Match 2 against Real Panthers on 12282008

Guided by an unbeaten 35* (42b, 1*4, 1*6) by Santosh and aided by contributions from Naman (9, 15b, 1*4), Suresh (15, 15b, 1*4) and Ravi M (16, 23b) we scored 99/5 in 18 overs.

Shiva (2 wickets), Srinivas, Hari (1 wicket) and Saran (4 wickets) demolished the opposition batting for a meagre 47 in 15.83 overs.

Saran had the best figures of 5-1-8-4 with all batsmen being bowled. The sticky wicket suited his bowling and batsmen after batsmen failed to read the flight of his bowling and his pace of the wicket.

We thus secured a huge 52 run margin against a weakened "Real Panthers" team.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcporgKJ5F8vlfA&hl=en

Match 14 against Sony on 12202008

Hari won the toss and elected to field in the 16 over game at Cypress Canyon Ground against RBCC (Sony).

Srinivas (new player) and Saran opened the bowling. Srinivas bowled out swing / out-cutter deliveries at will and was also aided by the slippery conditions on the ground. Ajay, Kiran and Hari were the others to share the bowling responsibility. Srinivas bowled Narayan on a delivery that was well pitched up and on middle stump but then moved ever so slightly to peg back off stump. About three catches were dropped and the fielding overall was not as sharp as expected. The early morning conditions resulted in the ball not travelling to the boundary and made scoring difficult.

The opposition batsmen lost three wickets at the top but opening batsman Hari and Ram showed resistance thereafter. Score at the end of 8 overs was 33 but then reached 61 in 12 overs. Thereafter our bowlers pegged the scoring rate to restrict RBCC to 78/7 in 16 overs. Opening batsman Hari from RBCC, top scored with 27 (31b, 1*4).

Srinivas (2), Saran (2), Ajay (2) were among the wickets.

Narasaiah and Spandan provided an opening partnership of 24 in 4 overs aided by a flurry of wides by the RBCC opening bowling pair. Narasaiah (12, 21b, 1*4), Parag (11 in 24b), Hari (11 in 17b) chipped in with a few runs to take the score beyond 60. Suresh coming in at the fall of Hari's wicket scored a brisk 14 in 13b. We lost 3 wickets with 3 runs needed for victory but in the end we made it with 4 balls to spare.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpow2eH6aMOwFw&hl=en

6 a side event on 121308

Panthers lead by Mudit and Eagles lead by Vijay V participated in the event on Dec 13th. Cloudy conditions coupled with an occasional drizzle, with consistent rain for a period, greeted all enthusiastic cricketers split into 12 different teams.

In Group C, Panthers tied the first game against Doyle Devils, won the second against RBCC-C and then lost to Blasters-A

In Group B, Eagles won the first game against Blasters-B, lost badly to Shadows-VI but won with a huge margin against RBCC-A.

Although Eagles lost a game they finished 2nd among the 12 teams having earned quite a few bonus points in the win against RBCC-A. Blasters-A won all three games and finished at the top spot.

Panthers were pushed out of the number 8 slot, by Doyle Devils who had the same number of wins but had earned an extra bonus point in one of the wins.

Eagles then lost badly against Real Panthers in the quarter-final game. It's the 4th successive, 6 a side event that any of our teams have failed to make it to the semi-finals.

Two quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final have been pushed out into next week due to persistent rain in the second half of the day.

Match 1 against Real Panthers on 120608

Hari won the toss and as one would have expected elected to bat in the 20 over game played at Miramar College Ground (Big). We were playing a new team named "Real Panthers". The name suggests that the Panthers that won the winter tournament last year were probably "fake".

Nitin and Suresh opened the batting. Suresh started, well hitting a four in the third over bowled by Bhanu. Nitin mis-timed one and lobbed one high. Bhanu moved back and held a one handed catch falling to the ground hard. Vijay S (1, 4b), Hari (1, 4b), Parag (o in 2b), Ravi (1 in 6b) were then dismissed in quick succession putting the team in a precarious position. Suresh was scoring well but was dismissed soon for 20 (26b, 2*4). The score at the end of 10 overs was 47/6 and it was imperative that we get as close to 100 as possible.

Real Panthers found it difficult to control the line with quite a few extras being bowled throughout the inning. Mudit and Sam then stitched a good partnership. Mr Extras (35 in 0b), Mudit (7, 17b), Sam (15, 24b, 2*4) and Narasaiah 6*(11b, 1*4) saved the team from the blushes to take the team to 93/10 in 18.4 overs.

Vijay S, then came up with a spell of 4-0-9-5 with Saran, Hari, Ajay, Sam sharing the remainder of the 5 wickets to take the team to a huge 31 run win. The maiden 5 wicket haul by Vijay S, came with 2 wickets in the first spell of 2 overs, a wicket in the 3rd and two to finish the game in the 18th over. Real Panthers were not used to the slow bowling of the kind being bowled by Ajay and Saran in the middle overs. Ajay picked up a wicket in 2 overs giving away only 4 runs. Saran bowled 3 overs going away for 11 runs and picked up two crucial wickets. Anil had hit a straight effortless six in the third over of Saran but was caught at short cover the very next ball. Sam planned the dismissal of Nitin T, as Nitin slashed to Hari at first slip. Hari (2), Suresh (1), Ravi (1) , Sam (1) held good catches in the outfield.

The 5 wicket haul by Vijay S, desrves a MOM nomination for this game.

With some new teams in the contest, the 20 over tournament coming up next month is going to be an interesting event.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpopvbzObOeDYA&hl=en

Match 7 against SDCricInfo on 11/15/2008

We won the toss and elected to field in the 20 over game at Miramar College Ground (Big)

Anil shouldered the batting responsibility for SDCricInfo by himself. He almost scored a 50 falling short by just 3 runs. His 47 in 47 balls, was studded with no less than 7 boundaries.

SDCricInfo scored 96/10 in 20 overs.

In reply we scored 91/7 in 20 overs. Vijay S scored the bulk of the runs taking away 40 runs from the target. He faced 46 balls and struck two fours and a six. No other batsman on our side could score freely after he departed. We fell short by a meagre 5 runs with three wickets in hand.

SDCricInfo thus scored their first victory in 7 games against out team. Our current record against SDCricInfo is 7-1 in our favor.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoj_wAA4QAMXw&hl=en

Match 11 against Doyle Devils on 11/01/2008

Doyle Devils won the toss and elected to field in the 16 over game played at Miramar College Ground (Big) on Nov 1, 2008

Sam (18 in 25b, 1*4), Abhishek (15 in 25b, 1*6) and Hari (12 in 13b, 1*4) chipped in with a few runs. We scored 82/7 in 16 overs which was a target that looked modest.

In reply the Doyle Devils batsmen played with aggression knowing the asking rate was lesser than run-a-ball and the fact that it was a 16 over game. Doyle Devils reached the target in 14 over losing just 4 wickets in the process.

Kartik top scored with 22 and Pavel struck a quick 17.

This was the 3rd win for the Doyle Devils in 11 encounters, one of which was a tie.


http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqxMIyCGiNOKw&hl=en

Match against Sony 0n 09/20/2008

We won the toss and as one would have predicted chose to bat first. The opening pair of Amit and Santosh did not last long. Rahul B was dismissed hit-wicket but Mudit and Suresh from thereon prevented further collapses.

Suresh scored 30 (53b, 2*4, 1*6) and Mudit chipped in with 18 (29b, 1*4). The remainder of the batsmen however perished in the chase of quick runs. We finished with 110/8 in 20 overs.

Our previous performances against Sony had suggested that we would defend this total with ease. Adarsh and Nilesh in the top order disappointed but Pankaj and Hrishikesh dug deep. Pankaj (26 in 35b, 3*4), Unni (30 in 38b, 2*4) and Nagendra (17 in 18b, 2*4) ensured a win for the Sony team.

This was the first win for Sony against our team in 11 encounters. Buoyed by this win the sony team then went on to win the next two games to seek 3 wins in three games.

Current record against Sony stands at 10-3 in our favor.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqh9ZE3_oZ0Bw&hl=en

SDCS Cricket Tournament :- Pool A Game 6 - Panthers v/s Blasters in 072608

Batting first the Blasters scored 121/9 in 20 overs. Top four batsmen including Ashish, Vinay, Shashi and Vaibhav did not last long. The middle order batsmen comprising of Ritesh (19 in 21b), Nitin (22 in 27b) Harman (22 in 19b) and Shailesh (22 in 18b) however scored runs to achieve a more than respectable score.

