It has been just over a year since we have been maintaining this blog.
Checkout team results over last year & overall record since Sept 2005
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rCVETnYrc9RVjT3LopAqsLw
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Match 1 against Cricket Communications on 06232009
We were playing Cricket Communications for the first time. As usual the hunt for an appropriate ground preceeded the start of the game. The game was played at Mira Mesa Community Park (Outer) on a pitch that was uneven with patches of soil.
Narasaiah (captain of Cricket Communications) won the toss and elected to field. Rosie (captain on the day) decided to open with Naman and Mudit. The first over bowled by Anil was a quiet one with the batsmen unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Pradeep bowled a few short balls to start with and conceeded four no-balls on the trot with one evading a jumping keeper and going for a boundary down the slope. Naman expected the bouncers to continue and was deceived by a fast fullish delivery to see his stumps knocked down. Srinivas joined Mudit and cut the first ball over the slips for a boundary. There was the usual uncertainty in running with Mudit and Srinivas at the crease. One such incident resulted in Srinivas backing up too far and being run-out at the non-strikers end. Nitin B joined Mudit and within the first couple of balls hit one straight shot that sailed over the boundary and a waiting long-on fielder for a six. His aggressive intent soon resulted in his downfall. Nitin missed a straight full length delivery only to see his stumps rattle.
Santosh joined Mudit and there began a consolidation of the inning. Mudit hit one forcibly to cover. The ball kept running away from the fielder and went for a four on the soiled area devoid of grass. Mudit let out a hearty laugh, seeing a forced ground shot yield a boundary. Earlier, a wild throw to the non-striker resulted in a two being converted to an all-run six as the ball evaded the bowler and went to the cover boundary. The fielders at cover and long-off (Gopal) were caught napping and to add to that a hapless bowler (Shiva) had to chase the ball in vain almost to the boundary.
Mudit backed up too far and was late to come back to the non-strikers end. The ball had hit Santosh's feet and there was no run to be taken. In normal circumstances we would not have given it out but this being an external game we had to call it as a wicket since Mudit was outside the crease when the stumps were brought down at the non-strikers end. A distraught Mudit walked back objecting to the mode of dismissal.
At 68/4 in 10 overs we were sitting in the drivers seat with a score of 120 being a distinct possibility. Cricket Communcations were eager to make a mark. Narasaiah introduced himself into the attack after the 10 over stage. Santosh fancied his chances against the slow bowling of Narasaiah, and kept playing the sweep towards square leg. Santosh and Vijay S had run a few quick runs between themselves but one such attempt for a two resulted in Santosh being dismissed at the keeper's end.
Rosie joined Vijay S but very soon Narasaiah struck with Gopal latching to a catch at long-off. Vijay S departed with a shake of his head. Rosie was stumped by Kiran to yield Narasaiah his second wicket. Parag played with caution but Hari seemed eager to up the ante. A lofted shot that almost sailed to the fence for a six was plucked by Gopal standing almost on the rope at long-off. Parag had earlier hit a four towards the short boundary at wide long-off. An attmept to hoick Narasaiah towards the mid-wicket fence resulted in Parag being caught by a reliable Vijay S (substitute fielder) about 5 yards inside the long off boundary. Samir fell within the space of two balls and we tumbled to 95/10 in 16.3 overs. It was a disapponting effort in the second half of our batting, resulting in us being 20-25 short in terms of runs with about 21 balls being unutilized. Narasaiah picked up 4 wickets and Gopal held two catches having dropped one early in the inning.
We were very much determined to not let Cricket Communications get even close to the modest target of 96. Hari and Samir started brilliantly with no runs and a wicket coming in three overs. The 4th over yielded another wicket and three runs. Samir picked up a wicket in the 6th over to increase the pressure on the batting of Cricket Communications.
Gopal started with aggression against the bowling of Vijay S and Srinivas playing forceful shots in the V on either side and also hitting towards cover. Sumanth at the other end was playing with caution, playing out defensibly and thereby mounting the asking rate for Cricket Communications. 64 runs were required in the final 10 overs with 7 wickets standing.
Rosie introduced himself into the attack and bowled Gopal with a fullish delivery. These were deliveries that Gopal had been hitting for runs in the V behind the bowler but Rosie's magical arm did the trick. Pradeep joined Sumanth and launched the bowlers for a few boundaries towards long-leg and mid-wicket. Mudit had bowled an erratic over yielding 12 runs forcing Rosie to bring in Hari into the attack. Sure enough, Hari delivered with Sumanth edging one to the Santosh behind the stumps. A sharp chance was let down by Samir in the slips as he stood there not being very alert as one expects a slip fielder to be. Hari was aggrieved and let out his opinions with usual emotion.
