SDCS Winter 2009 - Eagles v/s Panthers Round 5 on 02/21/2009

Panthers started the game without captain Rupesh and a few other key players. Eagles were bolstered by the return on Siva but were missing Sam.

Abhishek won the toss and elected to field considering the slowness of the outfield and the moisture on the pitch.

Siva dismissed Samir in the second over of the game and in the very next over Hari was bowled by Vinay. Eagles were in a sound position right at the start. Shekhar and Vijay S thereafter spent time to come to grips with the pitch and the good bowling of the Eagles. Vinay, Siva, Abhishek and Srinivas made scoring difficult. One even witnessed Rajesh latch on to a hard hit at square leg giving enough evidence of the fightback by the Eagles. Srinivas has a uncanny knack to get batsmen bowled without the keeper or batsmen knowing about it and that's just what happened to Shekhar. The ball squezeed on to the stumps between the legs resulting in a minor discussion of what exactly happened. Mudit picked up Vijay S in his very first over just when Vijay S began to take the attack to the opposition.

At the 10 over mark the Panthers had a meagre 29 runs on board with 4 key wickets being lost.

Ramesh and Suresh started some acceleration after the break. Mudit deceived Ramesh with his lack of pace and had him caught by Naman at long on. Suresh and Rahul B then focussed on picking up singles and twos to take Panthers closer to a much wanted target of 80 in 20 overs. Panthers crawled to 76/5 in 20 overs and might sure have been concerned at the half way stage. Suresh (19 in 31b) and Rahul B (12 in 21 b) did well to remain unbeaten at the end.

Mudit with figures of 4-0-17-2 played his coveted role of 5th bowler to a nicety. Siva with figures of 4-0-9-1 was the pick of the bowlers. Abhishek, Vinay and Srinivas did bowl well too.

Vijay S struck with a wicket on the fourth ball of the chase bringing joy to the Panthers. Parag joined Abhishek at the wicket. Abhishek went on the attack in the 3rd over being bowled by Vijay S that eased some nerves for the Eagles. Ramesh was introduced into the attack and picked up Abhishek (14 in 14b, 1*4) on the very first ball. Suresh held the easy catch at mid-off within the 30 yard circle. Panthers were convinced that one wicket at that stage would then result in a win for them in the game. Mudit joined Parag at the crease and together they stitched up a partnership. Parag hit a couple of fours to take a few more runs off the target. Mudit was run out in the 10th over but by then the Eagles were well placed at 43/2 with just 34 to get in 10 overs and 8 wickets in hand.

Eagles played with caution after the break. Siva struck Hari for a boundary to fine leg on a full toss. He also played some good looking strokes to cover and mid-wicket. Siva (13 in 22b, 1*4) was run out by Ramesh in the 16th over but just 10 runs were required for a win.

Parag (33 in 51b, 3*4) hit Spandan for a boundary to long on bringing the second win for the Eagles in this tournament.

The bowlers set the game up for the Eagles and thereafter it was just a matter of the Eagles occupying the crease.

Panthers should have key players returning soon and hence no opposition can take them lightly. Eagles now need to win the next two games to have any hope of even arithmetically making it to the semi-finals.


MoM : Parag Ahire (We know he bats well in internal games. RSG was missing but isn't our bowling the best one around? Other teams ask whether Panthers tanked this game, who knows ?)





http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoDBO0cPSRTFA&hl=en

Internal Game - Eagles v/s Panthers on 02/14/2009

Batting first Eagles struggled to come to grips with a wet/sticky pitch and a soaked outfield.

Eagles crumbled to 48/8 in just 12.1 overs in the 16 over game.

Panthers decided to give Samir and Rupesh some batting practice at the top of the order. Panthers chased the target in less than 10 overs losing Rosie and Rupesh in the process.

Being the toppers of the pool in the Winter tournament they thus start as favorites in the game against Eagles to be played next.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoxKLjErLB-Bg&hl=en

SDCS Winter 2009 - Eagles v/s RBCC Round 4 01312009

Abhishek won the toss and elected to field first against RBCC in round 4 of the tournament. Narayanan and Khozi walked in to open for RBCC. Khozi started well by dispatching loose balls out into the vacant region, square of the wicket on the leg side. Narayanan played the sheet anchor role to aid Khozi. A fine edge off the blade to the keeper with the bowling of Vinay was turned down to give Khozi a well desired respite. Narayanan however fell in a simlar manner and there was no debate a second time around as the batsman walked. Srinivas gave the Eagles the break through but Khozi had made the Eagles to pay for loose bowling. One might get loose balls but one has to put them away for maximum by placing the ball in vacant regions. Khozi lashed a six and a few fours and by the break RBCC was well placed.

