Superstitious believes in the mind of the players play a very big deal. I don’t know who all believes that but for me it is playing a role. As sijo was available for this match too we came to the ground by 12noon. 1Pm is the start the chance of a match was a bleak as this was the place which was flooded in the last rain. And this is the area which has a largest rain fall if I am not wrong. When we reached we saw one friendly going on and the team which was chasing is on the verge of win. So I decided if I win the toss I will field but some think that we should always bat first if we won the toss we have to wait for that.
One of the umpires was our own Mr.Kili with Mr. Suresh. After inspecting the ground they agreed to start the match with some advice on the safety.
Again the toss time again I lost the toss luck in disguise the opponent decided to bat first and asked us to field a decision I would have taken if I had won the toss. But now no one can blame he he he as lost the toss.
The score card has not been updated by the opponent so far so I won’t be able to give a detailed score. As usual it was the job of the opening pairs of the bowlers to give early breakthrough for us but it was not to be. This time one of the good thing was that tariq was able to get some line and length for himself which was a good sign on the other end reliable manesh was doing good but the 2old fellows of the BC were seeing the ball very good and they were very good between the wickets. We also started to give loose runs cannot blame we have to see for our safety and also some overthrows which could have been avoided by us. Change of the bowling was inevitable as we required wickets to put a restriction to the scores and we started to get the breakthrough from Mani and bobby. At the break they were 74 I was confident that we could restrict them for below 120 but it was not to be with some bad bowling and some miss field and some overthrows which helped them to pile the score of 150 in the allotted 30overs. Though the BC people are old but their stamina and eye sight are tremendous. Some people even after playing the full match played the football at the same ground …
The score of 150 is chase able with the batting strength we have and the result of the morning friendly was also playing a big role in my mind strongly and was giving me the strength internally.
This time had the support of both the batsmen who usually opens for us, one an aggressor and the other one a patient player so far he had to perform has he had leaked about 20runs while keeping wickets
They started the inning patiently again we lost Ramesh very early in the innings but Mohammed was not going to give it up as he had to prove something to his friend in the opponents camp. He started to play very fluently by hitting fours and sixes which was never expected from him the way he bats. On the other end Guru was giving him a good support they together piled 120at the end of 15th over...
Now we could a take chance for 10points asked them to increase the tempo and score the required 31 runs in the next 3overs to get the 10points. On the other I cannot forget my lucky mascot he was doing the scoring on the board even I had to restrict Ramesh from touching the score board .
The message in the break went well through with the batsmen they started to score at a brisk rate and Mohammed hit the winning runs by hitting a long six at long on and providing the team with 10 crucial points.
In the process he completed his 50 which was eluding him for long and the guru on the other end scored 40+ runs at good rate. Well done….
From the win we are on the top of the table and a chance to be the champions remaining is one more match which is in the month of September second day after my b’day ...
Guys good work done after the heart breaking loss to CW and the way all fought back to be the champions shows our power and guts to be the champions.
Keep the good work going on and have a nice break and have good time with your family.
Till then have a good time… sorry guy’s I have to rush as I am in the office writing all this …
God bless everyone.. Take care and enjoy…
Monday, July 26, 2010
GCC2 vs. Mariner’s XI played At Yorker...
After the loss last week I was a bit more superstitious I guess... Last match I played with a gold watch on which I removed and in this match I reached a bit late from the usual so I made a point to reach early.
So as planned myself and sijo reached the ground around 6.55am for the 8am match you can guess how eager to play. Though I am not much involved in the matches except for being the team captain and I am enjoying with the bunch of players I have nothing to do...
The place is a bit tricky you can have the rain anytime but the ground is being maintained so you can have a match...
By 7.30 about half of the team was in the ground from our side and the opponents too were their. You feel good when you have opponents like Mariners the people playing in the Mariners are friendly and cordial.
Then came the role of the main people the umpires and the worse part for us was that one of the umpires was the same umpire who was the reason for the washout of the last match with the same opponents. And he was trained by Mr.Kili hope all know who he is...
Anyways the way the umpires were doing the inspection the 8am start was not at all possible. On head count again found 1 guy missing. But he was there by 8.15am he he he not at all allowed.