The asking rate had at one point come to less than a run a ball but the fall of two wickets brought it back up to a run a ball in the final four overs. Samir and Vijay S bowled out their last over each with 4 wicket remaining and two overs to go with 11 runs to get. A brief discussion ensued between Rosie, Parag and Santosh. It was decided Rosie would bowl the 19th over and Srinvas would bowl the final over. Pradeep and Shiva had been playing sensibly, running hard for singles and chipping balls for twos into the outfield that was well spread out.
Rosie struck with the first ball forcing Pradeep to loft one weakly on the leg side. Rosie went a few yards to his right and held the simple return catch to bolster our chances of a win. The next ball resulted in Narasaiah being run out at the keeper's end as he was slow to get to the stumps with Aravind and Santosh teaming up. Rosie bowled Anil on the next ball and a single wicket and 10 runs stood between victory or defeat. Haran tried to steal a two on the last ball of the 19th over. The batsmen had to run for everything on offer. Vijay S sprinting from long on hit the stumps directly from a good 30-35 yards to earn the final wicket.
We won by a narrow margin of 9 runs. Narasaiah with 4 wickets with the ball, Gopal (21 runs, 24b, 2*4) and Pradeep (18 runs, 20b, 2*4) did well for Cricket Communcations with the bat. Mudit 21 runs (26b, 2*4), Santosh 14 (20b, 1*4) put on a good patnership towards the half way stage of our batting only to see others undo the good work.
Samir was the pick of the bowlers on either side with excellent figures of 4-2-5-2. Hari had good figures of 4-1-13-1. Captain Rosie (with a do it self attitude) bowled the magical 19th over dismissing two and also enabling two run-outs helped by good effort in the field. That over sealed a game that could have swung either way with just 11 runs and 4 wickets separating the two teams.
Cricket Communications did well to challenge us at stages in their first game against us. We need to improve on consolidating our inning with a decent start in the first half of our batting. It is the second ocassion in 4 games that the batting has collapsed to fritter away a good start. Perhaps we are too eager to convert a score of 60 odd into 140, possibly swayed by chants to attack by uneasy individuals sitting in the dressing room. We need to learn that 120 is good enough on most ocassions. The aim should be to first get there and not set sights on too large a score, too early in the second half.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=r7dFrba4IVRxub8RBYYWROQ
Narasaiah (captain of Cricket Communications) won the toss and elected to field. Rosie (captain on the day) decided to open with Naman and Mudit. The first over bowled by Anil was a quiet one with the batsmen unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Pradeep bowled a few short balls to start with and conceeded four no-balls on the trot with one evading a jumping keeper and going for a boundary down the slope. Naman expected the bouncers to continue and was deceived by a fast fullish delivery to see his stumps knocked down. Srinivas joined Mudit and cut the first ball over the slips for a boundary. There was the usual uncertainty in running with Mudit and Srinivas at the crease. One such incident resulted in Srinivas backing up too far and being run-out at the non-strikers end. Nitin B joined Mudit and within the first couple of balls hit one straight shot that sailed over the boundary and a waiting long-on fielder for a six. His aggressive intent soon resulted in his downfall. Nitin missed a straight full length delivery only to see his stumps rattle.
Santosh joined Mudit and there began a consolidation of the inning. Mudit hit one forcibly to cover. The ball kept running away from the fielder and went for a four on the soiled area devoid of grass. Mudit let out a hearty laugh, seeing a forced ground shot yield a boundary. Earlier, a wild throw to the non-striker resulted in a two being converted to an all-run six as the ball evaded the bowler and went to the cover boundary. The fielders at cover and long-off (Gopal) were caught napping and to add to that a hapless bowler (Shiva) had to chase the ball in vain almost to the boundary.
Mudit backed up too far and was late to come back to the non-strikers end. The ball had hit Santosh's feet and there was no run to be taken. In normal circumstances we would not have given it out but this being an external game we had to call it as a wicket since Mudit was outside the crease when the stumps were brought down at the non-strikers end. A distraught Mudit walked back objecting to the mode of dismissal.
At 68/4 in 10 overs we were sitting in the drivers seat with a score of 120 being a distinct possibility. Cricket Communcations were eager to make a mark. Narasaiah introduced himself into the attack after the 10 over stage. Santosh fancied his chances against the slow bowling of Narasaiah, and kept playing the sweep towards square leg. Santosh and Vijay S had run a few quick runs between themselves but one such attempt for a two resulted in Santosh being dismissed at the keeper's end.