In reply the Panthers were dismissed for 86 in 16.4 overs. Suresh top scored with 24 (27b, 4*4). Ajay chipped in with 17 (19b, 3*4) useful runs in the lower order to add some respect to the total.

Blasters thus won the 33rd game between the two teams by a relatively huge margin of 35 runs.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqtERJ3ntnRUQ&hl=en

Match against SDCricInfo on 11/22/2008

We won the toss and elected to field in the 20 over game played against SDCricInfo at Miramar College Ground (Big)

Vijay S and Sam opened the bowling. The openers of SDCricInfo did well to score 21 in 3 overs without losing a wicket. Rosie was introduced in the 4th over and struck with just the fourth ball. He picked another wicket in his second over and the score at the end of 6 overs was 30/2. SDCricInfo lost two more wickets and reached 47/4 in 10 overs. It was crucial to restrict the opposition to about 80-85 knowing our failure in recent times in chasing totals requiring an asking rate of even below 5 rpo. Hari then struck with two wickets in the 15th over and conceded no runs in the over. Vijay S followed it up with a wicket in the next and the score read 66/7 in 16 overs. We were expected to restrict the opposition to our target score but that was not how things worked out. 32 runs were conceded in the final 4 overs. Ajay (2), Sam (1) and Rosie (1) were tasked with the final 4 overs. Prashant and Murali played well, scoring singles on shots where the batsmen should have been run-out.

In the end we conceded 97 runs in 20 overs picking up 8 wickets in the process. Hari (3), Rosie (2) and Vijay S (1) were among the wickets. Hari with figures of 4-0-14-3 was the pick of the bowlers. Vijay S (17 in 4 overs) and Rosie (18 in 4 overs) did well with the ball. Sam (26 in 4 overs) and Ajay (22 in 4 overs) provided good support to the others while bowling. Sam and Vijay S held good high catches running around. Rajesh and Rosie helped get batsmen run-out with good acts in the field.

Parag and Sam opened the batting. Sam struck Rajendra for a boundary on the last ball of the second over but fell very soon on the last ball of the 3rd over. Suresh fell pretty soon with the score on 20 and in walked in Hari. Hari and Parag steadied the inning to take the team to 51/2 in 10 overs. We were helped by a steady flow of extras from the SDCricInfo bowlers. One over from Praveen brought us 6 wides and a no ball.

Immediately after the break Hari began the acceleration that brought us scores of 10, 12, 10, 7 in the next 4 overs. Hari sprinted for quite a few twos and also struck Rajendra for two successive boundaries. Parag struck Balaji for a six over square leg and hit Prashant for a straight four. A four over fine leg brought the team victory with 8 wickets in hand. It was a 79 run unbeaten partnership between Hari (30 in 35b, 2*4) and Parag (33 in 46b, 2*4, 1*6) that helped us reach a score of 99 with 25 balls pending.

Hari with an unbeaten 30 with the bat and 3 wickets with the ball is undoubtedly the MoM for this game. Let's make this a habit and keep winning games as convicingly as on this ocassion.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcppAkWV7Z4A3Xw&hl=en

Match against Blasters on 11/08/2008

We won the toss and elected to bat in the 18 over game at Miramar College Ground (Big) against the Blasters. Two of the previous three games were lost against the Blasters and hence it was time to turn the tide over.

Parag and Saran opened the inning. Saran was bowled by Nitin in just the third over. Mudit joined Parag at the crease and together they steadied the inning taking the score to 18/1 in 5 overs and then 41/1 at the end of 9 overs when a break was taken. Parag was bowled by Shailesh on the first ball after the break having scored 16 (26b, 1*4). The ball pitched on a good length spot outside off, spun and then slid along the ground to peg back leg stump.

Hari joined Mudit but both found it difficult to negotiate the bowling of Shailesh and Satish. Shailesh was mixing deliveries quite well with spin in both directions and also sliding in the faster ones. Satish, a leg break bowler, kept tossing the ball up and turned it just enough to beat the bat. Mudit played 4 dot balls in an over from Shailesh and finally was out caught behind the wicket. Mudit had scored a well made 17 (31b, 1*4). Both Shailesh and Satish caused problems for both batsman. Hari did well to remain unbeaten on 20 (26b, 1*4). He did not score freely to his liking but added a valuable 20 runs to take the team to a healthy, if not challenging score. Blasters bowled quite well throughout to restrict us to 82/4 in 18 overs.

Harish and Rajesh opened the inning against the bowling of Vijay S and Amit. Rajesh played one quiet over but in the third over from Vijay S launched some straight shots and picked up 8 runs. Amit cleaned up Harish in the next over. Vijay S went for another 6 runs in the next over in the first few balls. He then shortened the length to pitch it slightly away from the batsman to lure the batsman to go for another of those straight lofted drives. Rajesh fell for it and was caught behind by Parag. It was good thinking by Vijay S to get the crucial break.

Ishavak and Raj played out a few overs to help our bowlers to settle into a rhythm. Ishavak was run out and Hari bowled Raj. Saran picked up the crucial wickets of Nitin and Harman both of whom were bowled. Hari picked up Shailesh and the game pretty much swung in our favor. Vijay S bowled Satish and the last batsman Vaibhav was run out. Blasters were dismissed for 70 runs giving us a 12 run win.

Amit had figures of 4-0-10-1 and Saran ended up with 3-0-12-2. Ajay just gave away 8 runs in his two overs. Saran, Hari and Vijay S did well to pick up two wickets each.

It was a welcome win after three losses on the trot against Sony, a win against Shadows, a tie and a loss against Doyle Devils.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcppMd5kd7rLaAQ&hl=en

Internal game on 10/25/2008

Bowlers Vijay S, Abhi , Sam and Gopal playing for Team B, relished the bowler friendly conditions at Nobel Recreation Centre Ground(Small), having been asked to bowl first by Team A. Mudit put up some resistance at the top but runs were hard to come by. Team A crawled to 27/2 at the half way stage in the 16 over game. Team A was eventually dismissed in 13 overs scoring just a modest 64/5. Parag provided some acceleration in the latter half of the inning. Mudit 12 (27b) and Parag 28 (26b, 3*4) scored a few runs for Team A.

Team B opened with Rajesh and Shekhar. Rajesh was unable to score with ease. Shekhar kept hitting the ball softly to the gaps thereby being able to squeeze singles. Shekhar 22 (38b) and Abhi 12 (22b) later on guided Team B to a relatively easy win with an over to spare and 2 wickets in hand. Amit and Rosie bowled well between them restricting the scoring to just 26 runs in their allotted overs. The modest score would have appeared larger had Team A bowlers managed to capture wickets more frequently.

About 3 or 4 players skipped the internal game having confirmed their presence earlier. Internal games are equally enjoyable and challenging.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcprd2sdckZjUVw&hl=en

Match against Shadows on 10/11/2008

We won the toss and elected to field in the 20 over game. The game began at Cypress Canyon Ground (Big) but had to be moved to Westview Parkway Ground(Upper) after the first 4 overs.

Hari and Ajay shared the first 8 overs with the new ball and between them picked up 3 of the top 4 batsmen. Gopal and Parag shared 4 overs but gave away a few runs between them. Regular bowlers Sam, Abhi and Vijay S returned later on and picked up the next 7 wickets between them. All catches that went to hand were collected. The top pick was the one held by Abhi at first slip as he stretched his hand back and held on to the ball even as he fell down.

The new opposition named Shadows was dismissed for a meagre 84 runs in 17.67 overs.

Abhi and Vijay S opened the batting but Yoga dismissed Abhi on only the second ball of the chase. Amit and Vijay S steadied the inning. The ground the match was played on was very uneven, devoid of grass, and was even dusty. Vijay S adjusted to the uneven nature of the pitch pretty well. Amit too seemed to have settled but was needlessly run out when he hit one straight to short cover and started off for a run but was sent back by Vijay S. Shekhar joined Vijay S and together they ran singles and twos to take us closer to victory. Vijay S was held in the deep on the off-side with a very few runs left in the chase. Vijay S made a valuable 30 (47b) and Amit contributed with 19 (26b, 1*4). Shekhar made way for Hari who hit one boundary and returned after being held at short mid-wicket. Rahul B and Ajay then stuck around to erase the short deficit. We thus won the game by 6 wickets and 15 balls to spare.

This win came as a relief after three successive losses to Sony. As expected we dominated the game against a new team without using available resources to the fullest.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoVPxvzTOfQfQ&hl=en

Match 10 against Doyle Devils on 10/19/2008

Doyle Devils won the toss and elected to field at Cypress Canyon Ground (Small).

