owners who have been extensively involved in cricket and their nous is evident in the assembly of a team that packs both star power and quality on the field. Having four all-rounders of class in Prabhakar, Imran, Rice and McMillan is exemplary and we've still got ace bowlers like Garner and Patterson, the best ODI batsman today in Jones and some extra class to spare with senior players like Gooch and Vengsarkar whose exploits are the stuff of legend. The only thing this side may rue could be the lack of a very good spinner in the ilk of other star names, a wicket-keeper who could have been a more reliable batsman, an opener more reliable than recent convert Prabhakar and a domestic pacer who has bowled at least an over in the last year. These are all minor criticisms that only top sides will ever attract and if this Calcutta team doesn't make the final of this ICL, then something must have gone very wrong during the season.

Predicted XI


  1. :local: Manoj Prabhakar​
  2. :os: Graham Gooch​
  3. :os: Dean Jones​
  4. :local: Dilip Vengsarkar​
  5. :os: Imran Khan :c:
  6. :local: Ajay Sharma​
  7. :local: Amay Khurasiya​
  8. :local: Saba Karim :wk:
  9. :local: Margashayam Venkataramana​
  10. :os: Joel Garner​
  11. :os: Patrick Patterson
 
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I'm going to offer my thoughts on this league and my plans for it in this post. But before that I'd like to thank @Aislabie for his monumental work at every step so far from the premise to preview and especially with the team names, identities, player data and info which isn't an easy thing to do considering the lack of information for some of them. Words can't express how helpful he has been for so many times till now and he's a true legend and someone this forum is lucky to have.

So first, why? Why this IPL knockoff in the 90s? I've always been intrigued by the possibility of the 'what if' ever since the book on the early IPL was released that revealed Lalit Modi's plans for an IPL style tournament way back in the 90s. There was also a part of me that wondered how it would have been to have had Kapil Dev and Srikkanth as players in the IPL. Whilst I've done variations of this in the past personally with the most notable one being the pre-T20 league that I conducted with a bunch of friends they didn't have the restrictions that a league like this would have and weren't rooted in realism either. The first concrete step was probably @wasteyouryouth's own idea for fictional IPL teams in the 1990s that he wanted to create in Cricket 19. Whilst it sadly never happened the idea stuck with me and I'm glad that it has developed to this extent today.

The main theme and principle I wanted to have as this league was to be played is for it to have a basis in reality. That does mean that the league keeps adjusting to international cricket scheduling demands for the most part as that was the main money maker in the 90s. It also means that I won't deviate much from what actually happened out there in the cricket world at large. This will be an alternate historical scenario for sure but the ICL will be a bubble and outside events will progress as they did in real life for the most part. What I shall try to do is create links and stories that make sense and tie into what was happening in real life cricket. That means certain international teams may be inspired to copy what an ICL side did with their player to bring the best out of them and then it lines up with the same thing happening in real life. And while I may not change significant results like the World Cup wins or a famous series victory, there may be smaller deviations and new events compared to real life to keep some sort of internal consistency. Certain cricketers may stick around for longer than they did in reality because the ICL kept their career going. Maybe the Indian side gets better players due to them gaining valuable experience from the ICL. Perhaps we see Tendulkar even becoming a good cap.... okay that's a step too far.

It also means that I have some decisions to make regarding certain real life events that were a significant part of shaping the cricket landscape in the 90s and even the 2000s. There were conflicts between India and Pakistan during this time and there were instances of both teams pulling out of tours/tournaments or causing hassle in general for the other because of frosty relations. There was the big match fixing scandal that threatened everything the sport had built towards the turn of the century. There would be a Zimbabwean crisis in the 2000s. I haven't fully decided as to how I shall incorporate all of these events and other ones I'm probably forgetting now. It wouldn't feel fair to both countrymen to brush aside events that did happen in reality and affected a lot of things and I shall include consequences from it in some way (completely open to feedback for this too). I'm planning to have the match fixing scandal be a big event just like in real life and have it affect proceedings in the league given that it involved some big names in Indian cricket as well as the global one. It should also make sense with how murky 90s cricket was in several regions and how dark it could get. This is still a very real threat in today's world involving many smaller leagues and it will most definitely be something that has a big impact in the ICL with big consequences.

