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
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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)
Scorecard : http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p69faXyzPo49VAHAceKbBMA&hl=en
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
Monday, January 26, 2009
SDCS Winter 2009 Panthers v/s Shadows Round 3 - 01/25/2009
For the third consecutive time Rupesh won the toss and elected to field first. There was debate between the two captains regarding the pitch and finally it was agreed to play on the same pitch where Panthers had won their last two games. Not many in the Panthers camp were comfortable with the bounce the pitch would offer.
Panthers started with a bang in the very first over to dismiss Shadows captain Yoga for a first ball duck. A good length delivery from Vijay S moved enough to take an edge which was gleefully accepted by Rahul Bedi. Only two runs were given off the first over. Kranthi joined in Prashanth at the crease and Abhi continue for Panthers. A few short balls were pulled away by Prashnath towards the deep midwicket region with one accounting for a boundary. But immediately thereafter Abhi struck and Prashanth (7 runs 6balls) was sent packing caught and bowled. Shawdows progressed at a relatively good pace with 14 runs scored off 3 overs but two down. Raju tried to do a Ranatunga by attempting to run the ball down to third man but instead provided a lolly-pop to Vijay S who gulped it down easily. After 4 overs the score read 24 runs and 3 wickets down. Vijay S continued the 5 th over and gave away just 3 runs. Rupesh started as first change and bowled a maiden over to further slow down Shadows progress. Hari started off well and just gave away 4 runs coming in as second change.
Rosie started the 10 th over with a bang and scalped 2 wickets in his first over. The first to go was Shiva who was held on by Rahul behind the stumps. Wasim was playing a test match innings at the other hand by scoring only 3 runs till then off 20 balls. Rosie pitched a ball on middle and leg which Wasim tried to glide it through midwicket and instead spooned a sitter to Rupesh at short cover. There was acrimony all around with Yoga the umpire ruling the ball bounced on the ground. The logic defying argument by Yoga the umpire was pretty baffling and I am sure Yoga must have been visualising something else at the very moment. Anyway, Rosie cleaned up Wasim (3 runs off 23 balls) in the same over.
Shivanand and Arul started after the break for Shadows and so did Hari and Rosie for Panthers. Shivanand played some good attacking strokes off Hari. Rosie starting next got rid off Arul who miscued a pull shot which was latched on by a leaping Spandan. Spandan was estatic by his own effort and kept shouting at Hari who had earlier belittled Spandan's effort during the break for misjudging an earlier catch. Rosie struck back again by dismissing Shivanand (15 runs off 21 balls) who was caught in the deep off Shekhar.
Rupesh was keeping things quiet and did so by bowling 3 overs for a meagre 4 runs and bowled one maiden. Rosie did a splendid job by the end of his 4 overs by claiming a five wicket haul for just 14 runs. A truly splendid effort. Vijay S cleaned up the tail in the 16 th over and Shadows were bundled for a less flattering 59 runs. Still, given the nature of the pitch anything was possible.
Panthers started off as usual with Abhi and Shekhar on a positive note by scoring 9 runs of the very first over by Yoga. Abhi pulled a short delivery for a boundary in the first over and set the ball rolling (pun intended) for Panthers. Panthers were well placed with 31 runs coming off 5 overs. Arul was doing a fine job for Shadows by mixing up his length well on a deteriorating pitch. Panthers lost Abhi first to full pitched delivery on the off which was caught behind Shivananad. Abhi (19 off 21 balls) provided a fine fine start to put Panthers on their course for a third victory. Shekhar soon departed as well holding out to Raju off Wasim at short cover region playing an uppish shot. Vijay S joined Hari in the 7 th over were Panthers were placed very well at 42 runs and two wickets down. Accumulating singles an dtwos and an odd boundary or two Panthers eased past the target in the very first over after break. With 9 overs to spare, the eight wicket win should provide some more confidence to Panthers who look pretty solid with their batting, fielding or bowling.
Rightly, the MoM is Rosie for his 5 wicket haul and just giving away 14 runs. Hari shined with the bat scoring 16 off 18 balls so did Abhi (19 off 21 balls). Rupesh as usual captained the side well and managed to give few runs in this three overs. Not to ignore Rahul Bedi's effort with the gloves on a difficult pitch. In all, Panthers are growing well and hopefully provide the same good cricket they have in the last three matches.
Keeper :- Rahul Bedi (Purported, Punjab Lion at heart, pounces on the ball behind the stumps considering it as bait. However, he is the Chandigarh Mail with the ball in hand. He can bat well, particularly when captain, to lift his team out of trouble and take them to a fighting total)
Scorecard :http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqgMLe3V_-JWQ&hl=en
Patron & Sponsor : Ajay Kaul presenting award
Captain : Rupesh Gupta applauding team effort
MoM : Rosie 4-0-14-5 (Prodigious swing, ball does kick from good length to deceive many a batsman)
Panthers started with a bang in the very first over to dismiss Shadows captain Yoga for a first ball duck. A good length delivery from Vijay S moved enough to take an edge which was gleefully accepted by Rahul Bedi. Only two runs were given off the first over. Kranthi joined in Prashanth at the crease and Abhi continue for Panthers. A few short balls were pulled away by Prashnath towards the deep midwicket region with one accounting for a boundary. But immediately thereafter Abhi struck and Prashanth (7 runs 6balls) was sent packing caught and bowled. Shawdows progressed at a relatively good pace with 14 runs scored off 3 overs but two down. Raju tried to do a Ranatunga by attempting to run the ball down to third man but instead provided a lolly-pop to Vijay S who gulped it down easily. After 4 overs the score read 24 runs and 3 wickets down. Vijay S continued the 5 th over and gave away just 3 runs. Rupesh started as first change and bowled a maiden over to further slow down Shadows progress. Hari started off well and just gave away 4 runs coming in as second change.
