The Cast

23 Go-Kool (c) [bat]
01 Abhi (vc) [bat]
07 Taggy (wk) [bat/bowl]
10 Andy [bat/bowl]
25 Sree [bat/bowl]
02 Big-B [bat]
09 Karan [bowl]
36 Nimish [bowl]
00 Kun [bat/bowl]
18 Mann [bowl/bat]
03 Lad (wk) [bat/bowl]
04 Mohit [bat]
08 Rajesh (wk) [bat]
11 Sandy [bowl]
31 Om [bat]
05 Pun [bat]
99 Sai [bat]
xx Shaunak [bat/bowl]
12 Mayank [bowl]
16 Sujay [bowl]
19 Sumit [bat]
87 Vibhor [bowl]
21 Vijay [bowl]

2009/06/28: Skiers11

Final match of round one and the battle between two top teams in Group F guaranteed an exciting contest. With only 1 loss opposed to 8 wins and an abandoned one out of 10 games, Skiers were sitting pretty at the top of the table. They had already done enough to stay #1 in our group at the end of round one and that means even a loss in this game wouldn't cost them their position. Although, there is one other team Yuva XI that could overtake them and grab the #1 spot if they manage to re-schedule and win their abandoned game against Cupertino Cougars. Well, let's just leave that to fate and no matter what happens Skiers, Yuva and champs would take the top 3 spots which is good enough for them to qualify for the Platinum/Gold Championship season 2009.

Though this game was a dead rubber, both teams had lots to play for. We (Champs XI) were itching to get on the field for yet another face-to-face encounter. Having won our previous clash rather convincingly, we sure had the upper hand but Skiers have come a long way since then and their recent win-loss ratio support that statement. So the stage was all set, both teams arrived at the Selma Olinder Park, Champs XI's new found charm one would want to say. First thing all skin lovers did after reaching the ground was to reach out to their kit bags looking for SPF 30's and 55's or any damn thing that can save their skin from the sun. The weather prediction was bang on, the scorching sun showed no mercy and started belting its heat right from the dawn.

BATTING
Mohit Lad is known for his sweeping skills, be it with the bat or the broom. He does a fine job with either one of 'em in hand and he claims the team has won every time he has done the broom sweepin' :) Well, we wouldn't mind that would we? The clock struck 8:30 and both captains went for the toss. Gokul won it again and without a second thought we opted to bat first although we knew we would have to field when its gonna be much hotter later on. We obviously put the team's victory ahead of our own good health. No surprises here, Kunal and I were to open the innings. I have been in pretty good form with the bat of late but its surely not based on my previous 2 outings which have been quite disappointing for myself and the team as I failed to get into double figures on both occasions. My last 2 dismissals were not mishits but perfectly middled ones hit straight to the fielder at long on and deep square leg respectively. New ball with fur doesn't travel as long and far as the old rugged ones do. No rocket science and we all know that fact, yet I failed to realize that and ended up overestimating my power. Gokul and I had a discussion and he warned me about that before we went into bat. Although I had no plans to change my style of play, I was prepared to check my shots and place it away from the fielder. Kunal on the other hand regained his opening slot and was doing a fairly good job.

Sameer, a military medium pace bowler and Prudhvi, tall hefty medium pace bowler headed their bowling attack and they were far from being harmful. We got the scoreboard ticking right from the first over and I scored a boundary off the second over at deep square leg which was hit along the ground. At the end of 2 overs we were 10 for no loss. Sameer came back and bowled a tight 3rd over, giving nothing away easily and after 5 dot balls in a row I took a single off the last ball and retained strike. Prudhvi started the 4th over and got some good bounce as he used his height well. I let one go but went to pull the 3rd one but tha ball found the top edge and went straight under the throat of deep swaure leg fielder. It was a mistimed shot this time around and I should have re-considered the shot with the sort of bounce he was able to gather off the pitch. Gone for 8 off 18balls. That's 3 failures in a row. Law of averages catches up quite badly :( I have myself to blame though.