Anyways after all the inspection and ground rectification I would say, the umpires agreed to start the match at 8.40 with 22 over a side.. I was calculating how come they have reduced 8overs per side when the loss is only 40mins, but at that moment the mind was not working may be excited then when I came back and talked to the team (there are 8 sca qualified umpires in the team) I was clear in what I was thinking and informed the same to the umpires which after lot hesitation agreed to have a 25overs a side match. As the captains were in the middle we did the toss immediately to avoid any further delay in the start. As usual lost the toss and the opponents asked us to bat. Loosing toss is good because it doesn’t leave u any chance to make a decision he he he he he he….
One of the players from the so called opening pair was not available to open the innings had to change the pair with anuroop supporting Ramesh on the other side..
Though it was not a partnership which we would liked, because Ramesh was out in the 3rd ball of the innings. Then Karthik joined Anuroop in the middle though the wickets were not falling the runs also was not coming as required the ground was very wet and it was helping the opponents he he
Then we lost 2 quick wickets in the form of Anuroop and Rakes our score read as 24/3 in 6.3 over. Then had to send Mani still the runs were not coming in as required by the 12th over we were 49 with another loss of wicket with Karthik back. I wanted to ask Sijo to go and join Mani in the middle they have a good partnership record in our team, but from the request and suggestion from others I had to change the mind and asked bobby to go in the lucky mascot for me if u believe me or not..
It was a blessing in the disguise both started playing well with bobby giving majority of the strike to Mani who was playing with fluency. He was able to reach his half century in less than 40balls. With Bobby giving a supporting roll from 49/4 in the 12th over we reached 160 for 5 in the 24th over with Mani closer to 1st century of GCC2 and in the div 5 But it was not to be is was out in the 25th over for an individual score of 89 well batted even the opponent fielders came and congratulated him for his batting excellence..
We scored 175 for 6 in the allotted 25overs a good display with the bat.
In the break I was thinking of the opening pair of the bowlers as one of the dependable with the new ball is away for holidays with his family. But no choice I had to ask Tariq to open the bowling with Manesh. They did 3 over each in random but the success of wickets eluded them. Then I had to replace the second pair. I am writing as pair because they are set in that position and not giving me enough time to play me in also. Doing the job of an onlooker. He he he..
Mani the star of the day (it was his day) he got us the 1st break through in the 9th over when Sijo took a well judged catch to get the batsmen out. Then the opponents started losing wicket at the regular interval with bobby also doing good job at the other end with 3wickets. Vishnu who came after a long lay off from cricket due to personnel commitments was good in his rhythm though I was a bit hesitant about his line and length due to lack of matches. But he proved me wrong and did the best and took 2 wickets. Hence we were able to restrict the opponents for 118/9 in 25overs. An all-round performance by mani who took 4 wickets by just giving away 28 runs from 5overs.
If there was any MOM award it would have been Mani. We won the match with nine points.
All the mistakes which we have made in the last match with CW we tried to reduce it though it is not completely eliminated.
After the match we had a refreshing beer time at the same food court which is nearby.
Hope we have a good beer time next time too.
So as planned myself and sijo reached the ground around 6.55am for the 8am match you can guess how eager to play. Though I am not much involved in the matches except for being the team captain and I am enjoying with the bunch of players I have nothing to do...
The place is a bit tricky you can have the rain anytime but the ground is being maintained so you can have a match...
By 7.30 about half of the team was in the ground from our side and the opponents too were their. You feel good when you have opponents like Mariners the people playing in the Mariners are friendly and cordial.
Then came the role of the main people the umpires and the worse part for us was that one of the umpires was the same umpire who was the reason for the washout of the last match with the same opponents. And he was trained by Mr.Kili hope all know who he is...
Anyways the way the umpires were doing the inspection the 8am start was not at all possible. On head count again found 1 guy missing. But he was there by 8.15am he he he not at all allowed.
Anyways after all the inspection and ground rectification I would say, the umpires agreed to start the match at 8.40 with 22 over a side.. I was calculating how come they have reduced 8overs per side when the loss is only 40mins, but at that moment the mind was not working may be excited then when I came back and talked to the team (there are 8 sca qualified umpires in the team) I was clear in what I was thinking and informed the same to the umpires which after lot hesitation agreed to have a 25overs a side match. As the captains were in the middle we did the toss immediately to avoid any further delay in the start. As usual lost the toss and the opponents asked us to bat. Loosing toss is good because it doesn’t leave u any chance to make a decision he he he he he he….