Rosie joined Vijay S but very soon Narasaiah struck with Gopal latching to a catch at long-off. Vijay S departed with a shake of his head. Rosie was stumped by Kiran to yield Narasaiah his second wicket. Parag played with caution but Hari seemed eager to up the ante. A lofted shot that almost sailed to the fence for a six was plucked by Gopal standing almost on the rope at long-off. Parag had earlier hit a four towards the short boundary at wide long-off. An attmept to hoick Narasaiah towards the mid-wicket fence resulted in Parag being caught by a reliable Vijay S (substitute fielder) about 5 yards inside the long off boundary. Samir fell within the space of two balls and we tumbled to 95/10 in 16.3 overs. It was a disapponting effort in the second half of our batting, resulting in us being 20-25 short in terms of runs with about 21 balls being unutilized. Narasaiah picked up 4 wickets and Gopal held two catches having dropped one early in the inning.
We were very much determined to not let Cricket Communications get even close to the modest target of 96. Hari and Samir started brilliantly with no runs and a wicket coming in three overs. The 4th over yielded another wicket and three runs. Samir picked up a wicket in the 6th over to increase the pressure on the batting of Cricket Communications.
Gopal started with aggression against the bowling of Vijay S and Srinivas playing forceful shots in the V on either side and also hitting towards cover. Sumanth at the other end was playing with caution, playing out defensibly and thereby mounting the asking rate for Cricket Communications. 64 runs were required in the final 10 overs with 7 wickets standing.
Rosie introduced himself into the attack and bowled Gopal with a fullish delivery. These were deliveries that Gopal had been hitting for runs in the V behind the bowler but Rosie's magical arm did the trick. Pradeep joined Sumanth and launched the bowlers for a few boundaries towards long-leg and mid-wicket. Mudit had bowled an erratic over yielding 12 runs forcing Rosie to bring in Hari into the attack. Sure enough, Hari delivered with Sumanth edging one to the Santosh behind the stumps. A sharp chance was let down by Samir in the slips as he stood there not being very alert as one expects a slip fielder to be. Hari was aggrieved and let out his opinions with usual emotion.
The asking rate had at one point come to less than a run a ball but the fall of two wickets brought it back up to a run a ball in the final four overs. Samir and Vijay S bowled out their last over each with 4 wicket remaining and two overs to go with 11 runs to get. A brief discussion ensued between Rosie, Parag and Santosh. It was decided Rosie would bowl the 19th over and Srinvas would bowl the final over. Pradeep and Shiva had been playing sensibly, running hard for singles and chipping balls for twos into the outfield that was well spread out.
Rosie struck with the first ball forcing Pradeep to loft one weakly on the leg side. Rosie went a few yards to his right and held the simple return catch to bolster our chances of a win. The next ball resulted in Narasaiah being run out at the keeper's end as he was slow to get to the stumps with Aravind and Santosh teaming up. Rosie bowled Anil on the next ball and a single wicket and 10 runs stood between victory or defeat. Haran tried to steal a two on the last ball of the 19th over. The batsmen had to run for everything on offer. Vijay S sprinting from long on hit the stumps directly from a good 30-35 yards to earn the final wicket.
We won by a narrow margin of 9 runs. Narasaiah with 4 wickets with the ball, Gopal (21 runs, 24b, 2*4) and Pradeep (18 runs, 20b, 2*4) did well for Cricket Communcations with the bat. Mudit 21 runs (26b, 2*4), Santosh 14 (20b, 1*4) put on a good patnership towards the half way stage of our batting only to see others undo the good work.
Samir was the pick of the bowlers on either side with excellent figures of 4-2-5-2. Hari had good figures of 4-1-13-1. Captain Rosie (with a do it self attitude) bowled the magical 19th over dismissing two and also enabling two run-outs helped by good effort in the field. That over sealed a game that could have swung either way with just 11 runs and 4 wickets separating the two teams.
Cricket Communications did well to challenge us at stages in their first game against us. We need to improve on consolidating our inning with a decent start in the first half of our batting. It is the second ocassion in 4 games that the batting has collapsed to fritter away a good start. Perhaps we are too eager to convert a score of 60 odd into 140, possibly swayed by chants to attack by uneasy individuals sitting in the dressing room. We need to learn that 120 is good enough on most ocassions. The aim should be to first get there and not set sights on too large a score, too early in the second half.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=r7dFrba4IVRxub8RBYYWROQ
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
20-20 World Cup
I happened to spot Ishant Sharma at Delhi airport on 28th May, the day the Indian team was to fly to England from Mumbai. I shook hands and wished him good luck for the 20/20 World Cup.
My wishes did not help much since India seem to be out of contention for the semis itself...