Siva and Hari opened the batting. Kartik started the first over with a few wides but then bowled Hari on a ball that stayed relatively low. Siva was bowled by Pankaj in the third over with a delivery that came in and was well pitched. Parag and Shekhar steadied the batting for a while and the score at the end of 5 overs was 22. Shekhar was run out by Venkat running to square leg from mid-wicket. Santosh walked in to join Parag and together they took the score to 48/3 in 10 overs. Early morning conditions saw the ball come with good pace and high bounce making scoring not all that easy.

Santosh lofted one to long on where Sriram held a good catch running in towards his right. Samir walked in and within a few balls struck a boundary towards long with a firm drive. Prashant had been bowling well throughout on the day. He bowled Samir with a good delivery that was almost a yorker and was also angling in. Parag was run out when the firm uppish shot was stopped by Kartik at short cover. The ball rolled towards the bowler and Abhi began running towards the batsman's end. Parag had scored a steady 34 (50b) but was dismissed just at a time when the acceleration had begun. The score at the end of 15 overs was 78/6 and a target of 110 seemed a possibility. Abhi and Vijay S scored a few quick runs and were dismissed going for shots. Abhi scored 13(23b) and Vijay S played a good brisk knock of 13 (11b). We eventually scored 104/9 which was about 6 runs short of what we could have reached.

The conditions for batting in the second half are much easier at this ground but 105 was a good target to defend. Tushnim and Kartik opened the batting. Tushnim hit one over the infield towards cover and got a boundary on the very first ball bowled by Abhi. Suresh at the other end began with a few wides and DD (Doyle Devils) reached 13/0 in 2 overs. Abhi bowled a good third over and dismissed Tushnim caught by Santosh behind the wicket. Venkat came in one down and started with a flurry of fours in the 4th over bowled by Suresh. At 26/1 in 4 overs DD were well placed to chase the target. Kartik and Venkat continued to play the bowling with ease and maintained the scoring rate at or below the required rate. Venkat in particular was playing excellent shots over the infield on the off side and was also picking up the gaps well. Kartik at the other end played steadily and provided good support from one end. Rajesh threw one from deep cover to Parag at short cover who then passed on to Santosh to dismiss Venkat just before the 10 over break. DD were placed at 48/2 at the half way stage and the game was thus in balance with DD having the advantage of knowing the target with batting conditions also in their favor.

Vijay S and Siva had done well to pull down the scoring rate prior to the 10 over break. Samir and Hari continued from there and did extremely well to keep the game in balance until the end of 17 overs. Kartik and Joy were run-out going for the second run. Vijays/Abhi did well in the field to send the ball in sharp to Santosh from behind the wicket. Prashant was caught behind in the 17th over bowled by Samir. Overs 11 to 17 with the Samir/Hari bowling combination had yielded just 28 runs for 3 wickets. 29 runs were required in the final three overs and we seemed to be in control of proceedings and the favorites to win. Pavel had other ideas and had decided to not leave things until the final over. Pavel struck two huge shots towards wide mid-on and then over extra cover. The 18th over from Siva produced 11 runs and 18 runs were required in 2 overs. Vijay S bowled a fantastic 19th over yielding just 5 runs which meant that 13 runs were required in the final over. Pavel and Pankaj were the batsmen at the crease and Pavel had strike on the first ball. The first ball from Hari was hit towards long on and the batsmen scampered for a quick two. The second ball was struck for a huge six over long on and the balance quickly shifted in favor of the DD side. Hari came back well and conceded a single in the next two balls leaving just 4 to get in the final two balls. Hari then bowled a wide at a very crucial point and then conceded a two leaving the scores tied, with Pavel on strike and one ball to go. The game was up for grabs for DD mainly due to the heroics of Pavel. The fielders on the off side were brought in and there was cover on the leg side with three fielders in the deep. Hari pitched the ball up and Pavel decided to not go for the slog but just drive the ball towards the fielder at long on. The ball caught the very bottom of the bat and popped up right towards the bowler. Hari having had come in as he bowled held the catch with ease. The game ended as a tie bringing satisfaction / disappointment to either side at different points in the final three overs.

In the end we were glad to not lose a game that we should have ideally won. The game also brought some excitement with display of good batting skills by a few of the DD side and some signs of a fight back by our bowling/fielding side.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoUMRtYYEkUKw&hl=en

Match against Sony on 10/04/2008

We fielded a well balanced team against team against Sony after two successive losses and were confident of doing well on the day. The wicket at Nobel Recreation Centre (Big) had good bounce and pace and was dry. We chose to field to test ourselves in a chase. Little did we know as to what the turn of events over the next few hours would be.

Sony started with Amit and Narayanan who provided a start at almost a run a ball. Amit hit a couple of fours but was bowled by Sam. Pankaj struck a quick 13 (8b, 1*4, 1*6) but was run out when he glided one to third man and went for a sharp second run. The sixth over being bowled by Vijay S yielded 12 runs but a good throw by Abhi had provided an opening with Pankaj being dismissed. Boundaries however were being hit with fair regularity on the occasional loose ball being bowled every odd over.

Sony progressed from 30/2 in 5 overs to 45/3 in 7 overs and 52/4 in 10 overs. Bala came in after 10 overs and struck 15 runs in the 13th over being bowled by Siva. This over tilted the momentum of the inning heavily in favor of Sony. Three successive boundaries were followed by a huge hit off Amit towards mid-wicket in the very next over. Amit however struck back to get Bala bowled.

After 14 overs we were kicked out from the ground and moved to the nearby small ground in the same park. The 20 over game was reduced to a 16 over affair. Sony finished with 92/8 in 16 overs which was a very healthy score on a bowler friendly wicket with odd bounce and pace.

Samir and Parag held a couple of good catches. Shekhar came up with a direct hit to dismiss Narayanan but the ground fielding was loose on a few occasions.

Hari and Samir opened the inning. Hari went after the bowling from the first ball but Samir at the other end played with caution. Hari was caught in the deep at long on after scoring 9 (8b, 1*4). Abhi joined Samir and both could not overcome the uneven pace and bounce of the wicket. The scoring rate hovered around 4 an over when a run-a-ball was required. Samir finally decided to lash out but was bowled (7 in 21b) by Pankaj. Abhi too got held in the deep on the leg side as the ball took the edge when he lashed out on an overpitched ball (4 in 21b).

At 29/3 in 8 overs, an RPO of 8 was required to win the game which was a tough ask on that wicket. Every new batsmen that came in thereafter had to go after the bowling without taking a good look at the bowling and the wicket.

Sam struck a huge six straight over the bowler's head on the off side but was bowled by Pankaj (11 in 10b, 1*6). Sam, Suresh and Vijay S were all dismissed in a single over from Pankaj. Parag (15 in 18b) and Siva were dismissed by Pankaj as well.

Sony struck our bowling for 10 fours and a six, whereas we were able to hit only one four and a six. We eventually were dismissed for a paltry 65 in 15 overs. 54 dot balls by us in the 16 over game meant we were required to score 93 in 42 balls which is a quite an ask at any level of the game. Pankaj bowled exceedingly well to dismiss 6 of our batsmen in four overs and was the performer of the day.

With three successive wins in three games Sony seems to be on top at this time. We on the other hand seem to be not maintaining our high standards and expectations with no combination yielding any results.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcprL29BLK2hfIg&hl=en

Match against Sony on 09/27/2008

We won the toss and elected to field in the 20 over game at Cypress Canyon Ground (Small).

Siva and Rosie opened the bowling in the early morning conditions. Amit and Narayan provided a decent start. Rahul B held a good catch down leg side to dismiss Amit with Rosie bowling his second over, the fourth of the inning. Pankaj joined Narayan and together they averted any further loss of wickets until the 10th over being bowled by Vinay. Vinay secured the wickets of both Narayan and Pankaj in the same over. Sony reached a modest score of 36/3 in 10 overs and it appeared they could be restricted to about 75 in 20 overs.

Nilesh and Unni were dismissed in the next couple of overs and our position seemed even stronger. Nagendra, Adarsh and Kishan added valuable runs in the last 5/6 overs and Sony managed to reach 88 in 20 overs having lost just 7 wickets. Adarsh and Kishan swung the bat in the last few overs to get three boundaries.

Vinay (3), Rosie (2) and Vijay S (1) were among the wickets and kept the scoring down. Siva bowled his overs at a stretch and was unlucky to not get a wicket. The 5th bowler however conceded 33 runs. This meant we had conceded at least 15-20 runs more than we should have, given the average rpo of of every other bowler. Nevertheless a target of 89 in 20 overs was not impossible even against an ever improving bowling attack.