Mohit Lad walked in at the fall of my wicket and looked confident right from the start. He middled 95% of his paddle and reverse sweeps while Kunal kept playing some beautiful orthodox cover drives and square cuts. The scorer and the fielders were kept very busy with runs coming from all parks of the ground. They were rotating the strike never like before. Lad played some amazing lofted shots over the mid-wicket fence that fetched him a few 2D's, while Kunal played a sweetly timed boundary over the mid wicket region amidst all the busy running they were doing. One couldn't have asked for a better foundation. After 10 overs we were 38 for 1 and they continued their brilliance until Lad perished to a lofted shot at long on around the 13th over or so. He made 21 off 28 balls and one would've liked him to carry on but he had done his job for the team and no complains against him. We had big hitters to follow and he had to go for his shots. Abhi replaced Lad at the crease, who regained form in his last match with a blistering 24 off 20 odd balls punctuated by 2 hits outside the park. And when I say out of the park, I mean it. It might just clear the fence when he mistimes it. We consider replacing the ball when he middles them. :) Kunal switched gears and clobbered one over cover for a boundary but then skied the next one to deep wicket. He was out caught for 28 off 41 balls. Another outstanding innings coming to an abrupt end. Neverthless, he also like Mohit, did total justice to his role and gave way for Sreeram who is known for some big hitting. Kunal and Lad had a partnership of exactly 50 and it came in good time. A great launch pad for Abhi and Sreeram to capitalize on.

Noel, one of Skier's best bowlers came on to bowl the 17th over and had absolutely no idea who he was up against and what he was about to experience. Just like a tiger would wait calmly before it rushes to catch its prey, Abhi waited for loose balls to hit and the kind of mind set he was in, none of the balls seemed anything but loose. He swung and missed the first ball. Second ball was bowled right in his slot and he muscled it for a six between long on and deep mid-wicket. Noel was awestruck and over-stepped as he bowled the next ball. We all know what that means, a free hit against someone who just hit you out of the park. That's like calling for trouble. Noel went for a yorker and ended up bowlng a hip high full toss which was pulled away for 4 thru the vacant square leg region. Up next was my favorite. It was just short of good length and an almost perfect delivery but nothing was going to stop Abhi. It was hit with great disdain and the ball landed outside the fence which is atleast 20 metres away from the boundary line. The bowler already was torn apart but he wasn't finished yet. He gifted yet another free hit and sadly enough for him, Abhi got back on strike to face that ball. There is no way he was gonna let this one go. The ball lands right in front him and whack, s straight six this time. And that's the end of the over. Phew 27 runs off that over. How often do you get to see that in our Cricbay T20 games? Abhi might be a very nice and calm person by nature but with his bat in hand he can be very arrogant. The score had gone past 100 in that over. Prajeev came in to bowl the 18th over and he was slightly unorthodox in his action. He bowled at a nagging pace and length which made the batsmen think twice before having a go at him. A sudden change in pace curtailed the swashbuckling innings from Abhi as the ball took the leading edge and found its way into the keeper's glove. Sreeram also perished to a flick played straight into the hands of short mid-wicket. MoM of the last game Gokul walked in but he lost his stumps looking to go for a heave over long on. We still had another trump card left in our batting line up. He's our Big B, Amol Chitre. He saved his best for the last over. Avinash, their second best bowler and skipper of the side came on to bowl the last over. Amol swung hard and missed the first ball. That woke him up and soon he got ready for the next one. An overpitch delivery hit straight over the bowler's head for six. That pushed the score past 110. Our highest so far. Avinash goes for another yorker and ends up bowling a knee high full toss and that's bread and butter for Amol, another six over deep mid-wicket boundary.
We finally settled for a score off 118. An amazing team effort. I might be repenting for my failures but at the corner of my heart I am happy that the team found its identity and discovered its potential. Without a doubt our best batting effort so far. Sad, that I missed making a meaningful contribution though.