My wishes did not help much since India seem to be out of contention for the semis itself...
Monday, June 15, 2009
Match 7 against Real Panthers on 06062009
As reported by Ajay K:-
This match would probably go down as one with several points of drama during the course of the game.Hari won the toss and chose the bat. We had a slow start and the run rate seemed to hover around 4.00 till the 10 over break. The problem was that we had lost 4 wickets as well. It was during the break that we re-measured the pitch since several of our batsmen had complained that it seemed short. And presto! It was 5 yards short. Several options were put on the table - move the pitch to the correct length and change it back for RP for the first 10 overs, or restart the game. But finally we settled for status quo - we would bat all 20 overs on a pitch 5 yards short. Nothing eventful in our batting and we wrapped up at 74 in the last over.
It was a very small total to defend and the team seemed charged up. Vijay started the attack and got Kailash 2nd ball, to a great catch by Parag behind the stumps. Rosie bowled a wicket maiden at the other end and followed it with 2 more maidens and 2 more wickets. Never before had an opponent's scoreline read 5 for 4 at the end of 6 overs. And not to mention the 3 diving catches that Parag had taken behind the stumps.
RP continued to go at a slow pace, but once Sanjay and Navin C came to the crease, the consolidation started. We also became a little complacent as we sensed a win despite a low score. But a few expensive overs by Hari and yours truly, wrested the initiative away from us and as a result, it came down to the last over and RP needed 3 runs for a win. The writing was on the walls, but Samir did not give up and moved all the sharp catchers into close in positions. Srini walked in to bowl the final over.
Ball 1 - a weak shot towards mid-off and Hari runs back and takes the catch. 1 down, 3 more to goBall 2 - an uncotrolled flick towards backward square leg and Vijay runs back and takes the catch with one hand. 2 down, 2 more to go and Srini is on a hat-trickBall 3 - Ball takes the thick outside edge and balloons towards Samir at mid-off and he drops a sitter. The sun had a role to play, but that also allowed RP to get a single and the in-form Navin C on strike. Ball 4 - RP get the 2 runs needed for victory.
Kudos to Rosie for his 3 maidens on the trot. Kudos to Vijay S for an extremely economic spell and Kudos to Srini for keeping his nerves under control and bowling a great last over.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rggvWJ6X7izS-QC3qtZ7Xng
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Match 8 against Real Panthers on 06/14/2009
The last game between the two teams was hard fought one which had seen Real Panthers sneeked through with 3 balls and a wicket remaining. FAC were playing almost the same team with Abhishek returning after a hiatus and Aravind back in the fold. The game was being played at the Hourglass field.
Vijay S won the toss and invited Real Panthers to bat first on a cloudy Saturday morning. There was quite a bit of moisture in the air which was to be exploited. Also, given the fact that the Real Panthers (RPs) struggled against us in the first 10 overs the last time it was a calculated decision to field first this time.
Rosie - who had a brilliant match last time taking 3 wickets and bowling three maidens on the trot - started the proceedings. Navin and Amit started for RPs. Rosie started off well first two balls on a perfect length. The third ball though was a rank full toss which demanded a due treatment. But such was the effect of Rosie's previous exploits that Amit managed to hit the ball high towards the short fine leg where Srini sprinted 8-9 steps towards his right to take a brilliant catch. What an effort! To top that off Rosie bowled a maiden over to give us a perfect start. Vijay S started off the second over and immediately got into action by claiming the wicket of Siddhartha who edged a short and wide delivery to Parag behind the wicket the very first delivery. RPs were 2 down without a run on the board. Giresh entered and started well by dispatching a full pitched delivery towards long on for a single. RPs were struggling at 2 runs for 2 wickets at the end of 2nd over.
The third and fourth over by Rosie and Vijay S just gave away 5 runs. The fifth over by Rosie scalped Girish who hit a low full toss high over the bowlers head. Rosie due fully accepted the catch and as the cliché goes FAC were right on the top. Hari was introduced in the 6th over and started out well but bowled a half tracker which was dispatched over the point by Navin to give a welcome boundary to RPs. Srini the bowled the next over and immediately got into the action with a wicket of Ajay. Ajay tried slogging a length delivery from Srini but only managed to sky it towards Samir at point. I guess everyone knew Samir would take the catch 101 times out of 100 but what happened last time just added a bit of concern. RPs were 4 down with less than 25 runs on the board.
