The second edition of the Indian Cricket League is reaching its peak. So are the Hyderabad Heroes. We took some to get going, but once we have, we are not doing anything wrong. Touch wood.
Just take a look at the stats of the tournament as I write and we can see a Hyderabad player in each of the important statistical table. In the leading run-scorers, we have Jimmy Maher in the fourth place; Alfred Absolom’s seven-for against the Ahmedabad Rockets puts him at fourth place on the wicket-takers’ list; Maher is joint third in the most catches list and our glovesman, Ibrahim Khaleel, has effected second most number of dismissals behind the stumps so far.
Apart from these four gentlemen, almost all those who have gotten a look-in so far have delivered. And the results are evident in the table that matters the most — that is the points tally. With three matches to go, we find ourselves in a position where we can make it to the semis with even one win. But since our net run rate is not all that great, what we are looking at is to win, if not all three, at least, two remaining matches. And we have targeted Monday’s match against the Delhi Giants as a must-win game.
In the last tournament, we couldn’t defend a total of 141 against the Delhi team, then known as Jets. It clearly shows the depth in their team. So if we bat first, I guess we should get at least 160 on the board. And the task would not be so difficult with the addition of Justin Kemp to our line-up.
Kemp adds so much value to our line-up. He is a clean hitter, he is fleet-footed between the wickets and he is a very intelligent swinger. Such players are the need of the Twenty20 format and Justin has executed his role to perfection so far. And if have to chase a target against the Delhi team, seeing off Shane Bond would be the priority. If we succeed in it, we have the potential and the confidence to chase any target.
I am pretty satisfied with my performance in the tournament so far.
