Motivation - key to NCC's success

Chris DHAMBARAGE

MOTIVATION: That was the key word to NCC's success in the SLC Premier limited overs cricket tournament concluded recently.

Despite the absence of most of their key players the club from Maitland Place stuck to their task to lift the title defeating Moors Sports Club by six wickets in the final encounter.

This was in fact the second time that they had made an impact in the current season having earlier emerged runners up in the SLC division one under 23 tournament.

But winning the Premier limited overs championship was quite an outstanding performance because last year they missed out a great opportunity having reached the final.

This time however NCC made certain that they would not repeat the same mistake as they completely outplayed their opponents in the final which quite surprisingly turned into a one sided contest.

Even then NCC's coach Sampath Perera said that at the start things did not go in their way in the final but bounced back magnificently through some accurate bowling.

Even at the beginning of the tournament NCC did not look the side that would last the full distance as their opening fixture against Saracens Sports Club was washed out due to bad weather and this was followed by a shock defeat at the hands of Moors Sports Club.

As a result the team was put under tremendous pressure as they needed to win the remaining games to stay alive in the competition. In addition NCC's progress was further disrupted with some of their star players being called for national duty for the Indian and the West Indies tours respectively.

They had the daunting task of searching for proper replacements before each match with the captaincy been handed over to three different players. But the most important fact was that the replacements lived upto expectations and they continued with the good work until the end.

Coach Sampath Perera said that they achieved their success mainly through the untiring efforts of the under 23 players who performed exceptionally well despite the heavy odds against them.

In fact NCC had the opportunity of playing just a solitary game with their full side and thereafter they were compelled to include the inexperienced under 23 players to perform their role.

Coach Sampath Perera was happy that the players had really put their heart and soul into the game in achieving their goal and believed that they could now even face much greater challengers in future.

Another important fact for NCC's success in this tournament was that all their players were very much focused on the game and each and everyone knew how to perform his role on the field successfully.

There was no real burden on one individual and their code name throughout the tournament was team work.

These kind of tactics certainly have helped NCC to complete their task without great difficulties and have been a real morale booster for the rest of the season.

Even then coach Sampath Perera said that he was really concerned about the team during their crunch game against Colts CC which they had to win with a bonus point.

That the team not only won this match but also collected their desired bonus point too is a good example of their total commitment towards the game.

The players knew exactly what was required from them and they rose to the occasion magnificently to emerge runners up from their group.

The semifinal fixture was even more tough as they edged out Tamil Union by a close margin of seventeen runs in a real tense encounter. Coach Sampath Perera said that they were up against it as they were defending a modest total of just over two hundred runs on a good batting wicket.

However the experience of Upul Chandana and the enthusiasm of Chanaka Komasaru helped NCC make a great comeback as they snatched a thrilling victory from the jaws of defeat. Even in the final NCC were considered as the underdogs because they had really struggled throughout the tournament.

In contrast their opponents Moors Sports Club had a success rate of one hundred percent having made a clean sweep during the group stage. But NCC did not mind going into the important final been considered as the unfancied team.

NCC had a mission and they accomplished that task to the perfection winning the final by a convincing margin of six wickets. No doubt they had regained the services of two of their key players, batsman Russel Arnold and all rounder Upul Chandana after they had being away on national duty.

But the main reason behind their success was that they were able to target each and every player from the opposition quite successfully and the result was Moors Sports Club been bowled out for a score of under one hundred and fifty runs.