My main plan for the league is for it to be a slow burner. It may take months for me to progress between seasons or I may do it in a single week depending on how IRL stuff goes by. What I do want is for this to not be abandoned so I shall take it as slow as it needs me to be. It's also why I didn't want to have it as a league involving other members which would have been a lot more fun as it wouldn't have been fair for me to ask time from others without putting in the same effort consistently. Having it as a story ensures that I can keep coming back to it whenever I can to have it running. The second big plan is for it to run till 2008 at the least with multiple smaller stories happening that add to the overall one. This means that things will be dynamic, we may have new teams enter and older ones fold just like in the real life version but at perhaps a faster rate to mimic the volatility of the 90s. There are plans to continue it after 2008 if everything works out well with the cricket world entering full on 'alternate reality' at that point but the first priority will be to ensure that it traverses the 90s and the 2000s till 2008 as a natural stopping point to tie into the real life IPL. And if it does smoothly... you never know where this may go next...

With all of that said and done, I welcome you all to this journey and hope you enjoy it with me. :)
 
Predicted XI

  1. :local: Navjot Sidhu​
  2. :local: Chetan Sharma​
  3. :os: Robin Smith​
  4. :os: Aravinda de Silva​
  5. :os: Hansie Cronje​
  6. :local: Sandeep Patil :c:
  7. :local: Syed Kirmani :wk:
  8. :os: Paul Reiffel​
  9. :local: Utpal Chatterjee​
  10. :local: Javagal Srinath​
  11. :os: Allan Donald
One doesn't simply buy Salil Ankola and drop him.
Post automatically merged:

I would say ignore the scandals and all
 
One doesn't simply buy Salil Ankola and drop him.
Post automatically merged:

I would say ignore the scandals and all

His time will come. :spy

India and Pakistan did play a match in the middle of a war so I don’t think it should be affecting things too much there. Not sure about the match fixing scandal though as it’d be weird to have a bunch of good players suddenly unavailable without a reason. Plus I do think there’s potential for a good storyline that takes elements of the real life controversy and has an impact. Will have to see when it becomes a problem though, for now we are all blissfully unaware of what is to come and I’m not getting there anytime soon. :p
 
FIXTURES







April 22 - Prestige Bangalore vs Wills Classic Calcutta @ Chinnaswamy Stadium
April 23 - Madras Rubbers vs Tollywood Cricket Nagar @ MA Chidambaram Stadium
April 24 - Hero Delhi Nationals vs Bombay Tatas @ Feroz Shah Kotla

April 25 - Tollywood Cricket Nagar vs Prestige Bangalore @ Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium
April 26 - Wills Classic Calcutta vs Hero Delhi Nationals @ Eden Gardens
April 27 - Bombay Tatas vs Madras Rubbers @ Wankhede Stadium

April 28 - Tollywood Cricket Nagar vs Wills Classic Calcutta @ Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium
April 29 - Prestige Bangalore vs Bombay Tatas @ Chinnaswamy Stadium
April 30 - Madras Rubbers vs Hero Delhi Nationals @ MA Chidambaram Stadium

May 1 - Bombay Tatas vs Tollywood Cricket Nagar @ Brabourne Stadium
May 2 - Wills Classic Calcutta vs Madras Rubbers @ Eden Gardens
May 3 - Hero Delhi Nationals vs Prestige Bangalore @ Feroz Shah Kotla

May 5 - TBA vs TBA @ Feroz Shah Kotla
May 6 - TBA vs TBA @ Eden Gardens

May 9 - TBA vs TBA @ Wankhede Stadium
 
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April 4, 1993
Round One

Bombay Tatas vs Wills Classic Calcutta @ Wankhede Stadium
4:30 PM

Welcome to the first ever ICL game between the Bombay Tatas and Wills Classic Calcutta on this warm Sunday. This is a historic moment in Indian Cricket and we are proud to be present here for it.