Vilas joined in and belted one over the midwicket region for two runs off Srini. Runs were hard to come by and the bowling/fielding from FAC was near perfect. Samir started off well by taking a wicket off his first over by edging out Navin in the safe hands of Parag. Navin played well for his 18 runs but played 36 deliveries in the effort. By the end of 12 overs RPs were 6 down and just 46 runs on the board. Mudit joined in and immediately removed Vilas. Mudit pitched one at a shortish length and Vilas went for a pull over the square leg but only managed to hit one to Srini. Srini stretched both his arms and took a wonderful catch to send Vilas packing for 12 runs. What an effort from the same guys who looked terrible in the field the last week (including yours truly).
Hari started the 15th over and gave a boundary to begin with but struck immediately. Naveen hit a short ball towards the point region where Mudit took a reflex catch! Yes, Mudit, catch and reflex in the same sentence :). Mudit has taken some really amazing catches but this was one of the best you could see anyone. Samir bowled the 16th over conceding 5 runs and taking a wicket and RPs really tottering at 67 runs and 9 wickets down. Mudit started the 17 th over and the very first ball took a wicket. Well, almost! The square leg umpire for some reason (best known to him) looked at the other umpire and gave it a no ball. Srini again took a great running catch but was of no use. Now it was very evident that there were non-cricketing reasons behind the decision. It's a different issue if a team want's to win every game, but there is a fine line between trying to win a game and trying to make all the decisions in your favor to win the game. Sadly, RPs were just doing that. Just a few overs earlier Sanjay had edged one towards slip where Shekhar held a good catch lunging forward. How the heck the umpire at the non-strikers end saw the ball falling short is still a mystery. The leg umpire on the other hand was non-responsive although he definitely had a good view from that angle.
Anyway, Mudit ended up conceding 10 runs in the over and RPs were placed at 76 for 9 at the end of 17th over. Not a bad score but most folks from our side felt cheated. Vijay S bowled his 4th over and grudgingly got Kailas out by hitting the off-stump.
Rosie again did well (3 - 1 - 4 - 2) with the ball and was well supported by Srini and Samir. So just 77 runs to win and FAC started off with Abhi and Gopal as the openers. First over by Navin was very good with Abhi defending off the first few deliveries on the back and front foot. RPs striked in the first over though by scalping out Gopal who misjudged everything and got an inside edge to Girish off Navin. 1 down and only 2 runs on the board. Not an ideal start.
Shekhar joined Abhi and began the consolidation phase. The line and length by RPs Sanjay and Navin was pretty good and FAC just managed 11 runs off the first 6 overs. The 4th over by Sanjay saw Abhi hitting two brilliant boundaries off the last two balls and lifting the score to 32 runs off 8 overs. By now Parag had joined Abhi with Shekhar bowled out by Sanjay in the 6th over of the match. Nothing was going right for RPs hereon. Abhi pulled a short one but only managed to lob the ball at square leg where Siddharth made a mess of it. Even my mum would have catched that would have been the cry by Geoff Boycott. It was that simple.
Finally Abhi was out caught and bowled by Upendra not before making a well made 16 runs of 25 balls with two boundaries. Hari walked in next and was beaten first ball by Upendra. The next ball was a disaster. Hari tried a lofted shot over mid-on but completed misjudged the length and angle of the ball and was bowled off an inside edge. Samir K joined Parag with 39 runs required off 10 overs. Parag started brilliantly along with Samir (who was playing with a brand new bat) and seemed to find the singles and twos at will. Parag hit a memorable straight six to Girish who seemed a bit lost after that. Samir played some exquisite shots off the back foot while Parag nudged the ball beautifully for singles and the occasional two.
In the end it was fantastic win by FAC with Parag, Samir and Abhi coming good. Parag made a brilliant 25 off 37 balls and Samir provided excellent support playing an entertaining knock of 19 runs off just 18 balls. Not to forget the brilliant fielding effort put in by Srini who took 3 catches along with Samir who took two. Of course Mudit's catch was a blinder and would be remembered for a long time.
Most of us were appalled by the way RPs conducted themselves. They are probably one of the most talented team ; but the win at any cost attitude will not win them any friends. The sooner they realize it the better.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rRclD6aUBEn19U1Y9Cd9C4Q
Vijay S won the toss and invited Real Panthers to bat first on a cloudy Saturday morning. There was quite a bit of moisture in the air which was to be exploited. Also, given the fact that the Real Panthers (RPs) struggled against us in the first 10 overs the last time it was a calculated decision to field first this time.
