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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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





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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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.

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.

Scorecard :http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pEn3926bpcprbGw4TPxXFcA&hl=en

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)