Bombay Tatas will have a full squad to select from while Classic Calcutta will be missing their three South African players who are still involved in the last stages of their domestic competition. Imran Khan had already expressed his delight earlier in the day to be a part of this tournament and he suggested that spirits were strong in his team and they were confident off getting to a good start. Meanwhile the home side's captain Marsh has said that they will mostly stick to their main plan and get results from it.

On to the toss... Imran Khan calls tails.... it's heads.. Marsh chooses to bowl first. He says that this pitch will be a good surface to bat on and wants to chase whatever target Calcutta set them. Imran Khan for his part says he would have chosen to bat anyway.

We're off to a flyer as McDermott gets proceedings underway. After an economical start from him and Banerjee... we have the first wicket of the tournament as McDermott trabs Prabhakar plumb leg before wicket! The all-rounder who has recently started opening for India has to walk back for a duck. Gooch and Dean Jones then proceed to stabilise the innings but Banerjee strikes just before his spell ends as Gooch throws away his promising start. Jones then goes after O'Donnell for two expensive overs as Calcutta finish the powerplay at 32/2.

Hirwani and Robin Singh pull things back with some controlled bowling as Jones is increasingly tied down with dot balls. Vengsarkar steps up to try and get the game moving but an inspired bowling change from captain Marsh who throws the ball to Ranatunga gets him Vengsarkar on the first delivery. The wicket brings captain Imran to the crease as him and Jones try to rebuild a good partnership. At the end of the halfway mark the score is 67/3.

Imran manages to keep the scoring rate steady as Jones gets closer and closer to his 50. The economical Robin Singh returns however and gets Jones out just before he can get his 50, further leaving Calcutta in a quagmire. As the death overs approach, Imran decides to start attacking and goes after Banerjee and Singh in particular with the help of Ajay Sharma. McDermott however manages to keep a lid on proceedings and finishes his spell with 1-23 from six overs. Calcutta finish with 156 for the loss of four wickets as Imran falls short of a 50 by just two runs. Will this be enough to stop Bombay on their home ground?


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Despite Prabhakar's leaky start, Patterson manages to get Stewart out for a duck with a leading edge. Manjrekar proceeds to shut up shop while Marsh takes the pressure of the chase on himself by scoring a few boundaries off Imran and Prabhakar. Garner's introduction brings about immediate results as he finally gets the tenacious Manjrekar out. As the powerplay draws to a conclusion, Bombay's score stands at 37/2.

It seems like the tactic is for Marsh to play aggressively while others block around him as Ranatunga contrary to his reputation remains defensive with Venkataramana slowing things down a bit. Marsh would then get the first 50 of the tournament. At this stage of 15 overs the score is 68/2.

However it is all in vain as he is immediately dismissed after it due to a smart bit of fielding by Gooch. With the required run rate climbing well above 6, Tendulkar comes in but the wily Imran gets his first wicket and sends the talented youngster back. The other talented youngster then makes his entry as the RRR is close to 7 and decides to start attacking. Garner, Imran, Sharma and Prabhakar all start runs as Kambli starts rotating strike efficiently and scoring boundaries wherever possible. Garner takes the brunt of it as his speed drops dramatically with Kambli taking full advantage of it to post a quickfire 52 off 35 before being dismissed. By that point however Patterson is the only who has been lucky to escape his wrath and manages to get one over Kambli by dismissing him but with Ranatunga well settled and O'Donnell coming it only seemed like a matter of formality. The Australian hits a couple of boundaries to finish the game and hand Bombay their first win in the ICL.


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Vinod Kambli gets the man of the match award for his splendid fifty that turned the tide and took Bombay from a losing position to a winning one in the matter of a few overs with four fours and two sixes. He says that this is just the beginning and he is looking forward to more wins and more performances. Watch out for this young man, he is destined for great things in the future if he can keep performing like this.

Imran Khan rues letting the match slip at a perfect moment. He believes that they had Bombay down where they wanted after Tendulkar's dismissal but failed to be ruthless and paid the price. He wants his side to be more clinical in matches going forward but backs the bowlers saying that anything can happen on a bad day.