Rosie started the 10 th over with a bang and scalped 2 wickets in his first over. The first to go was Shiva who was held on by Rahul behind the stumps. Wasim was playing a test match innings at the other hand by scoring only 3 runs till then off 20 balls. Rosie pitched a ball on middle and leg which Wasim tried to glide it through midwicket and instead spooned a sitter to Rupesh at short cover. There was acrimony all around with Yoga the umpire ruling the ball bounced on the ground. The logic defying argument by Yoga the umpire was pretty baffling and I am sure Yoga must have been visualising something else at the very moment. Anyway, Rosie cleaned up Wasim (3 runs off 23 balls) in the same over.
Shivanand and Arul started after the break for Shadows and so did Hari and Rosie for Panthers. Shivanand played some good attacking strokes off Hari. Rosie starting next got rid off Arul who miscued a pull shot which was latched on by a leaping Spandan. Spandan was estatic by his own effort and kept shouting at Hari who had earlier belittled Spandan's effort during the break for misjudging an earlier catch. Rosie struck back again by dismissing Shivanand (15 runs off 21 balls) who was caught in the deep off Shekhar.
Rupesh was keeping things quiet and did so by bowling 3 overs for a meagre 4 runs and bowled one maiden. Rosie did a splendid job by the end of his 4 overs by claiming a five wicket haul for just 14 runs. A truly splendid effort. Vijay S cleaned up the tail in the 16 th over and Shadows were bundled for a less flattering 59 runs. Still, given the nature of the pitch anything was possible.
Panthers started off as usual with Abhi and Shekhar on a positive note by scoring 9 runs of the very first over by Yoga. Abhi pulled a short delivery for a boundary in the first over and set the ball rolling (pun intended) for Panthers. Panthers were well placed with 31 runs coming off 5 overs. Arul was doing a fine job for Shadows by mixing up his length well on a deteriorating pitch. Panthers lost Abhi first to full pitched delivery on the off which was caught behind Shivananad. Abhi (19 off 21 balls) provided a fine fine start to put Panthers on their course for a third victory. Shekhar soon departed as well holding out to Raju off Wasim at short cover region playing an uppish shot. Vijay S joined Hari in the 7 th over were Panthers were placed very well at 42 runs and two wickets down. Accumulating singles an dtwos and an odd boundary or two Panthers eased past the target in the very first over after break. With 9 overs to spare, the eight wicket win should provide some more confidence to Panthers who look pretty solid with their batting, fielding or bowling.
Rightly, the MoM is Rosie for his 5 wicket haul and just giving away 14 runs. Hari shined with the bat scoring 16 off 18 balls so did Abhi (19 off 21 balls). Rupesh as usual captained the side well and managed to give few runs in this three overs. Not to ignore Rahul Bedi's effort with the gloves on a difficult pitch. In all, Panthers are growing well and hopefully provide the same good cricket they have in the last three matches.
Keeper :- Rahul Bedi (Purported, Punjab Lion at heart, pounces on the ball behind the stumps considering it as bait. However, he is the Chandigarh Mail with the ball in hand. He can bat well, particularly when captain, to lift his team out of trouble and take them to a fighting total)
Scorecard :http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpqgMLe3V_-JWQ&hl=en
Patron & Sponsor : Ajay Kaul presenting award
Captain : Rupesh Gupta applauding team effort
MoM : Rosie 4-0-14-5 (Prodigious swing, ball does kick from good length to deceive many a batsman)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
SDCS Winter 2009 - Eagles v/s Blazing XI Round 3 01242009
Blazing XI won the toss and asked the Eagles to bat first on the uneven pitch at Miramar College Ground (Big).
Abhishek and Rajesh opened the batting for the Eagles. Harshil started the bowling but gave away 9 runs to ease any nerves for the openers. Surinder at the other end started well by giving away a single wide in his first over. Harshil was then put away for a boundary each by Abhishek and Rajesh, in the very next over that yielded another 16 runs. Abhishek replaced Harshil but the openers continued to score well. Surinder bowling the 6th over bowled Abhishek but by then the score was a healthy 46/1 in 6 overs. Sam joined Rajesh but was not at ease against Saurabh. Saurabh beat him twice in succession on two incoming deliveries and finally cleaned Sam up on the last ball of that over. Hari joined Rajesh and together they took the team to the break and a healthy score of 77/2. Rajesh was playing well at the other end with periods of defense and agressive shots in the air mainly towards the spread out field on the leg side. Loose balls from Abhishek, Munawar were dispatched for fours with ease.
Hari went on the aggressive after the break. The 14th over being bowled by Munawar yielded 10 runs with Hari blasting a four and a six. In the next over from Saurabh, Hari launched one to long leg, did not connect well, only to find Aditya holding the catch with ease. The score read a healthy 108/3 in 15 overs. Parag hit one towards square leg for a six on the last ball of the 17th over that yielded 12 runs. Parag and Rajesh then scored singles and two with an occasional boundary to take the score to 156/3 in 20 overs. Rajesh requiring 2 to score a 50, did so to the delight of all, with a well placed shot to the covers on the final ball of the 20th over. Credit goes to Rajesh on scoring an unbeaten 50 when given a chance to open. The 51* was studded with 6 fours and came in a reasonably quick rate of 60 balls. Blazing did not do their cause much by giving away 49 extras.