One of the players from the so called opening pair was not available to open the innings had to change the pair with anuroop supporting Ramesh on the other side..
Though it was not a partnership which we would liked, because Ramesh was out in the 3rd ball of the innings. Then Karthik joined Anuroop in the middle though the wickets were not falling the runs also was not coming as required the ground was very wet and it was helping the opponents he he
Then we lost 2 quick wickets in the form of Anuroop and Rakes our score read as 24/3 in 6.3 over. Then had to send Mani still the runs were not coming in as required by the 12th over we were 49 with another loss of wicket with Karthik back. I wanted to ask Sijo to go and join Mani in the middle they have a good partnership record in our team, but from the request and suggestion from others I had to change the mind and asked bobby to go in the lucky mascot for me if u believe me or not..
It was a blessing in the disguise both started playing well with bobby giving majority of the strike to Mani who was playing with fluency. He was able to reach his half century in less than 40balls. With Bobby giving a supporting roll from 49/4 in the 12th over we reached 160 for 5 in the 24th over with Mani closer to 1st century of GCC2 and in the div 5 But it was not to be is was out in the 25th over for an individual score of 89 well batted even the opponent fielders came and congratulated him for his batting excellence..
We scored 175 for 6 in the allotted 25overs a good display with the bat.
In the break I was thinking of the opening pair of the bowlers as one of the dependable with the new ball is away for holidays with his family. But no choice I had to ask Tariq to open the bowling with Manesh. They did 3 over each in random but the success of wickets eluded them. Then I had to replace the second pair. I am writing as pair because they are set in that position and not giving me enough time to play me in also. Doing the job of an onlooker. He he he..
Mani the star of the day (it was his day) he got us the 1st break through in the 9th over when Sijo took a well judged catch to get the batsmen out. Then the opponents started losing wicket at the regular interval with bobby also doing good job at the other end with 3wickets. Vishnu who came after a long lay off from cricket due to personnel commitments was good in his rhythm though I was a bit hesitant about his line and length due to lack of matches. But he proved me wrong and did the best and took 2 wickets. Hence we were able to restrict the opponents for 118/9 in 25overs. An all-round performance by mani who took 4 wickets by just giving away 28 runs from 5overs.
If there was any MOM award it would have been Mani. We won the match with nine points.
All the mistakes which we have made in the last match with CW we tried to reduce it though it is not completely eliminated.
After the match we had a refreshing beer time at the same food court which is nearby.
Hope we have a good beer time next time too.
Golden CC2 Vs Cracking Willow Played at GIIS
Sorry friends was busy with work and didn’t get enough time to post the blog. Also was feeling lazy to do the post .
This would be the day which I would liked to forget the earliest, but I am not able to because this was the first loss our team has faced in this season. There is saying for every ups there will be lows too. After having a good successful run in the league so far we could have been a bit over confident of ourselves or may be lacked in some places or we might have taken the game to lightly which caused us the game.
After successfully losing 4toss from the 6 toss done so far for all the matches we played it might be a record in itself, this day it was around I won the toss and elected to bat. Again had to shuffle the batting due to late arrivals.
Mohammed and Guru gave us a good start and we were maintain the required run rate I am not in a position to remember all the scores required because I guess I have started to forget the match he he he he….
We started to lose wickets at regular intervals at the start of the innings I was expecting to pass 200 the way the batsmen were batting. But ultimately the CW guys were able to restrict us for 195/9 with some tidy bowling and well judged and blinder catches. It was there day, it was the repeat of the away match for us which we played with them at IA that day all the catches were in our hands .
We had restricted the opponents to 65 after scoring 135 in the very same ground. But I was feeling a bit nervous at the start of the innings after scoring 195 too. Because the opponents were a complete changed outfit. They had players from marina and few other clubs. They went on with a job of chasing the target without any fear they start knocking the ball with perfection.
Besides that we also started doing the things which we are not suppose to do leaking runs and Miss Fields having a good tournaments with all round performance we were not able to restrict them. One of there batsmen was sever on the bowlers he scored 80+ runs from around 60ball. The same batsman was dropped twice in the match by us which could be a reason we have lost the match. They scored the winning runs by hitting a six… an emphatic win by the opponents. Well done guys…
They had outplayed us in all the department.. We have to blame ourselves for the loss. And all agreed to same in the team meeting which I had for the first time after the match that was a good a sign.