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April 5, 1993
Round One

Hero Delhi Nationals vs Tollywood Cricket Nagar @ Feroz Shah Kotla
4:30 PM

Both teams should have their full squad available to them. It looks like Delhi have made the pitch spin friendly and tough to bat on. Here are the playing XIs for both teams.

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Only 5 bowling options for Delhi and one of them is the inexperienced Kuruvilla... let's see how Kapil Dev manages his resources. Tollywood have opted to play Chetan Sharma as an opener, no doubt partly inspired by a certain New Zealand opener in their opponent side today. (ignore Kirmani being an all-rounder for some reason, must have forgot to switch him back to keeper type after some editing).

Now... to the toss we go...


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and it's heads! Delhi have won the toss and....

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Kapil Dev says that they want to restrict Tollywood first and believe in their batting to chase a target down. Patil is surprised and believes that the pitch will be even more difficult to bat on later. Let's see who is right.

Botham, Dev and Chauhan manage to keep Tollywood to a slow start at the beginning but Sidhu and Chetan bide their time, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. That opportunity comes via Kuruvilla who they target ruthlessly and force out of the bowling attack. They may have started slowly but have got their reward in the powerplay and finish it with 38 runs on board without losing any wicket.

Greg Matthews comes in to bowl and manages to keep a lid on the scoring rate but it's only until Kuruvilla is reintroduced and he ends up being expensive again as Tollywood double their score since the powerplay at the halfway mark. Sidhu has been freely hitting boundaries and no one seems to be able to stop him. If Delhi don't control this things may get out of hand very soon.

Chauhan now is the next bowler to be targetted as Kapil Dev is forced to even bowl Crowe for a couple of overs to compensate for Kuruvilla. Crowe surprises everyone with some tight bowling and gets a dampener on the scoring. Kuruvilla then manages to finally make an impact albeit in the field with a direct hit to dismiss Sidhu. Matthews then dismisses Robin Smith after a quick cameo from the Englishman. Kapil and Botham end up bowling the closing overs and they manage to get some control over the run-rate with some extraordinary bowling efforts from the veteran all-rounder duo as they keep Aravinda de Silva and Cronje quiet for ten balls. In the end though they may have given away more than they can hope to chase in these tough conditions as shown by even Tollywood struggling to scre in the end.


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Donald and Srinath get off to an excellent start with the White Lightning taking the early wicket of Greatbatch. They are then backed up well by Sharma and Reiffel who keep things equally miserable. Bhave is forced to anchor the chase while Boon tries to score quicker to compensate. At the end of the powerplay Delhi's score is a paltry 27/1.

They then try to keep building a strong partnership but Chatterjee and Cronje keep their scoring limited. Delhi do not lose wickets though and Boon steadily increases his score to 40. Bhave for his part tries to stay not out without attempting any risk. By the 15th over mark Delhi have just 54 runs having lost only one wicket. The RRR is above 6 now and doesn't look like it will stop climbing. Can Delhi find a Kambli like performance from somewhere?

Alas! Things only get worse as Delhi lose the set Boon who is bowled through the gate by Chatterjee who is now increasing in confidence, aided by the pitch. Crowe comes in and starts batting briskly to keep some hope alive. Reiffel returns to finally get the stubborn Bhave out whose knock at this point is looking absolutely out of place. Lamba tries his luck at keeping the chase alive with Crowe and they seem set to at least cause some nerves but the return of Donald puts an end to any of it. Despite Botham's last minute slogs to salvage something, Crowe is too spent to try and keep up with him as Srinath, Donald and Chetan continue being as miserable as possible. Tollywood have successfully grinded a win at Delhi, a massive win that they will celebrate all night.


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This was the key partnership that drove Tollywood to win. On a sticky surface where no one could ultimately be fluent, having a big partnership is what kept Tollywood alive and Delhi's inability to break it led to their eventual downfall. Things weren't helped by their rusty chase, at no point were they ahead of Tollywood in the game as shown by the worm graph below and you can't say they didn't deserve this loss. It'll be a tough day tomorrow but they must focus on their next game in Bombay day after tomorrow.