Parag and Gopal were dismissed in the very first over. Hari, Mudit and Vijay S did not stick to the wicket for long having come in with not many runs on the board. With wickets having fallen in heaps Shekhar and Suresh had to stay on the wicket and see off bowlers who were bowling a good line.

57 runs were required in the final 10 overs with 5 wickets in hand and the situation looked tough. Every bowler from Sony bowled good conceeding relatively few extras and not bowling anything loose. This meant our batsmen had to work hard for their runs. Good fielding in the circle on either side made it even more difficult to score runs. The asking rate slowly mounted to 6 and then crept to 8. Siva and Shekhar tried hard towards the end. Siva played a valuable knock of 15(15b, 1*4). 17 runs were required in the final two overs but we eventually fell short by 9 runs.

Shekhar did very well to carry his bat through having come in as an opener. He hung around with wickets fallen at fair regularity on the other side and in the end scored 25 (51b, 1*4) but could not be on the winning side.

Bala (4-0-8-2), Ravindra (4-1-11-3) were the pick of the bowlers. Almost all the Sony bowlers bring the ball in with regularity. At least three of our batsmen were bowled and one caught behind on incoming deliveries. Sony has improved by leaps and with a full strength side can test any opposition we play amongst. Sony conceeded just two boundaries and a six but did give away 18 extras. They bowl relatively full, bring the ball in and rely on good fielders in the V to keep scoring down.

Sony thus won the three game series 2-1, having squandered a winning position in the first. The three games we last won were not won with great conviction. We thus need improvement in terms of consistent play and adjustment in terms of the need of the situation.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcprRmplD0TJDbA&hl=en

Match against Sony on 09/14/2008

We won the toss and elected to bat in the 20 over game against Sony at Cypress Canyon Ground (Small).

Vijay S and Hari opened the batting. Hari dispatched the second ball he received from Nilesh towards mid-wicket for a huge six. Vijay S hit one straight to mid-off/cover, went for the run on seeing Hari respond but was sent back and could not get back in time. There was no single for the taking since the ball had travelled fast towards Pankaj who is one of the better fielders. The first over from Bala was hit for a boundary by Hari.

In the 6th over being bowled by Bala, Hari hit one high towards long-on where Neil held the catch with ease. Suresh then joined Parag and together they took the score to 45 in 10 overs.
Suresh was held at short mid-wicket on the last ball of the 10th over.

Yogesh was dismissed in the same manner as Suresh when he hit one uppishly towards short mid-on. Samir and Shekhar followed pretty soon. 60/3 in 12 overs suddenly changed to 66/6 at the end of 15 overs.

Parag was dismissed on the first ball of the 19th over with the score on 80 having scored 33 (38b, 2*4). Mudit then scored a brisk 9 in 9 balls. Mudit and Ajay scampered an all run 4 on the final ball as the fielders from Sony kept shying at the stumps without proper backup. They had converted a 2 to a 4 which is rather rare at our level of cricket.

While on the previous day the team has scored 71/1 in the last 7 overs, on this day the batting only managed 26/4 in the final 7 overs.

We thus had 89/8 in 20 overs a score that was modest given we were a bowler short with Sam missing from the playing 11.

Vijay S dismissed Nilesh in the first over itself. Pankaj coming at one drop, had a lucky day with as many as three lives. He made most of the lives scoring a brisk 21 (28b, 1*4 and 1*6). Samir bowled Pankaj on the next ball immediately after Pankaj pulled one high over square leg. Neil at the other end was a personification of defence playing as if it were a 30 over game. With the heroics of Pankaj, Sony however reached 49/3 in 10 overs and were in with a chance.

After the break, Sony lost two additional wickets in the form of run-outs and two others in the field to have the equation come down 24 to get in 25 balls. Samir and Vijay S had picked up Sai and Neil to keep the team within reach of defending the target.

17 runs in 18b, 9 runs in 12 balls, came down to 5 runs in 6 balls with 3 wicket in hand. Ajay, Saran, and Hari had bowled overs 17 to 19.

Yogesh was handed the ball to defend 5 runs. He kept tossing the ball up and varied the length, which at times was was full and at other times was not within driving range. The batsmen chose to drive from within the crease and kept missing that could have been tapped for singles. Without conceding any extras Yogesh was able to restrict the opposition to just 2 runs, giving us victory by a meagre 2 runs.

Sony as usual was unable to go the extra yard to seal a win. The 2 extra runs conceeded on the final ball and the accurate over bowled by Yogesh made a difference in the end.

We had about 5 catches dropped in the field with other instances of lack of adequare effort in the field. Also, in the final slog overs the batting could not capitalize on a good platform.

We were lucky to keep our unbeaten record (10-0) against Sony intact but what finally matters is a win !!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpq6rFoFUkSsTw&hl=en

Match against SDCricInfo on 09/13/2008

We won the toss and elected to bat in the 20 over game against SDCricInfo at Spring Canyon Ground (Small).

Openers Vinay and Naman were dismissed in the 2nd over being bowled by Srinivas. Parag, Amit and Mudit followed pretty soon to cause quite some uneasiness in the pavilion. Naman, Parag and Amit edged to the keeper but Mudit was run-out when he went for a run having hit the ball hard towards mid-wicket. Samir coming in at the fall of Amit's wicket played a face saving knock having started well with a boundary towards point. A couple of boundaries were to follow towards cover and backward point. It was a sticky wicket resulting in balls moving off the pitch at times coming slow on other occasions rising fast. Boundaries were to follow towards third man, square leg and between mid-off and mid-on. Yoga was hit for a straight six resulting in the ball crashing on the fence. Samir scored a brilliant 56 *(58 b, 7*4, 1*6) to take the team to 136/6 in 20 overs. Hari coming in at the fall of Gopal's wicket made his intentions clear when he hit a boundary on the very first ball. Hari played a aggressive quickfire knock of 22* (18b, 2*4) . Together Samir and Hari more than doubled the score in the last 7 overs. 71 runs were added in the last 7 overs and our situation looked more than strong half way into the game. SDCricInfo conceded as many as 41 extras to make things easier for us.

The first four overs being bowled by Abhi and Nitin B produced 31 runs without a wicket and SDCricInfo would have fancied their chances with that kind of start. It was time for Amit to come in and stabilise things by bowling a maiden. An obvious run-out on a direct hit at the keeper's was turned down in the next over bowled by Hari. However, the same batsmen was caught by the same fielder (Parag) in the same over within the next few balls.

At the 10 over mark SDCricInfo were at 57/1 and had half a chance of victory. The batsmen had to go for big hits which resulted in the next four wickets in the form of batsmen being bowled. Mudit and Gopal rolled their arms over towards the end. SDCricInfo however managed to score 115/7 in 20 overs giving us a 21 run victory.

Amit was the pick of the bowlers on either side with figures of 3-1-3-1. Samir had figures of 1-0-6-1 picking up an important wicket of Yoga. The knock of 56* by Samir, characterized by periods of caution and aggression deserves the MoM award in this game.

It's time to now win the three game series against Sony starting tomorrow.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcponrduZOp_cUg&hl=en

Match against MMM on 09/07/2008

MMM won the toss and elected to field at Cypress Canyon Ground in the 20 over game.

Shekhar and Aravind opened the batting. Aravind was caught in the slips with the score on 11. Gopal joined Shekhar and both continued to bat with caution against tight bowling from Sunil and Hitesh. Pradeep and Pranav took over from the opening bowling pair and bowled reasonably well making it dificult for the basmen to score freely.

Shekhar played a couple of good shots (one for a three and another for a four) up and over point/cover when the bowlers pitched it short outside off stump. MMM fielders dropped a couple of sitters in the slips giving Gopal a reprieve. Shekhar and Gopal took the score to 37 at the end of 10 overs without any further loss of wickets. Gopal was bowled by Bhoopathi in the 12th over bringing Mudit to the crease. Mudit started well with good ground strokes on the off side getting a couple of fours and twos and also ran well between the wickets. Ajay bowled Shekhar bringing Hari to the crease. The second ball that Hari faced from Sunil was dispatched straight over the bowlers head for a clean six (MRF and CA bats have been oiled and knocked recently, so batsmen can trust them to hit balls all the way). Mudit then called for a non-existent run and Hari was unfortunately run-out at the keeper's end. Abhi coming in at the fall of Mudit's wicket played good shots for boundaries off Sunil and Hitesh. Quick running between the wickets and good all-round strokes took the score to 95/6 in 20 overs.

Shekhar (17 in 37b, 1*4), Gopal (10 in 28b, 1*4), Mudit (16 in 15b, 2*4) and Abhi (19 in 23b, 3*4) contributed well with the bat, guiding the team to a respectable score against a good bowling attack.