Hope fully all goes well with the next match we have with mariners. We could have gone closer to the championship if we could have won today. Hence onwards all the matches have become crucial for us. Hope all goes well...
This would be the day which I would liked to forget the earliest, but I am not able to because this was the first loss our team has faced in this season. There is saying for every ups there will be lows too. After having a good successful run in the league so far we could have been a bit over confident of ourselves or may be lacked in some places or we might have taken the game to lightly which caused us the game.
After successfully losing 4toss from the 6 toss done so far for all the matches we played it might be a record in itself, this day it was around I won the toss and elected to bat. Again had to shuffle the batting due to late arrivals.
Mohammed and Guru gave us a good start and we were maintain the required run rate I am not in a position to remember all the scores required because I guess I have started to forget the match he he he he….
We started to lose wickets at regular intervals at the start of the innings I was expecting to pass 200 the way the batsmen were batting. But ultimately the CW guys were able to restrict us for 195/9 with some tidy bowling and well judged and blinder catches. It was there day, it was the repeat of the away match for us which we played with them at IA that day all the catches were in our hands .
We had restricted the opponents to 65 after scoring 135 in the very same ground. But I was feeling a bit nervous at the start of the innings after scoring 195 too. Because the opponents were a complete changed outfit. They had players from marina and few other clubs. They went on with a job of chasing the target without any fear they start knocking the ball with perfection.
Besides that we also started doing the things which we are not suppose to do leaking runs and Miss Fields having a good tournaments with all round performance we were not able to restrict them. One of there batsmen was sever on the bowlers he scored 80+ runs from around 60ball. The same batsman was dropped twice in the match by us which could be a reason we have lost the match. They scored the winning runs by hitting a six… an emphatic win by the opponents. Well done guys…
They had outplayed us in all the department.. We have to blame ourselves for the loss. And all agreed to same in the team meeting which I had for the first time after the match that was a good a sign.
Hope fully all goes well with the next match we have with mariners. We could have gone closer to the championship if we could have won today. Hence onwards all the matches have become crucial for us. Hope all goes well...
Monday, June 14, 2010
GCC2 Vs Jelutang CC, Played at GIIS Queenstown on 13th Of June 2010
My dear friends sorry for the delay in posting.. I am not getting the correct words to start and also i don't have the updated score card due to some technical Snag. But due to the constent pressure from our younger guy i am forced to write this for him and all my friends who have become a part of my or our small family. Hope this is the correct usage..
This was the match a few were considering as the prestigious one to win it. Was able to see that from the faces of some.This was due to some bad mouthing about our team from the opponents.. there are few who are and were not interested in our team and considered us just a lowly team.. But we know how strong we are and what is our capability and what we have achieved in the short span of time. But then again cricket is the funniest game ever i got involved anything can happen..
As a matter of fact i have made a point to reach the ground atleast half an hour, being a captain i have to be prepared mentally atleast though i have nothing more to do except to control my players during the game he he he he he.....
Similarly reached the ground around 12noon as a routine I went to the security to get the access card to the gate, she in a surprised voice asked whether i came for the cricket, i said yes and asked her the reason for being surprise. She said one of the team is here from 10AM. From the distance i thought it might be some other team who had booked the nets to practice. But when i really came near to the ground to my surprise it was our opponents who were practising hard, felt like laughing but again was thinking of myself, i am having only the match practice now a days, still what else is required for the mental preparation he he he...
Second time in succession couple of guys came late the person who have to become a role model is the culprit this time too....
To start the proceedings this match too we had only one umpire went for the toss as usual toss luck is with me or not I don't know.. the opponents won the toss and asked us to bat. Thats is what i was going to do if i had won the toss,, so it was a win in disguise he he he he...
When i came back to my guys found out that the opener still missing, this is when u feel the pressure it take time to prepare a player to take that position...asked Ramesh and Anuroop to open the innings instead, the young guy was a bit reluctant to open but had no option but to listen.. Before the start of the innings I told the team must aim to complete the alloted 30overs, this was team when we played them last time were all out in the 20th over of the innings at a score of 146...
This time around the opening pair was not that successful to put up a good partnership for us as we lost the first wicket in the 4th over in the form of Anuroop at the team score of 14(a scene no one in our team will forget after he was out caught a straight forward catch he was waiting for the umpires to give him out when asked the reason he was telling he was clarifying with the umpires whether the ball bumped he he he he).
