Back to basics: Redbirds win against Mustangs

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After losing two matches in a row, the Redbirds squared up against Mustangs on Sunday in the Normal ground. Needing a win desperately, the Redbirds stuck to their basics in this match and pulled off a convincing victory. The Redbirds won this match by doing what they do best - chasing the target. A loss for either team meant that they would be out of the tournament. Mustangs won the toss and elected to bat under severe heat conditions.

Kedar opened the bowling spell with a wicket in his first over. Vinod appeared to find his rythm back after a forgetful performance against Rapchiks by claiming two quick wickets in his first over itself, the first one off of the first ball of his spell. After losing three quick wickets for only 8 runs, Mustangs hit back with a good partnership between Yogesh and Manoj adding 35 runs for the 4th wicket. As a result of some poor fielding (which is very unlike Redbirds) and dropped chances, Mustangs were able to put up a healthy target of 86 for the Redbirds to chase.

Madhav and Kedar opened the innings for the Redbirds and Kedar did so in style by sending the third delivery of the innings seering over the mid-wicket boundary for a six. They gave a good start to the innings and gave the Redbirds the best opening partnership (28 runs) so far in the tournament.

Dheeraj changed the batting line up a little bit and sent Imran in to wrap up the match fast. At this stage the Redbirds lost three wickets in quick succession(Madhav, Dheeraj and Kiran got out in the 6th, 7th and 8th over respectively) and game plan had to be re-assessed. However the two batsmen in the middle played sensibly and kept rotating strike and put together a valuable 18 run partnership for the 5th wicket.

After losing Sudheer for a full pitched delivery, Varun came in and batted flamboyantly and finished the chase by scoring three quick fire boundaries. Guberan remained unbeaten on 11 and Varun scored 15 from only 8 deliveries. Kedar was adjudged the Man of the Match for his blistering opening knock and 2 wickets.

This win by the Redbirds drew curtains for the Mustangs as they have now lost four matches out of their six and have no more games left to play. They should be able to credit in the fact that they didnt hand over the match to the Redbirds, who at the end proved to be a team that stuck to their basics of bowling tight and chasing sensibly.

This win gave the Redbirds the much needed 2 points and also the much required confidence. With 3 wins from 5 matches, the Redbirds are positioned precariously in the group standings. Even though a win against Spirits is virually guaranteed, a lot of other factors are going to come into play for the Redbirds to move on to the Super-12 stage.

A lot depends on the outcome of two important matches next weekend. Peoria XI (who lost against Redbirds in a close encounter) and Rapchiks (who beat Redbirds convincingly) face-off on Saturday morning. A win by Peoria XI will mean the end of road for Rapchiks and a win by Rapchiks will mean that four teams will end up with 8 points each (assuming that the Knights vs. BPUD game doesn't end up in a tie and the Redbirds beat Spirit). In that case it all comes down to the run-rate and the Redbirds sure don't want that to happen.