With a huge score to defend the Eagles took the field with vigor, being confident of defending the 157 with ease. Opening batsman Abhishek from Blazing XI started with aggression by scoring 8 of the bat in the first over from Sam. Saurabh followed that up with a few runs against Abhishek from the Eagles. Abhishek from Blazing XI then targeted Sam in the next over and took the score to 26/0 in 3 overs. Abhishek from the Eagles then picked up Abhishek from Blazing XI, caught by Hari at long on. Kiran and Saurabh then continued the aggressive approach that was required to chase down the huge target. A good piece of fielding by Naman in the deep yielded the second wicket as a run out. Hari then bowled Aditya and followed that up with a sharp caught and bowled in the same over within a couple of balls. A young Ajay Kaul, fielding at short mid-wicket sprinted towards square leg to get Surinder run out by throwing a quick throw to the keeper's end. Against expectations Ajay also sprinted around to hold a running catch to give Sam some joy in the form of the wicket of Mrugesh. Ajay also picked up two wickets in an over in the form of catches held behind the wicket. Bowling his only over of the game Mudit picked up a wicket giving away just 3 runs. The final wicket was picked up on the first ball of the 15th over being bowled by Suresh. Blazing XI were cheaply dismissed for 80 runs.
Eagles thus secured a huge 76 run win, their first in three encounters. A repeat of such good performances in the next few games might help them secure a slot in the semi-finals. It was a good display in the field by the Eagles who have to now win at least 3 of the next four games to progress to the next round.
The unbeaten knock of 51 by Rajesh laid the foundation of the huge score and deservedly earns votes for MoM for this game.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpr4564hd3dWfw&hl=en
Abhishek and Rajesh opened the batting for the Eagles. Harshil started the bowling but gave away 9 runs to ease any nerves for the openers. Surinder at the other end started well by giving away a single wide in his first over. Harshil was then put away for a boundary each by Abhishek and Rajesh, in the very next over that yielded another 16 runs. Abhishek replaced Harshil but the openers continued to score well. Surinder bowling the 6th over bowled Abhishek but by then the score was a healthy 46/1 in 6 overs. Sam joined Rajesh but was not at ease against Saurabh. Saurabh beat him twice in succession on two incoming deliveries and finally cleaned Sam up on the last ball of that over. Hari joined Rajesh and together they took the team to the break and a healthy score of 77/2. Rajesh was playing well at the other end with periods of defense and agressive shots in the air mainly towards the spread out field on the leg side. Loose balls from Abhishek, Munawar were dispatched for fours with ease.
Hari went on the aggressive after the break. The 14th over being bowled by Munawar yielded 10 runs with Hari blasting a four and a six. In the next over from Saurabh, Hari launched one to long leg, did not connect well, only to find Aditya holding the catch with ease. The score read a healthy 108/3 in 15 overs. Parag hit one towards square leg for a six on the last ball of the 17th over that yielded 12 runs. Parag and Rajesh then scored singles and two with an occasional boundary to take the score to 156/3 in 20 overs. Rajesh requiring 2 to score a 50, did so to the delight of all, with a well placed shot to the covers on the final ball of the 20th over. Credit goes to Rajesh on scoring an unbeaten 50 when given a chance to open. The 51* was studded with 6 fours and came in a reasonably quick rate of 60 balls. Blazing did not do their cause much by giving away 49 extras.
With a huge score to defend the Eagles took the field with vigor, being confident of defending the 157 with ease. Opening batsman Abhishek from Blazing XI started with aggression by scoring 8 of the bat in the first over from Sam. Saurabh followed that up with a few runs against Abhishek from the Eagles. Abhishek from Blazing XI then targeted Sam in the next over and took the score to 26/0 in 3 overs. Abhishek from the Eagles then picked up Abhishek from Blazing XI, caught by Hari at long on. Kiran and Saurabh then continued the aggressive approach that was required to chase down the huge target. A good piece of fielding by Naman in the deep yielded the second wicket as a run out. Hari then bowled Aditya and followed that up with a sharp caught and bowled in the same over within a couple of balls. A young Ajay Kaul, fielding at short mid-wicket sprinted towards square leg to get Surinder run out by throwing a quick throw to the keeper's end. Against expectations Ajay also sprinted around to hold a running catch to give Sam some joy in the form of the wicket of Mrugesh. Ajay also picked up two wickets in an over in the form of catches held behind the wicket. Bowling his only over of the game Mudit picked up a wicket giving away just 3 runs. The final wicket was picked up on the first ball of the 15th over being bowled by Suresh. Blazing XI were cheaply dismissed for 80 runs.
Eagles thus secured a huge 76 run win, their first in three encounters. A repeat of such good performances in the next few games might help them secure a slot in the semi-finals. It was a good display in the field by the Eagles who have to now win at least 3 of the next four games to progress to the next round.
The unbeaten knock of 51 by Rajesh laid the foundation of the huge score and deservedly earns votes for MoM for this game.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpr4564hd3dWfw&hl=en
Sunday, January 18, 2009
SDCS Winter 2009 Panthers v/s RBCC Round 2 - 01/17/2009
Contrary to expectations the 2nd Round match featuring FAC players started on a relatively punctual time. The pitch was exactly similar to the one where Panthers defeated Blasters last week.
RBCC (a.k.a Sony) was the second team the Panthers were facing. Rupesh called correctly to win the toss again and given the moisture in the pitch not unexpectedly invited RBCC to bat. The boundaries were relatively close by and this promised to be a high scoring tussle.