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Kapil Dev: "Not satisfied with the performance at all. We were outplayed in all departments and the desire to win was lacking. Unhappy in the bowling particularly as they scored more than expected and we allowed them to. May be next game we go with six bowlers instead, who knows? Will decide seeing the next game conditions."


Sandeep Patil: "Very satisfied and happy with the performance overall. Everyone gave their best and especially Chetan (Sharma), Donald and Sidhu. Any one of them could have won man of the match and we will take this momentum forward with us back home as will they. For now we will just celebrate and look at how things are tomorrow once we get back."

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April 6, 1993
Round One
Madras Rubbers vs Prestige Bangalore @ MA Chidambaram Stadium
6:30 PM

Welcome to the first night match of this year's ICL. Both teams will miss players with Lamb and Kuiper not being available for Madras while Marshall is absent for Bangalore. This pitch looks similar to the one we saw in Delhi yesterday but it looks even worse for wear and tear. Whoever wins the toss here shouldn't make the same mistake that Kapil (Dev) did yesterday and should look to bat first instead.

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(there's a bug with the game I believe for the previews that seems to swap around roles sometimes which explains Healy, Stephenson and Azhar's weird types)

Madras have opted to go with a spin heavy bowling attack to gain as much of an advantage as possible with the pitch. Bangalore have perhaps surprised some people by selecting Jayasuriya ahead of Reid. The Sri Lankan recently took a six wicket haul against England, what can he offer today in prime conditions for spin? Here's to the toss...


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...and it is heads! Bangalore will now...

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Smart decision from the Indian captain here. He's said that he wants to post a decent total on board and look to defend it. Border admits that they were also looking to bat first but thinks they can still surprise the Bangalore team.

Bangalore start slowly, choosing to be cautious instead of loosing wickets in a heap. Raju strikes the first blow by getting Raman to edge it to Houghton at slip. This brings in the legendary Viv who starts proceedings in his usual entertaining manner with Greenidge being a defensive blocker at the other end but Viv's party ends prematurely when he's run-out trying to scamper for a quick single right at the end of the powerplay. Qadir, Kumble and Raju keep things tight in the powerplay but Harris ends up gifting runs which allows Bangalore to get to 35/2 by the end of it.

The next few overs go Madras' way completely as Bangalore lose both Greenidge and Jadeja without them getting to double figures. The captain Azharuddin is forced to play patiently and try to build a partnership with Stephenson as Shastri joins the fray and bowls some superb overs. Stephenson does get off to a positive start which leaves Bangalore at 59/4 after 15 overs.

The duo then start putting the pressure back on Madras with some smart strike rotation and boundary hitting. They take advantage of Harris struggling to find the right places to bowl and Stephenson in particular goes after him, preferring to leave the spinners untouched. Azharuddin meanwhile targets Raju who ends up conceding too many runs in his last few overs. They take the score up to 114 before Stephenson is dismissed in the 27th over by Kumble but by then the recovery was well and truly complete. Azharuddin and Jayasuriya then plunder some quick runs towards the end off Harris after Healy doesn't trouble the scoreboard and they end the innings with more than they would have thought possible 15 overs ago.


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Madras get off to the worst possible start with Srikkanth being bowled by Stephenson's quicker yorker after scoring a boundary. The worst was yet to come though as Azharuddin pulled a surprise move bringing in Jayasuriya in the third over to replace Stephenson. The Sri Lankan repaid the faith in him almost instantly with two wickets in the same over, sending both Amarnath and Houghton back to the pavilion.

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(not what you want to see when your team is set a target above 130...)

If the game wasn't decided then, it would be a few overs later when Shastri got caught in a mix-up with his captain and gave away his wicket in a run-out. Despite scoring off Wassan in the powerplay their total collapse to the others means that they finish it 25/4.