Ajay was introduced into the attack that resulted in the unfortunate run-out at the non-striker's end to dismiss Khozi. Srinivas pounced on the ball and quickly ran to the stumps to get rid of Khozi who by then had laid the tone for the proceedings by means of an attacking inning of 43 (39b, 1*6, 4*4).

The relative weakness of the RBCC batting was then evident as batsmen after batsmen perished although in the search of quick runs. The Eagles fought back well to pick up wickets and restricted the score to 91 or 92 for 9 in 19 overs. The last over however was plundered for 16-17 runs to take RBCC to a healthy score of 108/9 in 20 overs. The fielding of the Eagles was not upto one's expectation with a couple of catches being grassed and at least one bad mis-field yielding a four where there should have been one. 10 fours and a six suggests the graciuos offering of loose balls and the fast nature of the outfield. Srinivas was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-10-2. Sam and Vinay did well too.

Abhishek and Rajesh opened the batting but were kept quiet by means of tight bowling and fielding against the bowling of Bala and Mohinsh. 14/0 in 6 overs then changed to 34/2 in 10 overs with Abhishek and Hari being dismissed. Rajesh played the ball on merit, hitting an ocassional boundary and placing the ball around and sprinting for quick runs. Eagles were behind the run rate and were now required to score at 7.5 an over in the final 10 overs.

The first over after the break did yield them 7 runs but Rajesh was dismissed soon. Rajesh made 19 (36b, 2*4) that was a good stabilizing inning. Mudit walked in with a purpose and stroked the ball well. One firm straight drive resulted in a boundary as both the long-off and long-on fielders could not get to the ball in time. Mudit and Parag provided some impetus to the inning. Abhishek (runner for Parag) and Mudit sprinted around for quick singles and twos putting pressure on the RBCC fielding, which for the first time seemed concerned about defending the good target. Mudit (22 in 20b, 2*4) was then run-out in unusual circumstances. Parag (18 in 23b, 1*4) hit one to Gavaskar at cover who held a good overhead catch. The asking rate was around 8 an over but with new batsmen coming in it was no easy task. Quite a few batsmen perished when required to score fast right from ball one.

Eventually the Eagles scored just 87/9 in 20 overs thereby losing by a substantial margin of 21 runs. With three losses in four games they now have more than a question to ask themselves.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p69faXyzPo4-ULt1hs_iDdg&hl=enl

SDCS Winter 2009 Panthers v/s Mavericks Round 4 - 02/01/2009

The game promised to be a humdinger with the two teams coming into the match without a loss in the tournament so far. Only the net run-rate separated Panthers at the top with Mavericks placed second in the points table.

A new pitch, a new day but the same old story of Rupesh winning the toss and rightly choosing to field first. The Panthers think tank had the wet conditions on the field in their mind and opted to give their fast bowlers the maximum advantage first up. Panthers were welcoming Samir Khatri and Santosh Joshi after a long break and on paper the Panthers were looking as formidable as any team in the tournament.

The pitch was devoid of any grass and looked lifeless from a distance albeit a bit wet. Vijay S opened for Panthers and so did Hanu and Anil Guntur for Mavericks. The first over saw a bit of swing but there wasn't any nip in the pitch. The ball was a bit odd sized and a few full tosses were given away by Vijay S and Rosie who were unable to hold the ball properly. The first over saw 3 runs given away in singles and second over brought Rosie to the bowling crease who had taken a five-for in the previous match. Rosie started well with nice length deliveries. Rosie too had trouble gripping the ball and gave two full tosses which were dispatched by Hanu over square leg and mid-wicket. Rosie though on his 5th delivery hit Hanu on an awkward spot which made him see some stars on a bright sunny San Dieg0 skyline. Vijay S continued the third over and gave way 6 runs to make the score read 20 off 3 overs. Captain Rupesh brought himself on and gave away a wide before settling on to a nice line-length. Anil G (3 runs, 8 balls) went for an ugly swipe and Rupesh disturbed the castle, not for the first time in the day.