Vijay S started the proceedings with a few wides. The pitch was an absolute nightmare for the bowler, batsman and the keeper. Some deliveries were bouncing way above the batsman's and keeper's head and few of them were keeping very low. Sai managed a boundary on the leg side to a delivery pitched a bit short towards the batsman's chest. The very next delivery or so Vijay S managed to tempt Sai to a slog over the long on to only see Hari take an excellent catch which bounced of his chest awkwardly. The score read 6/1 off the 1st over and Sai (4, 3 balls) was back in the hut. Abhi resumed the proceedings from the other end and struggled initially with his length but got into the grove very quickly. The RBCC score sheet ambled on to respectable 12/1 off 2 overs. Amit (4 runs, 17 balls) was scalped in Vijay S's second over. A good length swinging delivery lured him to have a swat resulting in a thick edge which flew over the point region. Aravind defied Newton's several laws of physics (in my mind the second law of momentum) and lunged forward to take a superb catch, probably the catch of the match. Rightly, he was mobbed by Panthers from all sides for his excellent gravity defying effort.
Vijay S struck back again in his third over to send Mohnish back in the tent by bowling a slower off cuter to disturb the stumps. RBCC were in a spot of bother with 16 runs on the board and 3 wickets down. Panthers were surely on top of their game with some great effort in the field. Pankaj and Venky started the building job for RBCC but found it difficult to cope with the pressure. Rupesh started as the first change and found it difficult to control the swing and gave away a few wides. After a few wides Rupesh tried going around the wicket and darted the ball on the stumps. This paid off quite well with Pankaj unable to resist the temptation and played an ugly shot to only find his middle and leg stump separated. Rupesh struck again when he got Venky to edge the ball to Rahul B who managed to take a low tumbling catch. Hari was quick to point out that Rahul B actually took the catch first and then tumbled to provide a more dramatic effect.
Hari was brought on and he struck with the very first ball to bowl Gavaskar for a duck. Hari repeated this feat again in his sceond over by bowling Nagendra out with his very first ball of the over. At the end of the 10 overs the scored read a healthy 42/7 as far as Panthers were concerned. RBCC resumed the proceedings cautiously and creeped towards 52 at the end of 17 overs. Rupesh bowled excellently to get rid off Bala who spooned a simple catch to Yogesh in the gully region. Yogesh bowled his Mohinder Amarnath's to restrict the RBCC tail pretty well and in the process got Nilesh out well caught by Shekhar in the short midwicket region. Abhi bowled the 17th over and conceded 10 runs. Yogesh bowled the penultimate over and that left Rupesh with a difficult option to bring on Aravind to bowl the last over. Bowling the last over is tough especially if its your first over of the match. Arvind conceded 13 runs and that meant a respectable target of 82 runs to be chased by Panthers on a wearing pitch.
Hari (4-0-9-2), Rupesh (4-1-12-3), Yogesh (3-0-8-1) and Abhi (4-0-14-0) were pick of the bowlers.
Panthers started out well with Shekhar and Abhi initiating the reply against Bala who generated excellent pace off the pitch. 4 runs were scored off the first 2 overs to settle some early nerves in the Panthers room. In the third over Abhi had to retire, courtesy Bala's in cutter which hit Abhi at a place which is very dear to all men. Hari walked in and started cautiously but eventually freeing up and smacking two boundaries to take Panthers to a respectable 24 off 6 overs. Shekhar then was bowled by Mohnish to a delivery which kept a bit low. Suresh, the hero from the last match, walked in and started belting the ball around which luckily didn't carry to any of the fielders.
Hari was timing the ball quite nicely but was caught in the deep holding out to Pankaj off Mohnish. Hari contributed quite well with 16 runs off 24 balls but as is the case with him he gets out when you think he will take the team to the finish line. The score read a healthy 45 runs off 10 0vers with Suresh back in the pavilion as well. Yogesh joined in after Suresh slashed Ram to be caught by Pankaj.
RBCC (a.k.a Sony) was the second team the Panthers were facing. Rupesh called correctly to win the toss again and given the moisture in the pitch not unexpectedly invited RBCC to bat. The boundaries were relatively close by and this promised to be a high scoring tussle.
Vijay S started the proceedings with a few wides. The pitch was an absolute nightmare for the bowler, batsman and the keeper. Some deliveries were bouncing way above the batsman's and keeper's head and few of them were keeping very low. Sai managed a boundary on the leg side to a delivery pitched a bit short towards the batsman's chest. The very next delivery or so Vijay S managed to tempt Sai to a slog over the long on to only see Hari take an excellent catch which bounced of his chest awkwardly. The score read 6/1 off the 1st over and Sai (4, 3 balls) was back in the hut. Abhi resumed the proceedings from the other end and struggled initially with his length but got into the grove very quickly. The RBCC score sheet ambled on to respectable 12/1 off 2 overs. Amit (4 runs, 17 balls) was scalped in Vijay S's second over. A good length swinging delivery lured him to have a swat resulting in a thick edge which flew over the point region. Aravind defied Newton's several laws of physics (in my mind the second law of momentum) and lunged forward to take a superb catch, probably the catch of the match. Rightly, he was mobbed by Panthers from all sides for his excellent gravity defying effort.