Border and Amre then would bat to save their NRR from plummeting and for a while it seemed like they had a decent partnership going that could have threatened Bangalore's low target. However that is put to rest when Ayub bowled Border with a classic off-break. Azhar then brought on Viv to compensate for a couple of Wassan's overs. By the fifteenth over Madras had only 41 runs to show for losing five wickets.

The rest of the match seemed like a formality as the RRR kept climbing steadily and neither Amre nor Harris did anything to chase it. Instead the duo played sedately and were content with individual scores in 20s. Amre ended up being dismissed by Jayasuriya who returned to finish his superb spell and Stephenson cleaned up Russell, leaving Qadir and Harris to just block it out for fear of a worse outcome. An absolute pummeling in the end by Bangalore who will travel to Calcutta happily with a minor selection headache.


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Until the seventh over both sides were not too different in terms of runs on board. The difference was in the wickets lost column; Madras had lost four to Bangalore's one. And that may have well decided this game as Madras simply couldn't afford taking risks to chase the target down. There were question marks raised over Madras' strategy of having such an old batting unit and that will only intensify after this embarrassing loss. The only pace bowler they played also leaking runs heavily will not help.

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For Bangalore this is a big win in hostile conditions. Azharuddin played a superb knock under pressure and Stephenson did his best to support his captain with some smart batting. Their partnership of 61 proved monumental in the end with Madras struggling to match it in their innings.

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Mohammad Azharuddin: "Very pleased with that performance, it shows that we have the grit and willingness to battle in tough conditions and secure a win. Especially pleased for young Jayasuriya, Lloyd was the one who wanted to buy him originally and convinced everyone to do so at the auction despite his slow start to international cricket. He has been very impressive in the nets and Lloyd thought he would do a good job today in these conditions. I'm happy that he performed well, I would rather have a problem like this (whether to include him or not) than think about dropping players for bad form (laughs)."

Allan Border: "This was embarrassing. We showed no desire to win and I'm unhappy with that. We should have made it a better contest and toughened it out. We were too loose with our bowling which allowed them to build a good partnership. Not worried too much about Amarnath's performance today, he is our coach and he has made comebacks from worse situations before. Will continue to support and work with him. Final decision is up to him if he plays or not. We must improve in the next game, if not questions have to be asked of the players.
"
 
Just imagine by how much tollywood have won if Salil Ankola bowled. They held back.
 
April 7, 1993
Round Two
Bombay Tatas vs Hero Delhi Nationals @ Brabourne Stadium
6:30 PM

The buildup to this match has been dominated by Sachin Tendulkar vs Kapil Dev to the fullest extent possible. Tendulkar is being seen widely as the next Indian cricketer to become globally revered like Kapil and this has all the makings of a classic. Will the young contender step up having failed in the first game or does the old legend have more tricks up his sleeve?

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Bombay go with an unchanged XI while Kapil's post match comments from last time have come to fruition with their fourth most expensive player, Steve Waugh coming in today for Greatbatch. Delhi sorely missed the sixth bowler last game, can they make up for it this time? The surface looks like a batting paradise from the outlook, we may have our first truly exciting game of this season tonight.

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Kapil admits that he made an error last time with his decision but is looking to make amends today. The Delhi captain is absolutely pumped up, we may be in for a show tonight. Marsh says that he is fine with chasing and thinks they can win again batting second.


The pitch seems like an absolute belter. Despite Boon falling in the first over to his fellow countryman, Delhi are off to a positive start with even Bhave playing in a brisk manner. McDermott and Banerjee bowl well but Hirwani is targeted in the powerplay and even the loss of Crowe in the last over before the powerplay to Robin Singh hasn't dented the Delhi mood here as they finish it with 44/2.

Lamba provides decent support to Bhave but he fails to convert it into something significant with O'Donnell dismissing him. That isn't before him and Bhave score off him and it forces Marsh to bring up Banerjee who ends up getting Bhave out right on the verge of the midpoint of this innings. At this stage Delhi are 82/4. Waugh who managed to get his eye in before Bhave was sent back keeps the scoring rate brisk with Botham, scoring plenty of runs off the fourth and fifth Bombay bowlers.