Saran picked up a wicket on the first ball when Pranav edged one to Abhishek in the slips. Abhinav coming at the one down spot struck loose balls from Saran for a six and a boundary off successive balls towards square leg. Samir got Abhinav to drag one to the stumps on a full ball. Roopesh and Pradeep then played with caution. The two batsmen realized that scoring singles by tapping the ball around and waiting for loose balls was the way to win. Our bowlers continued to bowl well but lady luck deserted the team for a while. Balls kept flying to slip or gully in a vacant spot just as the fielder was switched from one spot to another. The pair took the score to 60 without any loss of further wickets in 12 overs. 36 runs were required for a win in 8 overs and MMM seemed to be in control of proceedings.

What followed thereafter was a period of inspired bowling from Sam, Samir and Ajay. Samir held a one handed catch at short cover/mid-off stretching his hand to the right and latched on to a hard hit. Sam then bowled Ajay in just two balls picking up two wickets in an over. It often happens that both batsmen depart when one of the two involved in a partnership gets out. Roopesh was held in the slips by Abhishek in the next over being bowled by Samir. Bhoopathi lasted for just two balls lofting one to long off where Gopal held a well judged catch. Samir thus picked up two wickets in an over without conceeding a run. Sam followed that up with a fiery over getting two batsmen bowled in the next over. The ball was just thudding into my gloves when it was not knocking the stumps over. The game had literally turned on the heels from one side to the other. With two batsmen to get out it was now Ajay's turn to knock batsmen over.

Four successive overs had yielded two wickets each for a meagre 4 runs. Sam/Samir/Ajay thus knocked 8 wickets in 4 overs for just 4 runs. A bookie would have made millions had he predicted a progression of such sorts.

Sam (3-0-5-4) and Samir (3-1-4-3) had phenomenal figures and together they caused the most dramatic of collapses in recent memory.

We thus won the game with 31 runs to spare. One had to be a part of it to witness what a person on one side would describe as inspired agressive bowling by Sam/Samir whereas another side would call as lackadaisical batting.

It was a great fightback that should last long down memory lane for all on the field today.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpo_AWMmq3igMg&hl=en

Match against Sony on 09/06/2008

Sony won the toss and elected to field in the 20 over game played at Cypress Canyon Ground.

Parag and Hari provided a decent start of 19 in 4 overs. Rahul B and Samir followed and added to the score by easing some runs amidst a few boundaries. It was a day where the entire batting side chipped in with a few runs without a single batsman dominating the opposition bowling.

Sony is an improved team and the bowling attack today was probably not their best. They did well in wet conditions on a pitch that had more than usual bounce.

We scored 98/10 in 19.5 overs. Samir (16, 23 b, 1*4), Rahul B (15, 17b, 2*4) and Parag (11, 23b), Hari (8, 10b, 1*4) and Vijay S (8, 8b) batting at different positions in the order performed their respective roles.

Vijay S and Samir started the proceedings with the ball exceedingly well. 5 overs between them yielded 3 wickets having conceded just 12 runs. Sony batting line-up was on the back foot and crawled to about 33 in 10 overs without losing a wicket.

The asking rate of 6.6 in the final 10 overs was too much to ask for a team that has always been weak in batting. A few part timers on our side rolled their arms over towards the end allowing Sony to reach 80 in 20 overs.

Vijay S (3-10-6-1), Samir (2-0-6-2), Amit (4-0-11-1), Hari (4-0-11-2) and Suresh (2-0-8-1) had good figures with the ball.

It was a comfortable win giving us a 9-0 winning streak against Sony.

Way to go guys, let's get MMM tomorrow ....

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcppiz4HORAz9AA&hl=en

Eagles-Panthers Tri-Series Summer 2008 :- Game 2

Eagles took an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the Tri-Series by winning the second game by 19 runs.

Panthers chose to field despite having failed to chase targets against the Eagles on two previous occasions.

Vijay S (19 in 28 b, 2*4), Rupesh (20 in 36b, 1*4) and Parag (18 in 25b) held the batting together for the Eagles. Vijay S opened the innning with Rajesh and provided a good start for the Eagles. Abhi and then Samir were hit for exquisite boundaries on the off-side over cover. Rupesh walked in the 7th over after the dismissal of Vijay S and held fort until the 20th over of the inning.

Vinay held a good catch in slip to dismiss Mudit and Ajit held one good one at deep square leg to send Parag back to the pavilion.

Eagles scored a decent 95/7 in 20 overs which seemed a good enough target to defend against the Panthers.

Vijay S bowled three overs on the trot along with Siva who bowled two in the opening spell. Rupesh and Rosie continued until the 10th over bowling 5 overs amongst them. Saran bowled the 11th over of the inning. Eagles had the Pathers on a leash allowing only 25 runs to be scored in the initial 11 overs but also picked up 4 wickets in the process. In the 10th over Hari struck one huge six over long on but Rupesh had his say by dismissing Hari and Suresh of consecutive balls. Earlier Vijay S had Abhi caught behind and held a sharp catch to dismiss Shekhar of his own bowling.

Samir had begun slow but played a lone hand after the initial 11 overs to try and reach the target. Aravind was hit for a good looking cut on the off side for a four in the 12th over. In the very next over Saran was hit for a magnificent six over long on. Cheer returned in the Panthers camp but the question was would one player be able to take the Panthers to a win? Samir played on until the 18th over with 31 required in 3 overs. He hit the second six of his innning in the 15th over being bowled by Rupesh and followed it up with a boundary in the 16th over bowled by Rosie. Vijay S was struck for a boundary in the 18th over but the very next ball Samir was caught behind and victory for the Eagles seemed imminent.

Samir played a valuable knock of 37 (43b, 3*4, 2*6) but lacked support at the other end. Also the slow scoring in the initial 11 overs was too much to overcome in the final nine overs, even for a Samir on the rampage.

Vijay S had magnificent figures of 4-0-9-4 which by itself are enough to get a Man of the Match award. Add to it the good start at the top and a well judged catch of his own bowling there can be no debate as to who gets the non-existing award.

Parag held five catches behind the stumps for a second time on the trot and also featured in two run-outs and a stumping. Rupesh picked two wickets in two balls, Rosie picked up a wicket and Saran bagged two. Siva was as accurate as he has been recently.

Eagles teamed up well and complemented the efforts of each other. Panthers were thus dismissed for 76 runs and fell short by 19 runs.

We go into the final game of the tri-series with the intent to impart opportunities to all who have had less than expected opportunities. Let's enjoy the game and try and display decent behavior at all times. Being non-professionals this is even more of a reasonable expectation.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqAb09_31QCXQ&hl=en

Eagles-Panthers Tri-Series Summer 2008 :- Game 1

A calm and composed knock of 45 (61b, 3*4) followed by an aggressive spell of 4-0-11-1 by Sam ensured a 8 run win for the Eagles.

Sam opened the batting with Parag and he provided the much needed stability for the Eagles while batting. This was very much essential on a day when half the Eagles side was missing. It was an inning mixed with caution and aggression with runs being taken on either side of the wicket. Parag (16 in 28b, 1*4) and Nitin B (10 in 9b, 1*4) scored a few runs for the Eagles.

Having elected to bat Eagles thus put on 92/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Amit (4-1-8-0) had the best figures on either side in terms of economy. Samir picked up three useful wickets and Vinay too bowled well.

In reply the Panthers scored 84/10 in 19.5 overs. Yogesh/Suresh at the top, Yogesh/Vijay V in the middle overs and Shekhar/Rahul B towards the end put on partnerships of substance. Panthers were in the game in the final 3 overs with 21 to get. The only problem was they had lost wickets at regular intervals in the chase. Vijay V (14 in 26b, 1*4), Yogesh (12 in 26b), Shekhar (11 in 15b) and Rahul B (10 in 18b) were among the runs but could not ensure an overhaul of the target.

Sam was troubled with a calf muscle strain but kept bowling accurately picking up the final wicket of Rahul B to seal a win. Rosie had figures of 3.3-0-9-3 thereby bowling one of the most accurate, constraining spell one has seen him bowl recently. Earlier, Vijay S picked up Samir on the first legitimate ball of the game to set the Eagles on the road to successfully defending the modest total. Nitin and Vijay K (new guy) stepped into the shoes of illustrious performers in Siva and Rupesh. Nitin B picked up important wickets of stable batsmen in Yogesh and Shekhar. Parag held 5 catches behind the stumps most of which were pretty easy. The bowling squad for the Eagles bowled a tight line and length throughout the game, the batting squad played around one resolute batsmen. The Eagles thus go up 1-0 in this internal tournament.