Rosie - who had a brilliant match last time taking 3 wickets and bowling three maidens on the trot - started the proceedings. Navin and Amit started for RPs. Rosie started off well first two balls on a perfect length. The third ball though was a rank full toss which demanded a due treatment. But such was the effect of Rosie's previous exploits that Amit managed to hit the ball high towards the short fine leg where Srini sprinted 8-9 steps towards his right to take a brilliant catch. What an effort! To top that off Rosie bowled a maiden over to give us a perfect start. Vijay S started off the second over and immediately got into action by claiming the wicket of Siddhartha who edged a short and wide delivery to Parag behind the wicket the very first delivery. RPs were 2 down without a run on the board. Giresh entered and started well by dispatching a full pitched delivery towards long on for a single. RPs were struggling at 2 runs for 2 wickets at the end of 2nd over.
The third and fourth over by Rosie and Vijay S just gave away 5 runs. The fifth over by Rosie scalped Girish who hit a low full toss high over the bowlers head. Rosie due fully accepted the catch and as the cliché goes FAC were right on the top. Hari was introduced in the 6th over and started out well but bowled a half tracker which was dispatched over the point by Navin to give a welcome boundary to RPs. Srini the bowled the next over and immediately got into the action with a wicket of Ajay. Ajay tried slogging a length delivery from Srini but only managed to sky it towards Samir at point. I guess everyone knew Samir would take the catch 101 times out of 100 but what happened last time just added a bit of concern. RPs were 4 down with less than 25 runs on the board.
Vilas joined in and belted one over the midwicket region for two runs off Srini. Runs were hard to come by and the bowling/fielding from FAC was near perfect. Samir started off well by taking a wicket off his first over by edging out Navin in the safe hands of Parag. Navin played well for his 18 runs but played 36 deliveries in the effort. By the end of 12 overs RPs were 6 down and just 46 runs on the board. Mudit joined in and immediately removed Vilas. Mudit pitched one at a shortish length and Vilas went for a pull over the square leg but only managed to hit one to Srini. Srini stretched both his arms and took a wonderful catch to send Vilas packing for 12 runs. What an effort from the same guys who looked terrible in the field the last week (including yours truly).
Hari started the 15th over and gave a boundary to begin with but struck immediately. Naveen hit a short ball towards the point region where Mudit took a reflex catch! Yes, Mudit, catch and reflex in the same sentence :). Mudit has taken some really amazing catches but this was one of the best you could see anyone. Samir bowled the 16th over conceding 5 runs and taking a wicket and RPs really tottering at 67 runs and 9 wickets down. Mudit started the 17 th over and the very first ball took a wicket. Well, almost! The square leg umpire for some reason (best known to him) looked at the other umpire and gave it a no ball. Srini again took a great running catch but was of no use. Now it was very evident that there were non-cricketing reasons behind the decision. It's a different issue if a team want's to win every game, but there is a fine line between trying to win a game and trying to make all the decisions in your favor to win the game. Sadly, RPs were just doing that. Just a few overs earlier Sanjay had edged one towards slip where Shekhar held a good catch lunging forward. How the heck the umpire at the non-strikers end saw the ball falling short is still a mystery. The leg umpire on the other hand was non-responsive although he definitely had a good view from that angle.
Anyway, Mudit ended up conceding 10 runs in the over and RPs were placed at 76 for 9 at the end of 17th over. Not a bad score but most folks from our side felt cheated. Vijay S bowled his 4th over and grudgingly got Kailas out by hitting the off-stump.
Rosie again did well (3 - 1 - 4 - 2) with the ball and was well supported by Srini and Samir. So just 77 runs to win and FAC started off with Abhi and Gopal as the openers. First over by Navin was very good with Abhi defending off the first few deliveries on the back and front foot. RPs striked in the first over though by scalping out Gopal who misjudged everything and got an inside edge to Girish off Navin. 1 down and only 2 runs on the board. Not an ideal start.
Shekhar joined Abhi and began the consolidation phase. The line and length by RPs Sanjay and Navin was pretty good and FAC just managed 11 runs off the first 6 overs. The 4th over by Sanjay saw Abhi hitting two brilliant boundaries off the last two balls and lifting the score to 32 runs off 8 overs. By now Parag had joined Abhi with Shekhar bowled out by Sanjay in the 6th over of the match. Nothing was going right for RPs hereon. Abhi pulled a short one but only managed to lob the ball at square leg where Siddharth made a mess of it. Even my mum would have catched that would have been the cry by Geoff Boycott. It was that simple.
Finally Abhi was out caught and bowled by Upendra not before making a well made 16 runs of 25 balls with two boundaries. Hari walked in next and was beaten first ball by Upendra. The next ball was a disaster. Hari tried a lofted shot over mid-on but completed misjudged the length and angle of the ball and was bowled off an inside edge. Samir K joined Parag with 39 runs required off 10 overs. Parag started brilliantly along with Samir (who was playing with a brand new bat) and seemed to find the singles and twos at will. Parag hit a memorable straight six to Girish who seemed a bit lost after that. Samir played some exquisite shots off the back foot while Parag nudged the ball beautifully for singles and the occasional two.