BOWLING
Abishek and Sandeep started the proceedings for us. They started off pretty well, although Skiers scored at around 5 runs an over. Noel hits one wide from long off and sets off for a run. Sreeram appraoches the ball in a lazy manner and Noel gets foxed by Sreeram as he picks the ball up fast and gets in a sharp throw at the striker's end where Nagesh collects it clean and dislodges the bails. The finger goes up and Noel had to leave. Risky but smart work by Sreeram. Sreeram comes on to bowl and starts off with a miserly maiden while Karan bowls a tight line at the other end. The score stands at 36 for 2 at the end of 8. Kunal, the man with a golden arm gets the ball and bowls a nagging line and length , making the batsmen cramp for room. Avinash, the skipper decides its time to up the tempo and flicks one over the fence for six. An effortless shot from him. Karan gets surprised as the shot came against the run of play. 10 overs gone, 10 more to go and 73 runs to get with 9 wickets in hand. The game was quite well balanced at the break. Play resumed after the break and Avinash flayed our best bowlers out of the park. He flicks Nagesh for yet another six over the fence in the exact same area as the previous one. But then Nagesh, doesn't have 100+ wickets against his name for getting clobbered over the fence. He comes back and enforces a mistimed shot from Avinash and finds the mann (Abishek Mann :)) at covers. That should mark the defining moment of this match and things didn't get better for them as the next few batsmen found it hard to keep up with the required run rate. Kunal finished his spell with excellent figures of 4-0-9-0. The golden arm didn't get us wickets this time but made sure breaks were applied at the right time.

The final phase of the match - 5 overs were remaining and they had to get 55 runs from it. An almost impossible task. Sreeram and Karan came back into the attack and were taken for runs. 29 runs came off the next 3 overs and they needed 26 from 12. Gopi Rao and Madhan fought back tremendously and brought the match awfully closer. Gopi hit a six over widish long on and Madhan joined him by swatting Karan for another one in the same region. Nagesh was brought back in the 19th over and he bowled an impeccable line and length giving only 7 runs away in that over. That left the Skiers with 19 to get from 1 over. Sreeram was asked to do the honors and they managed just 5 runs off that over. Champs XI win the game by 13 runs. Could've gone either way. A game that shouldn't have gotten this close. For the second time in 2 weeks, our batting looked better than our ever dependent bowling attack. Nevertheless, we should give some credit to batsmen who hit those sixes. Our bowlers still managed to pull us back into the game and ensured it didn't slip away.

Overall a wonderful performance by both teams. A very enjoyable match with lots of big hits. Abhi was adjudged MoM for his blistering 27 off 16 balls (23 in one over). In the context of the match, one might be tempted to think that one over proved to be the difference but in reality teams generally set up their minds based on the targets they are chasing. So, as always, there are many such events that contributed to a twist in the course of the game. It was a very difficult decision to make. Kunal made a big difference with both bat and ball and was instrumental in laying the foundation along with Mohit Lad who took an amazing one handed diving catch while the ball was angling away from him of the outside edge and another quick stumping to dismiss the dangerous Gopi Rao. He was a contender too. Amol's 2 sixers in the final over also proved to be a vital one in the end. A tough decision but Abhi won it this time for his sheer brilliance. For me, Nagesh was the pick of the bowlers as he grabbed 3 important wickets although he was slightly expensive. Champs XI deserved a win for their all-round effort. And once again we deny a win to a team positioned above us :)

Composed by: Andy!

2009/06/20: Chargers

Well my first attempt at writing a match report.. Nimish is absolutely fantastic in this department but I felt I should give it a shot this time.. before I start just a quick disclaimer note that these are strictly my views and in no ways is meant to disrespect fellow or opposing players.. all in good spirit :)

We embark on a gloomy (surprisingly chilly) Saturday morning at our new-found home ground of Selma Olinder Park for a crucial game against Chargers. The last time we faced them we had lost the game chasing only 50 odd runs. That was in fact the first time we had lost to them and we were pumped up to avoid any slip-ups this time around. Champs were coming off a loss to Aryans so the drive to win was clearly evident on everybody's faces. Also in order to stay in the hunt for P/G round qualification we had to win this one!