Vijay S struck back again in his third over to send Mohnish back in the tent by bowling a slower off cuter to disturb the stumps. RBCC were in a spot of bother with 16 runs on the board and 3 wickets down. Panthers were surely on top of their game with some great effort in the field. Pankaj and Venky started the building job for RBCC but found it difficult to cope with the pressure. Rupesh started as the first change and found it difficult to control the swing and gave away a few wides. After a few wides Rupesh tried going around the wicket and darted the ball on the stumps. This paid off quite well with Pankaj unable to resist the temptation and played an ugly shot to only find his middle and leg stump separated. Rupesh struck again when he got Venky to edge the ball to Rahul B who managed to take a low tumbling catch. Hari was quick to point out that Rahul B actually took the catch first and then tumbled to provide a more dramatic effect.
Hari was brought on and he struck with the very first ball to bowl Gavaskar for a duck. Hari repeated this feat again in his sceond over by bowling Nagendra out with his very first ball of the over. At the end of the 10 overs the scored read a healthy 42/7 as far as Panthers were concerned. RBCC resumed the proceedings cautiously and creeped towards 52 at the end of 17 overs. Rupesh bowled excellently to get rid off Bala who spooned a simple catch to Yogesh in the gully region. Yogesh bowled his Mohinder Amarnath's to restrict the RBCC tail pretty well and in the process got Nilesh out well caught by Shekhar in the short midwicket region. Abhi bowled the 17th over and conceded 10 runs. Yogesh bowled the penultimate over and that left Rupesh with a difficult option to bring on Aravind to bowl the last over. Bowling the last over is tough especially if its your first over of the match. Arvind conceded 13 runs and that meant a respectable target of 82 runs to be chased by Panthers on a wearing pitch.
Hari (4-0-9-2), Rupesh (4-1-12-3), Yogesh (3-0-8-1) and Abhi (4-0-14-0) were pick of the bowlers.
Panthers started out well with Shekhar and Abhi initiating the reply against Bala who generated excellent pace off the pitch. 4 runs were scored off the first 2 overs to settle some early nerves in the Panthers room. In the third over Abhi had to retire, courtesy Bala's in cutter which hit Abhi at a place which is very dear to all men. Hari walked in and started cautiously but eventually freeing up and smacking two boundaries to take Panthers to a respectable 24 off 6 overs. Shekhar then was bowled by Mohnish to a delivery which kept a bit low. Suresh, the hero from the last match, walked in and started belting the ball around which luckily didn't carry to any of the fielders.
Hari was timing the ball quite nicely but was caught in the deep holding out to Pankaj off Mohnish. Hari contributed quite well with 16 runs off 24 balls but as is the case with him he gets out when you think he will take the team to the finish line. The score read a healthy 45 runs off 10 0vers with Suresh back in the pavilion as well. Yogesh joined in after Suresh slashed Ram to be caught by Pankaj.
After the break there were a few arguments concerning wides. After the delay Bala produced a beauty which pitch on middle and off and just clipped the end of the bail on the off stump to send Vijay S packing. Abhi joined in Yogesh who sensibly just picked up singles and twos. The equation got a bit comfortable when a few wides went for boundary behind the stumps. Yogesh and Abhi each pulled a short one towards deep square leg to make the going easy for Panther's. Abhi was done in by an in swinging ripper from Pankaj to provide some hopes. But 16 runs of 7 overs was never going to be daunting task for Yogesh and Rupesh. Panthers finally won with almost 4 overs to spare.
Yogesh and Hari were the star performers with bat and ball and deserve to be MoM. Yogesh in particular scored 20 valuable runs to take Panther's towards safety but Hari's performance of 16 runs and giving away just 9 runs off 4 overs and picking two wickets is noteworthy as well.
Good job Panthers! 27 runs were given away in extras and if that's kept under control for the forthcoming matches then Panthers will more often than not win games against most opponents. Let's hope so.
Captain Rupesh Gupta, happy with his team (Guys, just chill out you know, just chill out)
MoM : Yogesh Vichare 20 *(25b, 2*4)
Maratha warrior swoops down from the Sahyadris to defend his fortress (much to the surprise of the purported Punjab Lion)
SDCS Winter 2009 Eagles v/s Shadows Round 2 01172009
Eagles won the toss and elected for bat first in the 20 over game against the Shadows on 17th Jan 09.
Nitin B and Naman opened the innings for the Eagles with Kapil and Ashwin bowling. The openers did not last long and that brought Hari and Parag to the crease. Kapil grabbed the wickets of both the openers. Naman played on and Nitin B was caught well in the slips by Raju.
The score at the end of 5 overs was 15 runs. The 6th over from captain Yoga yielded 18 runs to place the Eagles at a healthy 33/2. Arul bowled a tight over to Parag that yielded only a single wide and the pressure was back on the Eagles. In the very next over from Wasim, Parag tried to loft a full toss over the in-field on the off side but could only find Kranthi at short cover/mid-off. Hari then lofted one towards his favorite area at long on. Yoga came running in and held a good catch to clinch another crucial wicket for the Shadows. Abhishek hit Wasim for a good looking boundary on the last ball of the 10th to take the score beyond 40. Mudit and Abhishek thus took the team to the break and a precarious position of 44/4.
Mudit was the first to depart after the break and that started a procession of batsmen returning back to the pavilion. For the second time in two innings Sam was run-out needlessly. Sam set out for a run and Abhishek had no intentions to run a quick single. The ball went straight to the fielder at square leg and he made no mistake. Abhishek was bowled by Wasim and Kapil cleaned Srinivas. Suresh edged a boundary to third man but fell very soon. He lofted one to long leg and Yoga held another catch running in. Within the next couple of balls Rajesh was held at the same spot. Eagles folded for 78 with two overs to spare.