In the end it was fantastic win by FAC with Parag, Samir and Abhi coming good. Parag made a brilliant 25 off 37 balls and Samir provided excellent support playing an entertaining knock of 19 runs off just 18 balls. Not to forget the brilliant fielding effort put in by Srini who took 3 catches along with Samir who took two. Of course Mudit's catch was a blinder and would be remembered for a long time.
Most of us were appalled by the way RPs conducted themselves. They are probably one of the most talented team ; but the win at any cost attitude will not win them any friends. The sooner they realize it the better.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rRclD6aUBEn19U1Y9Cd9C4Q
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Match 13 against Doyle Devils on 05162009
As reported by Ajay K:-
We have witnessed Hari Rajagopalan decimate the opposition with his batting, but on Saturday 05/16 we saw Hari do that to the opposition with his bowling as well.Doyle Park won the toss and chose to bat first. They probably wanted to try something different from last time. Batting first on the moist pitch did not seem a very wise decision.Karthik and Srini opened the batting for Doyle, just like the last game and Vijay opened the bowling for us. Vijay bowled a tidy first over conceding only a single. Hari started the proceedings at the other end and drew first blood in his opening over itself, knocking off Karthik’s leg stump.In his second over Hari struck again, this time knocking off Srini’s leg stump. That brought Tushmin to the crease. Vijay continued his tidy line in his third over, yielding only a single. Hari continued with his spell and we saw the back of Ranjit, who had stuck around for surprisingly too long. The third delivery of Hari’s over was a high full toss. Tushnim tried to play across the line, missed it completely and to Hari’s glee, it found Tusnim’s off stump! Mudit at mid-on was convinced that the stump that fell is called the leg stump. Vijay finally got rewarded in his final over as he cleaned up Sampath’s off stump. So far the score had just been ambling along and I was confident that if we continued to apply pressure, I would get to open the innings once again.Sam and Samir replaced Hari and Vijay. Between the two of them they maintained the pressure though Sam bowled a few wides in his opening over.I got their captain Venkat with the first delivery of my spell as he moved his bat too gently to the gentle pace of my delivery and lost his off stump.We were next witness to a brilliant run out from Naman. Fielding at point he quickly collected the ball, had just one stump to aim at, and hit bulls eye! But there were several more brilliant saves from Naman around the point-gully region.
Prashanth and Vipul then settled into a partnership and steered the Doyle Park score towards respectability. Though Sam, Mudit and Samir contniued to bowl a tight line, yet they did not lose an opportunity to steal runs. Samir went for 12 runs in his last over and lost his cool over a mis-field at long-on. By now Hari had lost his patience and brought himself on and got into business rightaway as Prashant tried to evade a shotpitched delivery from him, only to balloon a simple catch to the keeper. The next man Janatha took a baseball like stance, holoding the bat with virtually just one hand. Didn’t take Hari more than 2 balls to clean bowl him. The Doyle Park innings wrapped up in the last over as I yorked Vipul who was trying to step out to every ball. Doyle – 93 all out. Not a difficuot target at all especially since the pitch had dried up by now.Sam and Shekhar opened the innings for us. Shekhar unfortunately was run out in the 2nd over to a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Nitin came in next and it was entertainment all through . Nitin started plundering runs at will especially towards long on. The shots were lofted and somehow Nitin targeted Sampath at long – on, who vainly tried to hold on to the lofted shots. Once the ball poppedout of his hands to sail over the fence for a 6 and the other time, it just dropped short of the fence for a 4. Sampath was moved to a close in position in the hope of a better fielder holding on to the next chance. Nitin continued unabashed hitting his shots freely. Sam on the other hand swung and missed, but nibbled a few deliveries here and there. Close to the 10 over break, Sam was out to a brilliant delivery from Shiva. It pitched out side the off and as Sam made room for his shot, it came in and konocked off the middle stump. Irrespective of the 2 wickets we had lost, we were at a healthy 50 at the 10 over break. The key was not to lose sight of the run rate while keeping our wickets intact. But in the 12th over itself Nitin found a full toss too tempting not to pull and yet again found Sampath, this time at deep mid wicket. But this time, the law of averages caught up and he held on to the catch. Nitin was out to a well made 26 off only 24 balls, laced with a six and 2 4s. Naman and Satish followed soon after, out to good catches. Doyle suddenly saw its fortunes reversed with our scoreline reading 67 for 6 at the end of 13 overs.Hari yet again had other ideas and along with Samir, saw us through in 17 overs. Though Samir had his hits and misses, Hari made a steady 20 off 15 deliveries with 3 glorious 4s. It was a only fitting to wrap up the day with a great batting performance too. The all round performance puts Hari as the man of the match. I guess, Hari is shaping into a good captain. Keep it up Hari and keep it up team. Great performance!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rwqSbqvaam3HX2Ca2UKNnlQ&hl=en