Karthik was the person who followed him in the crease what was out the next ball caught behind..the team again in a trouble 14/2.
Then it was the turn of the one of the late comers to take the guard started well but couldn't get going, on the other end our Ramesh was playing baseball cricket he he he he he swing and a miss is it.. may be... but he was able to manage to push the score board tiking with a huge 6 and a four from there opener bowler,, who after completing his 3rd over was not in the rythm due to lack of stamina. But the luck was not with us as Mohammed got out in the most unlucky manner when he was bowled from the ball which was going down the leg side hit is shoes and came back to hit is wickets..
The team again pushed to more troubles with the loss of 3rd wicket.. this thime it was the turn of the 2nd late comer to play to his ability and push the score. And he was upto his task taking single and few good flicks to boundry. The duo took the score past 50 for the team. Then we lost the fourth wicket in the 12th over when Thalivar was runout when trying to steal a run. The person who was giving instructions to ground the bat to the batsmen while sitting in the pavilion failed to do the same on field he he he he he he..
Immediatley Our opener who was playing brilliantly after the intial starting trouble follwed Thalivar in the very next over when he was clean bowled. the score read 74/5 in the break.
It has become the job of the remaining batsmen to finish all the 30overs, but it was not the case as we lost the wicket at regular intervals, then caqme the most needed paternship of the innings between the dependable Sijo and jonhson both put a total of 33runs for the 9th wicket. with sijo doing the bulk of the scoring and Johnson giving him full support on the other end with single and rotating the strike.But for our bad luck we lost the wicket of Sijo in the 24th over.Again we were not going to complete our 30over quota this is the second time we failed to capitalise on it.We ended our innings in the 25th over for a score of 139. if we had completed our innings the opponent would have be in trouble of loosing 2overs atleast.
Noteables
Ramesh 31, Sijo 30, Rakes 13
Though it was not a deserving performance considering the batting line we had but with the strong bowling line I was having a confidence but i never showed the unhappines of the poor batting performance on my face because it would bring down the morale of the team down. Now was the problem of selecting the wicketkeeper for the match with 3-4 wicketkeepers in the side not regulars he he he he. But the ultimate choice was Anuroop due to his brilliant performance in the last match to keep the wickets for the fast bowlers he he he and our regular keeper also was in the favor i guess.. may the age is catching for him he he he he he he...
As usual we started with our opening bowlers, while defending a modest score we had to had a good opening with new bowlers and they were upto there job with Manesh giving us the 1st break thru in the very first over of the inning when there opening batsman and one of the best was caught at slips brilliantly by Mohammed though a few Juggling acts... May be we have a good juggler in the team too....
I was even Praying to rain god to bless with a rain this is the first time he he he he he i am requesting for it... but once the 1st wicket the pressure was on the opponent and they too would have prayed for the same..
Then it was our trun to race and finish the 12overs before rain comes..In the very second over Johnson got another wicket. As we couldn't update the scorecard i am not in a position to update the scores here.
As the opening bowlers were doing tight overs hence the opponents were not able score freely as they would have thought,, in the 4th over Johnson got another wicket though he was hit for couple of big shots.By the end of the 8th over they were 20 odd runs with there 3batsmen back in the hut.
Then I changed the bowlers with Sijo and Mani as our opening bowling pairs the duo were upto the task and were bowling good line and length and were not giving the batsmen and chance to score freely.Though they had 2 good batsmen in the crease. In the 14th over sijo was hit for six then was thinking of changing the ends for him for which i had to go back to my lucky man Bobby. Meanwhile one of there batsmen had to go back to the hut retired hurt. Though he couldn't get the breakthough in the 1st over he bowls as in everyother match.. but it was his second over which was more dramatic as it should have been in a cricket match..1st ball was a dot ball., 2nd ball a dot, 3rd ball a dot., 4th ball the the batsmen was caught at slips with a brilliant catch at slips by Anuroop a catch no one will forget in the near future. Now the people who are reading will thing how can a wicketkeeper can take a catch at slips.. there you go when bobby came to ball the duo where fighting for being the wicketkeeper.. one pad with anuroop and one with ghouse...he he he he eh eh eh eh not allowed to change the wicketkeeper in between the balls. he he he he...