Shadows were on a high and knew very well that they would have to try and bat beyond 15 overs to seal an easy win. Eagles however did not have intentions to give up easily. Sam and Vinay started extremely well with Vinay picking up 4 wickets in two overs. The score for the Shadows in 4 overs read 13/4. Vinay picked up a wicket in the second over of the inning and followed that with three wickets in the fourth over. Sam held a sharp catch to dismiss Wasim at point and Kranthi was cleaned up by Vinay by a lethal incoming yorker length ball.
Abhishek then picked up Ashwin and captain Yoga, to excellent catches by Suresh and Hari respectively. Suresh held a low catch standing at the 30 yard circle at mid-off. Hari (did a Yoga on Yoga) by sprinting in from the boundary to hold a high catch at long leg. Sam then held a low diving catch at slips to dismiss the opener Kapil to put the Eagles in a favorable position. Arul and Jay played until the end of 10 overs to take the score to 40/7.
Arul and Jay then played extremely well after the break to deny the Eagles the opportunity to get another wicket. Abhishek was pulled to square leg with force for two fours and so was Hari. Jay played a critical role in taking the Shadows closer to victory. Hari bowled Jay to give some glimmer of hope amidst a narrowing gap in scores of the two teams. Sam and Vinay completed their quota and Abhishek came in to bowl the 17th over and two wickets to get with 6 runs needed for victory. Shivanand then hit one over the in-field on the off side and followed that up with a straight boundary a few balls later to seal victory for the Shadows with 20 balls to spare.
Arul 19* (23b, 3*4) , Jay 10 (20b, 1*4) and Shivanand 9 * (7b, 1*4) played a crucial role with the bat when the Shadows were in a precarious position. Kapil (4-1-4-3) was the pick of the bowlers on either side on the day. Vinay was a close second with figures of 4-0-21-4. His inspired bowling made the Eagles favorites at the end of 30 0vers in the game but Arul, Jay and Shivanand turned the tide instantly in the next 6 overs.
Arul picked up three wickets for a mere 11 runs apart from playing a responsible inning with the bat. He deservedly is MOM for this game.
Shadows have thus won both their games and Eagles are yet to secure any points. Eagles need improvement in all areas of the game and definitely need to bat the full quota of 20 overs. The positives for the Eagles have been responsible batting by the tail in the first game and inspired bowling by all bowlers and a committed effort in the field in the second game. It's just a matter of winning a game from here on and a few more wins may very well follow that. Eagles know what to do, its just a matter of figuring out how and making it happen.
Nitin B and Naman opened the innings for the Eagles with Kapil and Ashwin bowling. The openers did not last long and that brought Hari and Parag to the crease. Kapil grabbed the wickets of both the openers. Naman played on and Nitin B was caught well in the slips by Raju.
The score at the end of 5 overs was 15 runs. The 6th over from captain Yoga yielded 18 runs to place the Eagles at a healthy 33/2. Arul bowled a tight over to Parag that yielded only a single wide and the pressure was back on the Eagles. In the very next over from Wasim, Parag tried to loft a full toss over the in-field on the off side but could only find Kranthi at short cover/mid-off. Hari then lofted one towards his favorite area at long on. Yoga came running in and held a good catch to clinch another crucial wicket for the Shadows. Abhishek hit Wasim for a good looking boundary on the last ball of the 10th to take the score beyond 40. Mudit and Abhishek thus took the team to the break and a precarious position of 44/4.
Mudit was the first to depart after the break and that started a procession of batsmen returning back to the pavilion. For the second time in two innings Sam was run-out needlessly. Sam set out for a run and Abhishek had no intentions to run a quick single. The ball went straight to the fielder at square leg and he made no mistake. Abhishek was bowled by Wasim and Kapil cleaned Srinivas. Suresh edged a boundary to third man but fell very soon. He lofted one to long leg and Yoga held another catch running in. Within the next couple of balls Rajesh was held at the same spot. Eagles folded for 78 with two overs to spare.
Shadows were on a high and knew very well that they would have to try and bat beyond 15 overs to seal an easy win. Eagles however did not have intentions to give up easily. Sam and Vinay started extremely well with Vinay picking up 4 wickets in two overs. The score for the Shadows in 4 overs read 13/4. Vinay picked up a wicket in the second over of the inning and followed that with three wickets in the fourth over. Sam held a sharp catch to dismiss Wasim at point and Kranthi was cleaned up by Vinay by a lethal incoming yorker length ball.
Abhishek then picked up Ashwin and captain Yoga, to excellent catches by Suresh and Hari respectively. Suresh held a low catch standing at the 30 yard circle at mid-off. Hari (did a Yoga on Yoga) by sprinting in from the boundary to hold a high catch at long leg. Sam then held a low diving catch at slips to dismiss the opener Kapil to put the Eagles in a favorable position. Arul and Jay played until the end of 10 overs to take the score to 40/7.
Arul and Jay then played extremely well after the break to deny the Eagles the opportunity to get another wicket. Abhishek was pulled to square leg with force for two fours and so was Hari. Jay played a critical role in taking the Shadows closer to victory. Hari bowled Jay to give some glimmer of hope amidst a narrowing gap in scores of the two teams. Sam and Vinay completed their quota and Abhishek came in to bowl the 17th over and two wickets to get with 6 runs needed for victory. Shivanand then hit one over the in-field on the off side and followed that up with a straight boundary a few balls later to seal victory for the Shadows with 20 balls to spare.