As has been the case for so many games in a row now, Champs won the toss and batted first. Absolutely no surprises here given that Chargers had not won a single game chasing this season. I opened along with Anand who has been in superb form for us this season. We started pretty well with couple of boundaries in the second over of the game. Just as things were looking steady Anand perished in trying to clear the long-off fielder. In came Lad the newbie of our team, player with immense potential but going through a rough patch. He looked solid from ball one and rotated the strike well with his trademark cheeky shots. I was middling the ball well at the other end and I might sound arrogant but I had the bowling at my mercy. Just as we thought of taking a few risks to up the ante I got run-out backing up too much at the non-striker's end and failing to make my ground back. Gosh how many times would I be run out this season? Sucks big time but all a part of the game!

In came our superstar Nagesh looking to consolidate along with Lad. A few quiet overs and the momentum was swinging back to the Chargers camp. At the 10 overs mark, we were 38/2: not bad at all considering the past few games but we were not satisfied considering the bowling attack and defensive field setup. Gokul (c) gave a pep-talk to both batters and immediately after the break we saw a lot more intent and aggression. But it ain't a risk-free world and unfortunately for us we lost both Lad and Nagesh in quick succession. It was a really good fighting innings from Lad who had scored 17 from 30 odd deliveries. Thoths from Chargers was bowling some tidy off-spin and did a great job in containing our batsmen. The stage was perfectly set up for Abhi and Sree, two of our best hitters in the line up. Will they get the momentum we badly needed to post a big total? That was the question on everybody's mind at this critical juncture of the game. Personally I felt that this was the make or break point of the game!

Abhi looked really determined this time around to put his bad form behind himself and play a cameo innings. Sree looked comfortable at the crease but did not get the big shots going. After playing the first 6 to7 deliveries defensively, Abhi went for his shots and a huge six over midwicket followed. Caught in the mindset of rotating the strike and handing over the spotlight to Abhi, Sree hit a ball straight back to the bowler and ran down the pitch. Suicidal call it was and rightly Sree was run out by miles. In went the captain Gokul who had a point to prove to all those who had called for more urgency and higher strike rate from him. First ball 4 over midwicket, followed by a 2 and another boundary.... Gokul was well on his way and Champs on their way to a big score. Welcome change in mindset from both batters with some lusty blows for maximums down the ground meant that Champs were closing on the 100 mark with two overs to spare. Abhi played a brilliant match-winning innings of 24 of just 22 balls (considering he was just 2 of the first 10 balls). Gokul provided ample support at the other end with 21 off 15. Abhi was out caught at point going for the big shots and we shuttered a bit towards the end. However Gokul stayed firm at the other end and hung around till the end along with the classy Puneet to finish at 102/7 at the end of 20 overs. Quite a captain's innings it was from Gokul!

We were at 54 at the end of 15 overs and nearly doubled our score in the last 5 overs. All thanks to Abhi and Gokul for the big hits and brisk running between the wickets. With wickets in hand and decent opening start, Champs are a tough force to stop in the business end of the innings. Great score but may be not enough considering the quality of batsmen that Chargers possess especially Bala and Thoths. We were quietly confident about our chances but did not want to look too far ahead of ourselves and lose the game at our own peril. A few fielding drills followed the innings break which have become increasingly popular in our team after a few lapses against Blitz and Aryans. Chargers were looking desolute with their effort on the park but they knew that they just needed one of their star players to click to wrap up the game. Would the Champs bowlers rise to the ocassion and justify their worth after the failure to defend against Aryans? Or yet another case of being so close to victory yet see it slip through our hands in the form of dropped catches and missed run out chances? An interesting battle between the might of Chargers batting and the solidity of Champs bowling was upon us!!!

OK so here we go again...