There was a call to get Parag and seal a win for the Panthers. It's just that the Panthers had not given heed to the batsman in Sam. There are no awards for this series but undoubtedly "Sam Raj" was the "Man of the Match" today. With the recent performances he definitely moves higher up in the all-rounder category, which augurs well for our entire team.

Panthers lost by a pretty slender margin today. They certainly are capable of pulling one or two back with Hari set to return. Eagles on the other hand would get strengthened by the return of the multiple players absent today. All in all it should be an interesting series going forward.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpr5aFzhQvpaaw&hl=en

SDCS Summer Cricket Tournament Finals :- Game 9 - Eagles v/s Doyle Devils on August 9th 2008

Vijay S won the toss for the Eagles and promptly elected to field in the final game against the Doyle Devils at the Spring Canyon Ground (Big).

On the first ball of the final, Ravi B lofted one to long on where Gopal took a good catch standing at the inner circle giving Siva his first wicket. Tushnim walked in to join Anand and started well. 13 runs were scored in the 3rd over taking the score to 21/1 in 3 overs. Tushnim drove an over-pitched ball from Vijay S straight to Parag at short cover. In the very next over Joy was caught particularly well in the slips by Vijay S giving Siva his second wicket. Pavel walked in and struck one huge shot towards mid-wicket for four. The bowler to suffer was Siva who more than made amends in the very next over being bowled by Vijay S. Pavel lofted one towards mid-off and the ball seemed to be going over the head of Siva standing on the circle. Siva however outstretched his hand over his head and held on the what was the catch of the day. Doyle Devils were 30/4 in 6 overs with four good batsman having returned to the pavilion.

Sam and Rupesh took over from the opening pair of Siva and Vijay S. Naman juggled one standing next to the umpire giving Rupesh his first wicket. Prashant was lucky earlier when an edge flew high to square-leg making it difficult for Naman to judge the catch.

At the 10 over mark Doyle Devils were placed at 49/5 and the Eagles were confident of restricting the target to less than 100 runs. The Eagles did even better in the second half of the bowling. Doyle Devils folded for 85 runs with 2 balls to spare. Santosh held three catches behind the stumps, one on the leg side being particularly sharp. Rupesh and Vijay S featured in two run-outs with Santosh. Sam held one low catch pretty well at point.

Siva (3), Vijay S (2), Rupesh (2) and Rosie (1) were among the wickets with every single bowler (Sam included) having bowled particularly well to restrict the opposition to a modest total. Only 11 extras were conceded meaning the Doyle Devils had to work particularly hard for their runs. Vijay S had the best figures of 4-0-12-2, having taken crucial wickets of Tushnim and Pavel.

All the Eagles had to do was play out the 20 overs to get to the target of 86 runs. Naman and Parag opened the inning against Ravi G, Prashant and Ravi M. The start was good with 34 runs being scored in 6 overs for the loss of no wickets. The 10th over resulted in Naman hitting one straight to the bowler giving Sourav a wicket in his first over. The 51 run opening stand had resulted in calm in the dressing room and uneasiness for the opposition.

Santosh joined Parag and hit a boundary to point straight away. 30 runs were required in the last 10 overs with 9 wickets in hand and victory for the Eagles seemed imminent. Santosh played well scoring the odd single and two.

Infact the target was reached in the 16th over itself with Santosh lofting one over Pavel's head for a boundary. Parag at the other end had scored an unbeaten 39 (39b, 6*4). Santosh finished with a well made 19 (24b, 2*4). Earlier Naman had scored 15 (32b).

It was an easy chase for the Eagles. Superb bowling coupled with excellent catches and sharp fielding had done the damage for the Doyle Devils During the chase a good start at the top resulted in Doyle Devils not being able to have a single dominant period in the game.

The Eagles were fantastic throughout the tournament and finished as worthy winners with a four game winning streak. Kudos to all the Eagles who displayed teamwork, good understanding, resilient and accurate bowling coupled with stable batting. The combined think tank of Vijay S/Rupesh deserve to be commended on leading the Eagles to victory.

Congratulations to all Eagles and Vijay S. We as a team thereby remain winners of the SDCS tournament in the winter as well as summer edition of the tournament.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqU4tiDmf5pJw&hl=en

SDCS Cricket Tournament :- Semi-Final Game 7 - Eagles v/s Panthers

It was another internal game with familiar friendly faces around. The only change from a usual Team A v/s Team B setup was that, this was an occasion where 11 of the 22 were the Panthers and 11 others were the Eagles.

The morning turned out to be a frustrating manhunt for an appropriate ground. One and a half hour later the relatively small ground at the Nobel Dr Recreation Center was chosen as one for the semi-final encounter amidst differences in opinions.

Shekhar won the toss for the Panthers and elected to field. Vinay and Amit opened the bowling for the Panthers. Rahul B snapped an in-form Naman behind the wicket on only the 2nd ball bowled by Vinay and in walked in captain Vijay S. The very next over Vijay S edged one to Rahul B with Amit bowling and suddenly the Eagles were 3/2 and under pressure. Mudit walked in to join Parag and cautious batting at one end was coupled with an aggressive approach by Mudit. Amit was hit towards mid-wicket in a customary manner by Mudit in the 4th over of the inning. This however turned out to be the only four for another 15 overs. Panthers bowled exceedingly well on a pitch where the ball was not coming to bat at a decent pace. Abhi and Samir carried forward the good bowling effort. Mudit however fell in the 6th over being bowled by Samir.

At the end of 10 overs Eagles had only managed 27/3 and Panthers seemed to be in good control. In the next 10 overs Eagles managed to score 56 runs for the loss of another 4 wickets to end up with 83/7 in 20 overs. Siva coming in at the fall on Rupesh's wicket connected well, right from ball one. A brisk 13 in 11 balls (1*4) by Siva provided the right momentum to the Eagles. It made quite a difference at a time when batsmen at the crease were not able to accelerate as one would have expected. Parag played a patient and relatively slow knock of 29 in 49 balls.

Amit (4-0-13-2) and Hari (4-0-14-1) ended up with the best bowling figures to show for the Panthers. Rahul B picked up three catches behind the wickets and effected a run out with a direct hit.

84 was a very reasonable target and Panthers certainly would have fancied their chances.

Sam and Siva started exceedingly well against an aggressive Abhi and a patient Shekhar. The duo gave nothing away with Sam snapping Shekhar and Samir in the 5th over. Vijay S picked up the crucial wicket of Abhi in the 8th over putting the Eagles on top at that point of time. 10 overs produced 23 runs for the Panthers for the loss of 3 wickets. With a difference of 4 runs in the score of the two teams, a cautious Yogesh and Amit at the crease with aggressive batsmen in Hari and Suresh to follow the game was for any team to grab.

Wickets kept falling for the Panthers in the second half of their chase amidst an asking rate of 6 an over. Sam snapped a very sharp catch to dismiss Yogesh off Rosie. Mudit caught Hari off Aravind, thereby holding on to the second crucial catch that came his way. Panthers finally ended with 67/10 in 18.1 overs resulting in the Eagles winning by 16 runs.

Amit (13) and Abhi (9) did well for the Panthers in the batting department.

Both sides did equally well in the bowling department with the Panthers probably putting on an overall better fielding effort. Aravind and Sam held on to exteremely good catches for the Eagles. The better of the two are left to the discretion of the observer but it is true that the effort of both of them left every viewer stunned.

Panthers kept losing wickets at regular intervals amidst a disciplined bowling effort by the Eagles. Eagles on the other hand stuck to the task of level headed batting not knowing what a winning total would be on a relatively unfamiliar pitch.

Kudos to the Eagles in the bowling department in defending a total of 83 runs. Sam (3 wickets), Siva, Vijay S (3 wickets), Rosie (2 wickets), Rupesh (1 wicket) all delivered as usual particularly in this crucial encounter.

Good game all, it was one with no incidents, good understanding and equal commitment on either side.

Eagles would now face "Doyle Devils" in the finals whom they defeated earlier in what could be considered as the quarter finals.

Eagles can certainly improve on controlling extras and get sharper at catching. Bowling looks strong and also does deliver. Batting has held well even though it seems the weaker of the two departments.

One final team effort from all Eagles lead by the cooling effervescence of Vijay S and Rupesh should get the Eagles beyond the rope.