Arul 19* (23b, 3*4) , Jay 10 (20b, 1*4) and Shivanand 9 * (7b, 1*4) played a crucial role with the bat when the Shadows were in a precarious position. Kapil (4-1-4-3) was the pick of the bowlers on either side on the day. Vinay was a close second with figures of 4-0-21-4. His inspired bowling made the Eagles favorites at the end of 30 0vers in the game but Arul, Jay and Shivanand turned the tide instantly in the next 6 overs.
Arul picked up three wickets for a mere 11 runs apart from playing a responsible inning with the bat. He deservedly is MOM for this game.
Shadows have thus won both their games and Eagles are yet to secure any points. Eagles need improvement in all areas of the game and definitely need to bat the full quota of 20 overs. The positives for the Eagles have been responsible batting by the tail in the first game and inspired bowling by all bowlers and a committed effort in the field in the second game. It's just a matter of winning a game from here on and a few more wins may very well follow that. Eagles know what to do, its just a matter of figuring out how and making it happen.
Happy, victorious captain Yoga, Santosh to the left and Hari to the right (Photo taken on 03/14/2009, Panthers defeat Mavericks in the semi-final and Yoga is being thanked for sparing time to be a neutral umpire on the day)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
SDCS Winter 2009 :- Panthers v/s Blasters (Round 1) 01/11/2009
Being the first match of the tournament the Panther's were pitted against a formidable Blaster's team which had time and again dominated few games against us. The match was played at the Miramar College ground.
Rupesh started the proceeding on a good note with winning the toss and electing to field first. The pitch had a bit of a bounce but surprisingly less moisture. But the idea was to exploit the little bit of bounce there was to our advantage. Vijay S and Rosie started for Panther's and Nitin Tiwari and Ashish began for Blaster's. Vijay S started with a maiden over where the ball swung quite well and enough to keep the batsman honest. Nitin Tiwari has a tendency to play anything on the leg side toward the fine leg and deep midwicket region but all the deliveries landed on or outside off stump to deny him any chance. Rosie started off in a good fashion as well and in fact getting Nitin Tiwari in the slips caught by the ever reliable Abhishek who managed to juggle the ball once but held on to the catch anyway. In walked Harmandeep with scoreboard reading 1 wicket with 4 runs on the board. Harman started well with a well hit boundary on the offside to lift the score to 8 by the end of the second over. The third over by Vijay S saw a wicket in the over which was a maiden as well. At the end of 4th over the scored read 16/2. Rupesh started as first change and was right on money with his length. Rajesh (28 , 18b) although who walked in at the fall of second wicket was going hammer and tongs hitting a six and few boundaries before getting out to Abhsihek caught behind by Rahul B. The score at the end of the 9 th over read 49/3. Harman was eventually out scoring a well made 19 runs off 32 balls.
Between 10th and 16th over the Blasters were not able to push the peddle fast enough and crawled to 67 for loss of 5 wickets. Blaster's were eventually shot out for score of 90 which at one stage looked unlikely but thanks to Narasaih (who was borrowed by Blasters) 10 runs were scored off the last over bowled by Abhi.
Hari, Yogesh and Rupesh were able to take pace off the ball which made it difficult for Blaster's to score easy runs. Hari (4-0-14-1), Rupesh (4-0-15-2) and Vijay S (4-2-11-2) were pick of the bowlers with Abhi and Rosie providing able support.
Panthers started confidently negotiating the variable bounce with Shekhar and Abhi starting off well. The very accurate Ibrar gave away 5 runs in the first over. Nitin Tiwari started the second over but couldn't control the swing and gave away few wides. Harman started the fifth over and scalped Abhi went for a long hoike over the long on boundary but was caught well by Ibrar. Vijay S walked in and hit Harman for a boundary over the covers. The scored read 33 off 7 overs and Panther's were well on their way but Vijay S was bowled around his legs. This resulted in a slow period for Panthers which resulted in only 4 runs scored in 3 overs with Hari also back in pavilion caught in the slips off Venu by Ashish.
Suresh joined in with the task seemingly impossible. Suresh was joined by Yogesh once Shekhar was out again at slips by Ashish off Shailesh. This was fantastic catch taken just few inches from the ground. Shekhar played a good knock scoring 11 off 21 balls. Suresh and Yogesh picked singles when offered to keep the scoreboard moving. Suresh hit an excellent square cut to quell some nerves in the dressing room. Rajesh introduced himself in the 13th over but went for one to many including a more than a head high no ball which went for a four and a boundary. 13 runs were scored which handed over the momentum to panther's. The required run-rate dropped below five. Yogesh hit an excellent cover drive off Nitin Tiwari but got out the next ball. Suresh and Yogesh added some valuable runs between them. Rupesh entered the arena and scored a boundary off a "zadu" shot the very first ball. Worth noting is the fact that Rupesh was playing after quite a while and to produce such a strike is simply beyond any one's understanding.
Just when things were looking bright Rupesh got a ripper from Ibrar which knocked his stumps over and a victory seemed far out from reach. Suresh had other ideas though and he kept pegging along with others smartly by picking singles and occasional boundary. The equation at one stage was a bit tricky with 30 balls and 22 runs to win and 3 wickets in hand. Ravi gave good support to Suresh once Rosie departed attempting a single.
3 overs and 14 runs required was the target and Ibrar was to bowl. Ravi was out at short midwicket. Amazingly Suresh went after Ibrar hitting him for a boundary off the last ball to make the equation a seeming possibility (8 runs off two overs). Harman bowled the penultimate over with tension mounting on both sides. In the end Suresh spanked one to the cover boundary for a two, on the last ball of the over to achieve a memorable victory for Panthers with two wickets to spare and an over.