We have witnessed Hari Rajagopalan decimate the opposition with his batting, but on Saturday 05/16 we saw Hari do that to the opposition with his bowling as well.Doyle Park won the toss and chose to bat first. They probably wanted to try something different from last time. Batting first on the moist pitch did not seem a very wise decision.Karthik and Srini opened the batting for Doyle, just like the last game and Vijay opened the bowling for us. Vijay bowled a tidy first over conceding only a single. Hari started the proceedings at the other end and drew first blood in his opening over itself, knocking off Karthik’s leg stump.In his second over Hari struck again, this time knocking off Srini’s leg stump. That brought Tushmin to the crease. Vijay continued his tidy line in his third over, yielding only a single. Hari continued with his spell and we saw the back of Ranjit, who had stuck around for surprisingly too long. The third delivery of Hari’s over was a high full toss. Tushnim tried to play across the line, missed it completely and to Hari’s glee, it found Tusnim’s off stump! Mudit at mid-on was convinced that the stump that fell is called the leg stump. Vijay finally got rewarded in his final over as he cleaned up Sampath’s off stump. So far the score had just been ambling along and I was confident that if we continued to apply pressure, I would get to open the innings once again.Sam and Samir replaced Hari and Vijay. Between the two of them they maintained the pressure though Sam bowled a few wides in his opening over.I got their captain Venkat with the first delivery of my spell as he moved his bat too gently to the gentle pace of my delivery and lost his off stump.We were next witness to a brilliant run out from Naman. Fielding at point he quickly collected the ball, had just one stump to aim at, and hit bulls eye! But there were several more brilliant saves from Naman around the point-gully region.
Prashanth and Vipul then settled into a partnership and steered the Doyle Park score towards respectability. Though Sam, Mudit and Samir contniued to bowl a tight line, yet they did not lose an opportunity to steal runs. Samir went for 12 runs in his last over and lost his cool over a mis-field at long-on. By now Hari had lost his patience and brought himself on and got into business rightaway as Prashant tried to evade a shotpitched delivery from him, only to balloon a simple catch to the keeper. The next man Janatha took a baseball like stance, holoding the bat with virtually just one hand. Didn’t take Hari more than 2 balls to clean bowl him. The Doyle Park innings wrapped up in the last over as I yorked Vipul who was trying to step out to every ball. Doyle – 93 all out. Not a difficuot target at all especially since the pitch had dried up by now.Sam and Shekhar opened the innings for us. Shekhar unfortunately was run out in the 2nd over to a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Nitin came in next and it was entertainment all through . Nitin started plundering runs at will especially towards long on. The shots were lofted and somehow Nitin targeted Sampath at long – on, who vainly tried to hold on to the lofted shots. Once the ball poppedout of his hands to sail over the fence for a 6 and the other time, it just dropped short of the fence for a 4. Sampath was moved to a close in position in the hope of a better fielder holding on to the next chance. Nitin continued unabashed hitting his shots freely. Sam on the other hand swung and missed, but nibbled a few deliveries here and there. Close to the 10 over break, Sam was out to a brilliant delivery from Shiva. It pitched out side the off and as Sam made room for his shot, it came in and konocked off the middle stump. Irrespective of the 2 wickets we had lost, we were at a healthy 50 at the 10 over break. The key was not to lose sight of the run rate while keeping our wickets intact. But in the 12th over itself Nitin found a full toss too tempting not to pull and yet again found Sampath, this time at deep mid wicket. But this time, the law of averages caught up and he held on to the catch. Nitin was out to a well made 26 off only 24 balls, laced with a six and 2 4s. Naman and Satish followed soon after, out to good catches. Doyle suddenly saw its fortunes reversed with our scoreline reading 67 for 6 at the end of 13 overs.Hari yet again had other ideas and along with Samir, saw us through in 17 overs. Though Samir had his hits and misses, Hari made a steady 20 off 15 deliveries with 3 glorious 4s. It was a only fitting to wrap up the day with a great batting performance too. The all round performance puts Hari as the man of the match. I guess, Hari is shaping into a good captain. Keep it up Hari and keep it up team. Great performance!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rwqSbqvaam3HX2Ca2UKNnlQ&hl=en
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