5th ball the new batsmen was bowled by bobby.. it was the 6th ball i forgot that it was the hatrick ball till the excited bobby called everyone in and said it was a hatrick ball... in the heat of the excitement i forgot that me too a human right... the new batsmen came in to take the strike when he saw all standing close to him to attack on him like a vultures waiting to attack its prey he was nervous enough to get bowled in the 6th ball of the over thus the first Hattrick in the team playing the league though the actual 1st hattrick for the teams goes to our Suresh who due to his work commitment and studies is not able to play for us this time around, good luck for him and all the best wishes and may be he will be able to play in the near future for us..
Meanwhile on the other end Sijo was doing good and also got couple of wickets.. In the 19th over bowled by bobby he got his fourth wicket when he got the best batsmen out caught at long on in the safest hand of manesh. Then as usual bobby cannot finish an innings without bowling a wide this thime it cost extra 4runs.. in the next very ball he got the last batsmen LBW. Thus giving us a well deserving win. Thus again he proved lucky for me.. he he he he he... The opponent were allout for just 64runs from 31/3 in the 10th overe.. a well deserving 10points for all the hard work we had done....
Notables
Bobby 3.4-5wickets, sijo 5 -2, johnson 4-2, manesh 4-1
The excitment which was shown by my team was tremendous.. the joy and happines was something i cann't express here..Friends the personnel achivements are something which will come by itself.. our main priority should be team and when the team as a whole does good the personnel achivements will be sweeter..
I recently came to know that one of the teams asked the scorer where is the team captain he dosen't come to bat or ball, dear freinds the win is the answer for the them....
I am enjoying being the part of this team and leading them... you too cherish the time you are spending with the team because i think it is the second family after the one you have ... hope i am correct.
Alas! it is 1hour i am writing this post forgot about the work.. need to finish some work will catch up later... Have a deserving one week off from cricket.. enjoy it with your family and those who are bachelors enjoy chatting and sh........ but don't do too much he he he he he he...
Till next time have a wonderful time.. and may god bless all of us...
This was the match a few were considering as the prestigious one to win it. Was able to see that from the faces of some.This was due to some bad mouthing about our team from the opponents.. there are few who are and were not interested in our team and considered us just a lowly team.. But we know how strong we are and what is our capability and what we have achieved in the short span of time. But then again cricket is the funniest game ever i got involved anything can happen..
As a matter of fact i have made a point to reach the ground atleast half an hour, being a captain i have to be prepared mentally atleast though i have nothing more to do except to control my players during the game he he he he he.....
Similarly reached the ground around 12noon as a routine I went to the security to get the access card to the gate, she in a surprised voice asked whether i came for the cricket, i said yes and asked her the reason for being surprise. She said one of the team is here from 10AM. From the distance i thought it might be some other team who had booked the nets to practice. But when i really came near to the ground to my surprise it was our opponents who were practising hard, felt like laughing but again was thinking of myself, i am having only the match practice now a days, still what else is required for the mental preparation he he he...
Second time in succession couple of guys came late the person who have to become a role model is the culprit this time too....
To start the proceedings this match too we had only one umpire went for the toss as usual toss luck is with me or not I don't know.. the opponents won the toss and asked us to bat. Thats is what i was going to do if i had won the toss,, so it was a win in disguise he he he he...
When i came back to my guys found out that the opener still missing, this is when u feel the pressure it take time to prepare a player to take that position...asked Ramesh and Anuroop to open the innings instead, the young guy was a bit reluctant to open but had no option but to listen.. Before the start of the innings I told the team must aim to complete the alloted 30overs, this was team when we played them last time were all out in the 20th over of the innings at a score of 146...
This time around the opening pair was not that successful to put up a good partnership for us as we lost the first wicket in the 4th over in the form of Anuroop at the team score of 14(a scene no one in our team will forget after he was out caught a straight forward catch he was waiting for the umpires to give him out when asked the reason he was telling he was clarifying with the umpires whether the ball bumped he he he he).
Karthik was the person who followed him in the crease what was out the next ball caught behind..the team again in a trouble 14/2.
Then it was the turn of the one of the late comers to take the guard started well but couldn't get going, on the other end our Ramesh was playing baseball cricket he he he he he swing and a miss is it.. may be... but he was able to manage to push the score board tiking with a huge 6 and a four from there opener bowler,, who after completing his 3rd over was not in the rythm due to lack of stamina. But the luck was not with us as Mohammed got out in the most unlucky manner when he was bowled from the ball which was going down the leg side hit is shoes and came back to hit is wickets..