Well fought fellow Panthers. Go Eagles !!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpp7GMPGWrVIWQ&hl=en

SDCS Cricket Tournament :- Pool B Game 4 - Eagles v/s Doyle Devils

Vijay S won the toss at the Spring Canyon Ground and elected to field against the Doyle Devils. Ravi B and Srinivas started extremely well for the Doyle Devils and the score at the end of 6 overs was 53/1. Ravi B and Pavel continued on until the 12th over when Pavel (21 in 24b, 2*4, 1*6) was caught in the slips by Rupesh with Vijay S bowling his 3rd over. Earlier Pavel struck a straight six and earned praise from the Eagles as well.

Siva was the bowler of the day for either side and ended up picking the wickets of Joy and Sampat going for just 14 runs in 4 overs. Vijay S picked up wickets of Srinivas and Pavel going for a reasonable 20 runs in 4 overs. Aravind struck with 2 wickets in his 2nd over going for 18 runs in 3 overs. Sam had an off day and Rupesh did earn a wicket but gave away quite a few wides. In fact, the Eagles conceded no less than 36 extras which is twice of what one can accept from a disciplined side at our level of play. Siva and Vijay S had pulled down the scoring rate that had soared sky high in the initial overs. Vijay S and Rupesh did an awesome job commending the bowlers and inspiring a side that was looking down.

Doyle Devils ended up with 129/8 in 20 overs. Ravi B (highest scorer on the day) was undefeated on 28 in 40 balls and had to retire due to the heat that was slowing him down. He played straight and made best use of the loose balls hitting them around in the gaps mostly along the ground.

Vijay S at the break was full of confidence in the ability of his side. Naman opened the batting with Vijay S and did not disappoint. Both the openers put on a 22 run partnership with Vijay S playing well to score more than run a ball (14 in 9 balls, 2*4). Rupesh came in and provided the impetus to the scoring along with Naman. Both Vijay S and Rupesh(11 in 15 b, 1*4) were caught behind when they seemed to have had a feel of the bowling and were in control of the task at hand.

Parag (5 in 8b, 1*4) was caught by Tushnim in the deep in the 10th over, on hitting the first aggresive stroke. The score at the end of 10 overs was 63/3 and a game seemed to be on hand.

Naman was soon dismissed after contributing a valuable 25 runs in 36 balls (1*4).

Would the Eagles make it from that position? Mudit, Siva, Gopal, Harshal, Sam, Aravind and Satish were to follow and a little over half of the runs were still pending. Each of the batsmen were unfazed by the task and hand and played with confidence when they walked in at different positions in the order.

Mudit (9 in 12b, 1*4), Siva (12 in 14b, 1*4), Harshal (10 in 12b), Gopal (4 in 7b) and Sam (16 not out in 17 b, 2*4) kept the chase in control all along. Sam for a second time in succession proved to be a finisher guiding the team to victory with the bat.

The game was marred by an ugly incident in the second inning that began just when Rupesh walked in to bat. Doyle Devils were overly charged up, resorting to extended cheeering/jeering. I as umpire had to delay the proceeding until the talk ceased. Rupesh took his time to check the field, get his guard and then did not get ready to face the ball amidst protests from the Doyle Devils. Before any of us could realize one player from the Doyle Devils and another from the Eagles were alomst at blows, more or less armed with wooden weapons.

Cool batting by the Eagles resulted in a well cherished victory. The bowling marks go to Siva, Vijay S nd Aravind. On the batting front Naman, Vijay S, Sam, Siva, Rupesh, Mudit, Harshal earn the praise. For a second time Vijay S and Rupesh did extremely well to inspire the Eagles to rise to the ocassion when faced with tough conditions.

Eagles now face fellow Panthers in the semi-finals which can be seen as just another internal game. Let the semi-final be a contest of skill, temperament and composure and not one of verbal duels and profanities. Either team winning gives an equal chance for our "combined single team" to retain the SDCS Cup.

Enjoy the rest of the days in between and "do be good" next weekend.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpo1tk8WxF4kWg&hl=en

SDCS Cricket Tournament :- Pool B Game 3 - Eagles v/s SDCricInfo

Panthers had displayed character last weekend helping them get out of a tight situation. On July 19th, 2008 Eagles played their first game of the SDCS cricket summer tournament against SDCricInfo. SDCricInfo is a relatively unknown team for most of us.

Vijay S won the toss at the Spring Canyon Ground (Big) and promptly elected to field as planned previously. Sam and Siva started badly with Sam going for 12 runs and Siva for 7 runs in each of their first over. Sam struck on the first ball of the 3rd over getting Saurabh bowled as he went for a shot too many. A wicket maiden by Sam was followed by another wicket by Siva in the 4th over. SDCricInfo was at 47/3 in 7 overs with Sam and Siva both going for 10 and 6 runs respectively in their 3rd over. Aravind bowled his first over erratically giving away a few wides. SDCricInfo suddenly seemed to be well placed and could be seen making the most of it.

Eagles had set aggressive fields and the top order including Rajesh, Saurabh and Prasad made most of the open outfield.

Rupesh and Vijay S were introduced starting with the 8th over and each of them started well by bowling tight line and lengths. Rupesh picked up a wicket on the last ball of his first over when Vijay S held a low catch at first slip.

At the end of 10 overs SDCricInfo were comfortably placed at 54/4 and could have reached 105-110 from thereon.

Vijay S picked up two wickets in the first over after the break to dent the hopes of the opposition. Rupesh held a wonderful catch running behind the keeper while standing at first slip. Vijay V then judged a high catch very well running to his right standing at point. In the next over Parag hit the stumps at the non-strikers end to run out Yoga who went back full stretch but could not get back in time. Vijay S continued to bowl at one end and Aravind continued at the other. Aravind went for 9 runs in the 16th over but by then Vijay S had finished a fantastic spell of 4 overs for just 9 runs picking up 3 wickets in that process. The four over spell coupled with 2 wickets picked up by Rupesh had put the Eagles back in control after things seemed to have gone slightly wrong after 7 overs.

SDCrciInfo was dismissed for 86 runs in the 18th over. Sam and Vijay S picked up 3 wickets each, Rupesh and Siva ended with 2 and 1 wicket respectively.

Eagles were looking at less than 4.5 runs an over and seemed confident of making it. Parag and Santosh opened the inning. The first ball produced a scare for the Eagles when Parag was startled by a delivery rising sharply. The ball spooned to first slip where Prasad dropped a relatively easy catch to give Parag a reprieve. Santosh opened up against Yoga in the second over hitting a boundary to the right of long on. Parag then pulled one to fine leg for a boundary in the next over bowled by Naveen and the duo seemed well in control. Yoga was pulled square of the wicket by Santosh in the very next over. Praveen was greeted with three boundaries in his first over with Parag hitting one behind square on the leg side and Santosh hitting another in the same direction and Parag hitting one to mid-wicket.

Parag (17 in 18 balls, 3*4) and Santosh (18 in 19 balls, 3*4) walked back in the 6th over off successive deliveries bowled by Yoga and the score read 40/2. Mudit started well by hitting a boundary towards point on the off side. Vijay S had joined Mudit and a period of a consolidated approach followed. Mudit hit another boundary towards fine leg off a full toss. The score read 56/2 in 10 overs for the Eagles. The only question was how long would it take the Eagles to overhaul the target. Mudit was caught behind off the bowling of Praveen having scored 11 (19b, 2*4).

Sam walked in and started with caution. Vijay S at the other end was playing straight as ever with good placed shots for singles and twos. Yoga came to bowl the 15th over and that was just what Sam needed. Three powerful boundaries were struck by Sam on alternate deliveries, the first over long on and the other two towards fine leg. Sam (15 in 18 balls, 3*4) seems to be in form which should augur well for the Eagles .

Vijay S aptly struck the winning runs by hitting a good looking shot for four towards extra cover giving the Eagles an easy win by 7 wickets and 27 balls to spare.

Eagles did not display excellent ground fielding with one overthrow and other cases of the throwing not being accurate enough. All catches were however held with the pick being the one held by Rupesh at slip.

Both Panthers and Eagles should comfortably reach the semi-finals, the only question being who would they face in the semi-finals. Eagles would need to do well in all departments of the game against Doyle Park. The SDCricInfo bowling was not all that challenging, which may not be the case in upcoming games of the tournament.

Quite a few Eagles had significant contributions in the victory. With 3 wickets for just 9 runs and 14 runs at the end Vijay S seems to be the one who made a lasting contribution in this win.

Ajay performed the role of an umpire and did well although he did have some uncertain moments. It was good to see fellow Panthers show up to cheer on the Eagles.

