Back on some good performances and win in the league matches Zurich Lions were into qualifiers of CS T-10 tournament among the 15 teams and were placed in the Pool 3 which was having relatively strong teams. Per se, the team which remains on the top of the Pool goes to semis and further for the glory.
Practice plays an important role in skill acquisition and mental cognitive balance. Players did all the home work possible before this major tour. These are high intensity and demanding situations and players focused and emphasized on continuous training to develop the perceptual, cognitive, and motor skills required for successful performance.
On Thursday 02nd June team travelled to Zuoz a day before the mega event started. After settling down into their respective hotels; players met the next morning 03rd June where they had the first match scheduled with Zurich Crickets. Inclement weather is not your best friend on top of mountains, as the day expected to have showers in late evening and first match was likely to be affected by rain. Nevertheless, the team had good practice sessions as players hit the nets and did the fitness’s drills.
Day 1
Winning the toss ZCC1 elected to bat first. First few overs went for runs however timely breakthroughs and some excellent last overs by ZLCC opposition could only make 111/6. In the chase, ZLCC openers blistered to 2 overs 31 runs before rain halted the play for the day. The chase will continue the next day early morning 0830 hrs.
Day 2
Saturday 04.June.2022 - ZLCC vs ZCC1 (0830 hrs.) (resumption of the first match)
Match 1 : ZLCC batsmen resumed the chase of 111 runs and in the end did quite easily with 8 balls to spare and ZLCC won the match by 8 wickets in hand. Riding on the scintillating batting performance, disciplined bowling and superb ground fielding it was all-round performance by Team. Senthil 38*, Mayur 31*, Kanishk 23, Ankush 20 were among runs whilst Snehil 3/20 was pick of the bowler.
With 3 points in kitty, ZLCC were playing against a strong Geneva CC side @ 1100 hrs.
Winning the toss Geneva CC elected to bat first. ZLCC bowlers did not get enough support from the fielders as they dropped some crucial catches and Geneva threatened to run away with a huge total but excellent come back from bowlers restricted a power packed Geneva CC to 10 overs 103/2.
In the chase it was imperative to keep the run rate going as the ground was biggest amongst the three and there were lot of scoring opportunities along the ground. In chase Kanishk played some innovative scoops where as Ankush supported him ably. At 3 overs 30/1 and 5 overs 52/2. The chase did look in control as it was half done, half to go. But quick wickets in succession and some dot balls put pressure and chase faltered. Mayur’s wicket was the turning point as it went against lions though LBW call was harsh. One call changed the complexion of the match. Before we ran out of the chase and it was 18 balls 48 needed when Sheshu played a superb cameo of 29 runs to bring back us closer to the target. Eventually ZLCC lost by 14 runs to GCC. But coming closer to the target helped us to keep the run rate healthy.
Winning the toss Aaragu CC elected to bat first. ZLCC bowlers were bang on money and did not allow ACC to score freely. After 6 overs ACC were 30/0 but some late scoring brought them to a respective total of 76/1 in 10 overs. Batsmen chased it down easily and ZLCC won the match comfortably in 7.5 overs 82/2 with 8 wickets in hand. Mayur 27* & Senthil 27* again starred with the bat. This won shot our run rate into positive +1.164 and were currently second in the table after 3 group matches ZLCC had 6 points (2 wins, 1 loss) and had last match against PWCC remaining which was kind of must win to jump to the top spot.
Day 3
Match 4:
Luck eluded the ZLCC captain 4th time in trot as PWCC elected to bat first. In a damp, dew outfield and well ball not helping the cause, PWCC batsmen ran away batting first. First wicket fell on 54/1 in 4th over. 7 overs it was 102/2. But some excellent death bowling by Omed brought ZLCC back. However PWCC ended up with 130/5. This was 15-20 runs more what ZLCC would’ve liked to chase. Had it been 110-115 the chase was on. But in the pursuit of chase ZLCC batsmen couldn’t keep up the run rate. 4 overs 30/2 and ZLCC needed 100 runs in 6 overs. Senthil played one heck of the extraordinary innings and was lone fighter in the chase. He scored a superb 70*( 29 balls, 5 fours, 6 sixes). Eventually ZLCC lost by 22 runs and remained 2nd in the pool. With GCC winning their final matches, ZLCC were pushed to 3rd with 2 wins and 2 losses with +0.322 run rate.
Zurich Lions Stats
Senthil Lakshmanan was best batsmen for ZLCC. He scored 152 runs in 4 matches (3 not outs), strike rate of 202.67, with highest score of 70*. He hit 14 (4s) and 10 (6s). He is in top 3 batsmen of the tournament and in 2nd place as MVP. He is also 3rd in the competition’s Dream Team.
Snehil Joshi with 4 wickets was highest wicket taker for ZLCC. With strike rate of 7.50 he had best of 3/20.
Amit Kumar had 3 catches and 1 run out is in 7th place in fielding.
Conclusion
Obviously disappointed but not saddened by it. T10, T5 or fast cricket is where we are still improving & being an all round genre team takes times. Standing table sometimes doesn’t show the real picture as to what really happened. With two close matches which were at times in our control. Finishing games with prowess is where we’ve got our work cut out. Middle order batting strengthening is our immediate focus. With the bowling strong unit, we must also work on slower, deceptions as more weapons in our artillery. Fielding unit must keep supporting the bowlers. Needless to say fitness, alertness and match awareness all goes hand in hand. And as they say- You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. We need to remember to give consistent results and success every individual needs to be in their best state of mind and in their optimum level. We did well as per our capacity but always improving, never settling. The focus now shifts to the CSPL where we play Olten CC next on Sunday 19th June. Time to relax a bit, regroup together and hit the practice sessions soon.
No matter the outcome or results we’ve got, I am sure you will keep supporting us through our thick’ s and thins. Stay safe and see you all very soon.
#unleash-the-player-in-you
Snehil Joshi
TeamZLCC
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