Suresh played a lone magnificent knock of 23 runs off 30 balls studded with two glorious boundaries. Not to mention the able support by "Extras" which added 27 runs to the final tally. Suresh in the past has shown glimpses of his wonderful hand-eye co-ordination but none was evident before as it was today when it mattered the most. It was a fantastic innings one which would be remembered for a while. Rightly he is the MoM for this match.
Good job Panthers!
MoM :- Suresh Tudor 23 *(30b, 2*4) - I can play Ibrar and Nitin all day long, no matter what the pitch or the target
Scorecard:http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoKNU4xEZquDg&hl=en
Rupesh started the proceeding on a good note with winning the toss and electing to field first. The pitch had a bit of a bounce but surprisingly less moisture. But the idea was to exploit the little bit of bounce there was to our advantage. Vijay S and Rosie started for Panther's and Nitin Tiwari and Ashish began for Blaster's. Vijay S started with a maiden over where the ball swung quite well and enough to keep the batsman honest. Nitin Tiwari has a tendency to play anything on the leg side toward the fine leg and deep midwicket region but all the deliveries landed on or outside off stump to deny him any chance. Rosie started off in a good fashion as well and in fact getting Nitin Tiwari in the slips caught by the ever reliable Abhishek who managed to juggle the ball once but held on to the catch anyway. In walked Harmandeep with scoreboard reading 1 wicket with 4 runs on the board. Harman started well with a well hit boundary on the offside to lift the score to 8 by the end of the second over. The third over by Vijay S saw a wicket in the over which was a maiden as well. At the end of 4th over the scored read 16/2. Rupesh started as first change and was right on money with his length. Rajesh (28 , 18b) although who walked in at the fall of second wicket was going hammer and tongs hitting a six and few boundaries before getting out to Abhsihek caught behind by Rahul B. The score at the end of the 9 th over read 49/3. Harman was eventually out scoring a well made 19 runs off 32 balls.
Between 10th and 16th over the Blasters were not able to push the peddle fast enough and crawled to 67 for loss of 5 wickets. Blaster's were eventually shot out for score of 90 which at one stage looked unlikely but thanks to Narasaih (who was borrowed by Blasters) 10 runs were scored off the last over bowled by Abhi.
Hari, Yogesh and Rupesh were able to take pace off the ball which made it difficult for Blaster's to score easy runs. Hari (4-0-14-1), Rupesh (4-0-15-2) and Vijay S (4-2-11-2) were pick of the bowlers with Abhi and Rosie providing able support.
Panthers started confidently negotiating the variable bounce with Shekhar and Abhi starting off well. The very accurate Ibrar gave away 5 runs in the first over. Nitin Tiwari started the second over but couldn't control the swing and gave away few wides. Harman started the fifth over and scalped Abhi went for a long hoike over the long on boundary but was caught well by Ibrar. Vijay S walked in and hit Harman for a boundary over the covers. The scored read 33 off 7 overs and Panther's were well on their way but Vijay S was bowled around his legs. This resulted in a slow period for Panthers which resulted in only 4 runs scored in 3 overs with Hari also back in pavilion caught in the slips off Venu by Ashish.
Suresh joined in with the task seemingly impossible. Suresh was joined by Yogesh once Shekhar was out again at slips by Ashish off Shailesh. This was fantastic catch taken just few inches from the ground. Shekhar played a good knock scoring 11 off 21 balls. Suresh and Yogesh picked singles when offered to keep the scoreboard moving. Suresh hit an excellent square cut to quell some nerves in the dressing room. Rajesh introduced himself in the 13th over but went for one to many including a more than a head high no ball which went for a four and a boundary. 13 runs were scored which handed over the momentum to panther's. The required run-rate dropped below five. Yogesh hit an excellent cover drive off Nitin Tiwari but got out the next ball. Suresh and Yogesh added some valuable runs between them. Rupesh entered the arena and scored a boundary off a "zadu" shot the very first ball. Worth noting is the fact that Rupesh was playing after quite a while and to produce such a strike is simply beyond any one's understanding.
Just when things were looking bright Rupesh got a ripper from Ibrar which knocked his stumps over and a victory seemed far out from reach. Suresh had other ideas though and he kept pegging along with others smartly by picking singles and occasional boundary. The equation at one stage was a bit tricky with 30 balls and 22 runs to win and 3 wickets in hand. Ravi gave good support to Suresh once Rosie departed attempting a single.
3 overs and 14 runs required was the target and Ibrar was to bowl. Ravi was out at short midwicket. Amazingly Suresh went after Ibrar hitting him for a boundary off the last ball to make the equation a seeming possibility (8 runs off two overs). Harman bowled the penultimate over with tension mounting on both sides. In the end Suresh spanked one to the cover boundary for a two, on the last ball of the over to achieve a memorable victory for Panthers with two wickets to spare and an over.
Suresh played a lone magnificent knock of 23 runs off 30 balls studded with two glorious boundaries. Not to mention the able support by "Extras" which added 27 runs to the final tally. Suresh in the past has shown glimpses of his wonderful hand-eye co-ordination but none was evident before as it was today when it mattered the most. It was a fantastic innings one which would be remembered for a while. Rightly he is the MoM for this match.
Good job Panthers!
MoM :- Suresh Tudor 23 *(30b, 2*4) - I can play Ibrar and Nitin all day long, no matter what the pitch or the target
Scorecard:http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcpoKNU4xEZquDg&hl=en
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