Thoths and Bala opened the innings from Chargers and each and every Champ on the field knew how crucial getting those two out is. Nimish opened the bowling as he has done for most matches in this season. Wide down the leg followed by another wide... umm not the best start we wanted, but he pulled things together to stick to a tight line and length. Nothing flashy from Chargers' opening duo but getting singles and doubles and moving the scoreboard forward. Sree started from the other end but surely he was not at his usual best to hit that back of length. Constantly over-pitching he was giving the batsmen a chance to come on the front foot and work the ball into the gaps. The score was moving at about 4-5 runs per overs and Champs opening bowlers were struggling to make an impression in the game. With the need for a wicket ever increasingly Gokul got Karan in to the attack. At least one bowler who is really very hard to runs off. He started with a full ball which was called a No-Ball for height and was duly dispatched to the boundary as well. One more boundary in that over (just clearing Nimish at long on) meant that 12 runs came of Karan's first over. Wow now surely everybody on the field was feeling the pressure, and Lad was the next one in line for a bowl (pun intended)

Beautiful line outside the off stump meant that batsmen had to be content with defending and playing much straighter. While Bala seemed almost certain of another length delivery outside the channel, Lad was upto something else. A screaching yorker on off-middle and Bala was way too late on the ball. Timber and boy weren't we elated! One danger man out but the job was far from done. In walked Sundar, who I felt tried to hit (or must I admit slogged) every ball out of the ground. He did not connect a single ball in Lad's first over and was easily gobbled up by Karan in his next over. Karan's got a great thinking brain and with the batsman throwing his bat all over the place, you got to be sure that Karan is gonna work him out and get his wicket - exactly as he did for Sundar's wicket. Next man was Mihir who was an unknown commodity for us. Well never mind who is batting, we gotta stick to the basics and do the right things. But did we? Guess I was the first one to fail :(

Sharp chance at covers off Lad's bowling from Mihir's bat (easy one by my standards) and it just rebounded off my palm. Sad... just to rub a pinch of salt Mihir smashed a boundary in that over itself. Next up was Nimish and he was greeted with a huge six over mid-wicket by Mihir. Talk about digging a hole and burying yourself: those were exactly my emotions at that moment. (Luckily) the ball was lost somewhere in the wild bushes and the umpires decided to take the innings break. A change in the ball and a definite change in our fortunes :D

A little discussion amongst the bowlers (Nimish, Sree, Karan and myself - yeah I do classify at times as a bowler) and devised a devious plan for the batsman. Nice loopy slower delivery from the back of the hand by Nimish meant that Mihir got only the elevation and not the distance and was nicely caught by Abhi coming in from long-on boundary. Nice plan, great execution and perfect finish. But Nimish was not to be satisfied with just one. Yet another slower delivery on the leg stump to Thoths and he played all over the ball and could only hear his stumps shattered. Champs were right back in the game with those successive wickets and there was no looking back.

Next up into the attack was Taggy (urf Nagesh) who bowled a tight probing line from round the wicket. Sree fooled the batsman by going to the ball slowly and the batsman took off for the second run at their own peril. Amidst all the tight bowling by Taggy, Lad surely stole the cake with a street-smart stumping from a down the leg delivery. Neat collection and swift hands meant the batsman had no chance of recovering and getting back into his crease. Great glovework by Lad and you could see Taggy sweating over his standard position in the team (just kidding ;) Nagesh went out to get two more wickets and Karan one more without much fuss and drama from there on. Just as we looked to wrap up the match, Sree decided to introduce a bit of "thrill ra babu" into the game by serving up a nice half-volley which was hit over long-off for a big six. Enough of fun and he was not gonna have any more of it. Nice yorker on the stumps and that was the end of the game. The fact that Chargers managed 82 runs while chasing was a great effort from their side. Ideally we would have wanted to wrap up their innings for a much lower score but a win is a win and we would take it anytime :)

Mission accomplished and next up in our sight are Skiers11...