Hirwani manages to keep things tight at his end though in his second spell which starts flustering Botham who holes out to O'Donnell after a superb slow ball by Singh. It brings captain Kapil Dev to the crease and he doesn't disappoint with a quickfire 20 runs off the bat, targeting the pacers who look estranged without Hirwani. He doesn't stop there though, bringing up his fifty in just 24 balls even before Waugh and smashing Banerjee to all parts of the ground. Even McDermott can't escape the onslaught, conceding more runs than he would have liked. The sheer brutal attack of Kapil Dev frees up Waugh to go on the offensive himself and the Australian scores a fifty, showing that perhaps should have played last game. Better late than never for Kapil though and Delhi will go into the break with a total just above 200.


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Kapil and Botham start strongly in the first three overs which result in the Bombay captain Marsh edging to the keeper Pandit. Botham then faces the brunt of an assault from Stewart who tries to make up for the lack of aggression early on. However he is also dismissed by an excellent Kapil Dev outswinger, ramping the pressure up on Bombay. As Ranatunga tries to settle into the chaos, Manjrekar is the next to fall trying to over-correct for the slow start. It brings out the young maestro Tendulkar who decides that a counter-attack is the best way to deal with the situation to give Bombay a powerplay score of 48/3.

After Kuruvilla and Chauhan are targeted again, Kapil brings himself back on for a couple of overs but fails to find the wickets he did earlier, both batsmen choosing wisely to not go after him. They instead target Botham alongside the Indian bowlers, steadily increasing their scoring rate without risk of losing their wickets. Waugh is brought in to try and get the run-rate back under control but other than being milked for runs he is unable to provide anything else. By the midway point Bombay's scorecard reads 83/3.

After this stage, the duo decide that to go on the offensive and slowly kill the game is the best approach. No bowler is spared as they go with particular disdain after the spinners and Botham. Kapil brings himself on for his last over in 22nd over but even he cannot break this partnership that is now threatening to take the game away. He is forced to bowl the spinners with Waugh and Botham and Bombay simply romp to the big target, getting there with 10 balls to spare. Kuruvilla's only brought on for the 29th over when the game was all but gone, signalling the complete lack of faith Kapil has in him as the others kept getting the ball despite being taken apart.


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Wow. This game was supposed to be the Sachin vs Kapil battle and it absolutely delivered in a frenetic batting show with both players stepping up to give their teams the best chance of a victory. Where as Tendulkar had the calm and collected Ranatunga for company, Kapil had to do the job on his own initially with the bat and had next to no support with the ball. The one place where you can criticise him today was for his captaincy as he opted to bowl spinners who were getting hit constantly at the death instead of using them up earlier like Marsh did with Hirwani, bowling himself out a lot earlier and not trusting Kuruvilla again after his shoddy start. It was still a wonderful performance and I'm not sure if we'll see anything similar for all-round performances in the rest of the tournament unless he decides to do it all over again.

pnship.jpgpnship1.jpg(a tale of two partnerships that defined this game)

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Kapil Dev: "It feels rough, we gave everything in this game and still didn't win. We weren't good with our bowling but I liked it better today than last time, we were bowling in a tough situation today and you can see that with even Beefy being hit badly. Waugh will be in our team going forward yes (laughs), he wasn't completely fit last time and we didn't want to risk him early and lose him as he may yet leave us soon enough for international duty. I hope he stays personally but we respect his decision and his board's no matter what it is.

Sachin Tendulkar: "I did not pay attention to the media talk before the game so I didn't know what was being talked about. I'm happy to have performed in front of my home crowd and to have led the team to a win, we wouldn't have done it with others like Robin (Singh) and Arjuna (Ranatunga) who kept us in the game even in tough moments. Long way to go over the next moment but can't complain about two wins in two games in front of our fans. We have a four day break now so we will look to practice hard and try to get accustomed to the conditions that Madras will have waiting for us."


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(Delhi had a chance with the early wickets but in the end the lack of a batsman who stepped up and scored big proved to be the key difference)
 

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