Rosie started the fifth over and gave away just 6 runs or so but in the process hit Hanu again on the leg who had to retire back to the pavilion. Anil Nimma, the Mavericks captain replaced Hanu and started playing straight for a few balls. Rupesh bowled his second over and after 6 overs Mavericks were 32 for two down. Rupesh picked Santosh from Mavericks who edged a simple catch to Rahul Bedi. Hari started the 7th over with a great delivery which took Anil's edge but Santosh Joshi was placed at gully and the ball went for a boundary. The next delivery was a waist high full toss which was dispatched for a six. The ball seemed to have fallen a bit short but the umpire (Anil Guntur) was adamant that he saw the ball fly over the fence. Anyway. Hari just couldn't control his length and gave away another boundary off a no ball. An exasperated Hari by the end of his first over saw 23 runs being scored and as the old cliché goes the momentum was with Mavericks and Anil Nimma.

In strife the true capabilities of a leader comes in to observation. Clearly, Hari's over had probably turned the match into Mavericks favor but Rupesh believed otherwise and continued to encourage his troops. Any other captain would have been frustrated, angry, quiet and among other things negative about his team; but Rupesh believes in his team and vice-versa. Rupesh brought himself on and the first thing he did was to clean up the dangerous Anil Nimma who scored a 14 ball 26. At the end of 10 overs Mavericks were 62 for 5 with Saurabh and Pavan also cleaned up by Rupesh for nought.

Samir and Rupesh continued after the break and so did Vijay S. Sameer got Hanu's leg stump uprooted and Vijay S got Raj to cut a delivery which was gleefully accepted by Samir at backward point acrobatically. Abhi picked Sushmit who holed out to Hari at long-on. Mavericks were finally dismissed in the penultimate over when Santosh had Rajendra caught in the slip off Rosie.

Rupesh was pick of the bowler with 4-1-14-4 well supported by Vijay S and Samir as well as Rosie and Abhi.

The familiar Panthers duo of Shekhar and Abhi walked in. Abhi who doesn't have a negative bone in his body started in a positive fashion as always but Santosh from Mavs was treated with respect with only 2 runs scored in the first over. Prashanth's second over though saw three boundaries from Abhi and Panthers were on their way with 18 on the board off two overs. Abhi hit some lovely straight drives; the one off Santosh in the third over was a gem which bisected the mid-on and long off boundary fielder perfectly. Abhi though fell when he was looking dangerous, edging the ball to keeper Raj off Santosh. Abhi provided a great start to Panthers scoring 17 runs off 14 balls with three cracking boundaries.

In walked Hari who had a steely determination on his face and a sole purpose to crack 23 runs in no time. Hari started watchfully but got into his grove quickly. Shekhar and Hari moved the score to 41 runs off 5 overs with Shekhar playing a glorious pull off Sushmit over square leg. Shekhar though edged one off Sushmit in the next over where Raj behind took a great diving catch. In walked Santosh who challenged Hari to a few singles and twos. Hari struck some beautiful boundaries off Pavan who went for 10 runs off his first over. At the end of 10 overs Panthers were placed comfortably at 65 runs and two wickets down.

Hari started out all aggressively and took every new bowler to the task. Hari who is a good hooker (of the ball), played some audacious strokes off Praveen, Santosh and Prashanth over the cover region as well. One etched in memory is a cover drive off Anil Nimma. Panthers managed to lose Santosh Joshi and Aravind but registered a comfortable win in the end with almost 6 overs and identical wickets to spare.

Hari (41 runs off 44 balls), Abhi (17 runs off just 10 balls) and Santosh (19 runs off 30 balls) starred with bat so did Rupesh who had a match winning spell of 4-1-14-4 wickets. At one time the Mavericks were well poised to score more than 120 runs; but thanks to Rupesh's captaincy and bowling skill that was not to be. Hari's batting also deserves a special mention. He is the sort of guy who can destroy any bowling attack on a day and win the match for you; but only if he keeps his cool and doesn't jester around on the field.

The MoM prize is a tricky one in this case and the writer is fortunate enough not to be the one who has to make a decision in this regard.

Panthers face their brothers, Eagles, in the next game on Saturday. Eagles are a talented lot but haven't played well as they would have liked would be keen to make a good impression.

MoM : Captain Rupesh Gupta with figures of 4-0-15-4 (You take the charge against me and I knock your stumps. You defend against me with your bat behind the legs, I can still sneak through and get the stumps)

Hari R , 41 *(44b, 4*5) :- Guys, I told you it is not a problem, let them score a few runs, we are all here to have some fun. The only reason, I gave away runs in the one over I bowled was because I wanted the opposition to put a score on board so that I could get a chance to play a long inning.

Scorecard : http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p69faXyzPo49VAHAceKbBMA&hl=en