Well done Vijay S and all Eagles.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcppj3EOD7R2HHQ&hl=en

SDCS Cricket Tournament :- Pool A Game 1 - Panthers v/s Sony

Sony won the toss and elected to field in the first game of the Summer 2008 SDCS (San Diego Cricket Series) against the Panthers. The venue selected was Cypress Canyon Ground with restrictions at the back.

Yogesh and Suresh opened against the bowling of Bala R and Unni. With field restrictions of just two players outside the 30 yard circle for the first 6 overs Yogesh and Suresh took a cautious approach an seemed to have started well. Unni however bowled Yogesh on the last ball of the second over of a vicious in-cutter that was yorker length. Suresh was dismissed in a similar manner in the 4th over, it's just that this one was not yorker-length but well pitched up. The 5th over saw Samir get caught in slips by Unni with Bala R bowling. The very next ball Shekhar was needlesly run-out in a mix-up with Vijay V, who did not call early enough leaving Shekhar stranded on his way back.

Panthers at 13/4 in 5 overs were facing the possibility of a collpase. Vijay V and Sam however steadied the innings with a change in the new ball attack after 6 overs. Both Sam and Vijay V hit one boundary each on the off side to raise the spirits of the dressing room. Sam however tried one of those fancy glides towards third man but actually ended up giving Unni a sharp catch. As commentators say this is really a nothing shot, particularly on this ground where this shot fetches just a single.

Amit joined Vijay V and the two together stitched up a partnership but that lasted only until the 10th over when Vijay V hit a short ball from Adarsh straight to the fielder on the mid-wicket boundary. 5 yards to the left or right would have left the fielder stranded. At the end of 10 overs Panthers has scored a mere 38 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

This wicket brought Hari in who seemed to have had a drink too many the previous night. He seemed charged up and willing to thrash the bowlers out of the park. A full toss was sent high over the fielder at mid-wicket for a massive six. Amit at the other end had dispatched 2-3 loose balls to the boundary and seemed to be playing well.

Amit was held at cover-point in the 17th over having put o a partnership of 37 runs with Hari doubling the score at the fall of the 6th wicket. Vinay, Rahul and Spandan were then dismissed looking for quick runs. Towards the end Rahul B, Vijay V (running for Hari) converted ones to twos resulting in a total of 98/10 in 20 overs. Hari had played a face saving knock of 30 not out (29b, 1*4, 1*6)


Sony have started practicing with the hard tennis ball and from the look of things seemed to be an improved team. Sam picked up the first wicket of Sai who was caught behind by Rahul B. Unni joined Mohan and the two seemed to steady the boat. Samir picked up the prize wicket of Unni in his very first over having him caught by an alert Sam standing at short mid-wicket. Samir followed this up with a wicket in his 2nd over the 7th of the inning and the resistance of Sony seemed to have diminished thereafter. Hari picked up two wickets in his slightly expensive spell of 4 overs. Vinay bowled two good overs to pick up two wickets. Rahul B held three catches behind the stumps and Yogesh juggled one in the slips. Mohan was hitting hard and holding one end up. He was held well by Suresh at deep long on.

Panthers pulled up an easy win after being in a tight situation while batting first. Their fielding was very good and the bowling as reasonably disciplined (just 16 extras in about 16 overs).

Sony was dismissed in little over 16 overs for 63 runs giving the Panthers a 35 run win in the first pool game.

Well done Hari and all Panthers in general .....

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpomipVrqp9Ycw&hl=en

Internal Game - Panthers v/s Eagles on 06/29/08

Vijay S won the toss and rightly elected to field in the 18 over game against the Panthers.

Eagles bowling began with Vijay S and Siva giving away just 9 runs in the opening spell of 4 overs. Hari and Vijay V began the batting for the Panthers and played cautiously. The pitch was damp despite the summer and the ball was rising sharply.

Vijay V was caught in the slips by Vijay S giving Siva his first wicket. Nitin B bowled Suresh in his very first over the 9th of the inning. Nitin B then snared the wickets of Samir, Shekhar and Amit. Saran dismissed Hari and Ajay.

Hari and Ajay top scored for the Panthers with 18 each. Shekhar hit two brilliant boundaries off Siva's last over thereby making his figures appear ordinary but he bowled pretty well. Vijay S as expected gave away less than 4 an over.


Panthers ended with a respectable score of 96/8 in 17.5 overs.

Eagles began with Parag and Jayanth batting against the bowling of Amit and Samir. Amit hardly gave any runs in his first two overs but Samir at the other end went for 17 runs in his first two overs. Hari started his spell bowling a good line and length and at 26/2 at the end of 6 overs the Eagles seemed behind the asking rate. The scoring was slow but the 10th over of the inning bowled by Suresh produced 14 runs. At 56/3 at the end of 10 overs a tight game seemed to be on the cards. Hari and Ajay bowled 3 tight overs between them and made things difficult for the Eagles. 28 runs were required in the last 5 overs with Amit and Samir being in a position to share 4 of those overs.

Wickets kept falling at one end with Parag holding one end up. Amit picked up a wicket in the 14th and Samir followed with one in the 15th and two more in the 17th. 19 runs were required with Amit bowling the 16th and 13 with Samir bowling the 17th. Three boundaries were hit on the last three balls of the 17th over giving the Eagles a 1 wicket victory with an over to spare.

Parag fininshed unbeaten on 65 (62b, 8*4, 1*6). It was a good game with both the Panthers and Eagles charged up as they usually do in internal games.

As Amit had predicted the winning team got no beer. Eagles were left to get their own beer after the game :-)

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcprVSfAvP4GyRg&hl=en

Match with Blasters on 06/15/08

Blasters won the toss and elected to bat only to be dismissed for 65 in 13.83 overs. FAC chases in 13.33 overs with 5 wickets in hand

Highlights :-

Bowling:-
Maiden 5 wicket haul by Abhi (4-0-15-5)
3 excellent catches by Vijay S, 2 by Hari, 1 each by Mudit, Abhishek and Parag

Batting:-
Samir - 34 in 34 balls (3*4, 1*6) // Nitin hit for a huge six to square leg on a short ball outside leg stump
Vijay S - 15 in 18 balls (1*4)
Winning boundary hit by Mudit


We win by 5 wickets and 25 balls to spare.

Excellent effort in the field, all but one catches taken.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpr_MxW1M6sXTA&hl=en

Match with Blasters on 06/22/08

Blasters won the toss and elected to field in the 16 over game played at Spring Canyon Ground.

Parag and Abhi opened the inning against the bowling of Ibrar and Nitin. Both teams fielded 10 players with one player on both sides not showing up despite having confirmed earlier. The opening pair put on a partnership of 73 runs at the end on 10 overs. Abhishek was the first to be dismissed having scored a well made 17 (28 b, 2*4). Abhishek displayed a couple of ingenious strokes hitting full toss balls on or outside leg stump towards third man. One of these hits fetched him a boundary against the bowling of Harish. Parag was dismissed soon after in the11th having scored 45 (38b, 2*6, 4*4) with a team score of 76 in 10.4 overs. The score at the end of 11 overs was 80/2 with Vijay S hitting one straight boundary off the bowling of Nitin.

We seemed to be in complete control and one would expect Blasters to be on the way down. Scoring 4/5 singles an over with the ocasional two or boundary could easily have fetched 25-30 runs in the next 5 overs which would have given us a score of 105/110 in 16 overs. This would have been a formidable chase in the heat. Instead what followed was was something that one cannot fathom and accept. The next 5 overs saw the team lose 6 wickets for a paltry 12 runs and we ended up with 92/8 in 16 overs.

This was a target we have defended in the past. However, the current Blasters batting strength is potent. Vijay S and Saran started badly and before we realized 38 runs were conceded in a mere 4 overs. Rajesh and Ashish put our bowling to test and put on 55 in 8 overs. The opening pair was helped by mediocre catching in the outfield. Rajesh hits powerful shots straight into the outfield but these catches were dropped by a team that just a week back had displyed maturity beyond expectations. Rajesh hit two huge sixes towards long on and long off. Ashish was the first to be dismissed with Abhi getting him caught at short mid-wicket. Ashish scored 27 (32b, 2*4). Rajesh went on make a match winning score of 37 (29b, 2*4, 2*6). Tathaghat and Nitin were dismissed to offer us a slight ray of hope but the damage had been done by the opening pair early on and the asking rate was never high after the first 8 overs.


Blasters, blasted their way to a easy 6 wicket victory with 13 balls to spare. One team managed to dig themselves out of a hole and another team caved the way for the opposition ....

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoAbXoExkpTIw&hl=en

Match with Blasters on June 16th, 2008

It is my first external game after about 8-10 weeks. Let's see how things go.

I have just started the blog on cricket and wanted to see the look and feel of the site.