The team again pushed to more troubles with the loss of 3rd wicket.. this thime it was the turn of the 2nd late comer to play to his ability and push the score. And he was upto his task taking single and few good flicks to boundry. The duo took the score past 50 for the team. Then we lost the fourth wicket in the 12th over when Thalivar was runout when trying to steal a run. The person who was giving instructions to ground the bat to the batsmen while sitting in the pavilion failed to do the same on field he he he he he he..
Immediatley Our opener who was playing brilliantly after the intial starting trouble follwed Thalivar in the very next over when he was clean bowled. the score read 74/5 in the break.
It has become the job of the remaining batsmen to finish all the 30overs, but it was not the case as we lost the wicket at regular intervals, then caqme the most needed paternship of the innings between the dependable Sijo and jonhson both put a total of 33runs for the 9th wicket. with sijo doing the bulk of the scoring and Johnson giving him full support on the other end with single and rotating the strike.But for our bad luck we lost the wicket of Sijo in the 24th over.Again we were not going to complete our 30over quota this is the second time we failed to capitalise on it.We ended our innings in the 25th over for a score of 139. if we had completed our innings the opponent would have be in trouble of loosing 2overs atleast.
Noteables
Ramesh 31, Sijo 30, Rakes 13
Though it was not a deserving performance considering the batting line we had but with the strong bowling line I was having a confidence but i never showed the unhappines of the poor batting performance on my face because it would bring down the morale of the team down. Now was the problem of selecting the wicketkeeper for the match with 3-4 wicketkeepers in the side not regulars he he he he. But the ultimate choice was Anuroop due to his brilliant performance in the last match to keep the wickets for the fast bowlers he he he and our regular keeper also was in the favor i guess.. may the age is catching for him he he he he he he...
As usual we started with our opening bowlers, while defending a modest score we had to had a good opening with new bowlers and they were upto there job with Manesh giving us the 1st break thru in the very first over of the inning when there opening batsman and one of the best was caught at slips brilliantly by Mohammed though a few Juggling acts... May be we have a good juggler in the team too....
I was even Praying to rain god to bless with a rain this is the first time he he he he he i am requesting for it... but once the 1st wicket the pressure was on the opponent and they too would have prayed for the same..
Then it was our trun to race and finish the 12overs before rain comes..In the very second over Johnson got another wicket. As we couldn't update the scorecard i am not in a position to update the scores here.
As the opening bowlers were doing tight overs hence the opponents were not able score freely as they would have thought,, in the 4th over Johnson got another wicket though he was hit for couple of big shots.By the end of the 8th over they were 20 odd runs with there 3batsmen back in the hut.
Then I changed the bowlers with Sijo and Mani as our opening bowling pairs the duo were upto the task and were bowling good line and length and were not giving the batsmen and chance to score freely.Though they had 2 good batsmen in the crease. In the 14th over sijo was hit for six then was thinking of changing the ends for him for which i had to go back to my lucky man Bobby. Meanwhile one of there batsmen had to go back to the hut retired hurt. Though he couldn't get the breakthough in the 1st over he bowls as in everyother match.. but it was his second over which was more dramatic as it should have been in a cricket match..1st ball was a dot ball., 2nd ball a dot, 3rd ball a dot., 4th ball the the batsmen was caught at slips with a brilliant catch at slips by Anuroop a catch no one will forget in the near future. Now the people who are reading will thing how can a wicketkeeper can take a catch at slips.. there you go when bobby came to ball the duo where fighting for being the wicketkeeper.. one pad with anuroop and one with ghouse...he he he he eh eh eh eh not allowed to change the wicketkeeper in between the balls. he he he he...
5th ball the new batsmen was bowled by bobby.. it was the 6th ball i forgot that it was the hatrick ball till the excited bobby called everyone in and said it was a hatrick ball... in the heat of the excitement i forgot that me too a human right... the new batsmen came in to take the strike when he saw all standing close to him to attack on him like a vultures waiting to attack its prey he was nervous enough to get bowled in the 6th ball of the over thus the first Hattrick in the team playing the league though the actual 1st hattrick for the teams goes to our Suresh who due to his work commitment and studies is not able to play for us this time around, good luck for him and all the best wishes and may be he will be able to play in the near future for us..
Meanwhile on the other end Sijo was doing good and also got couple of wickets.. In the 19th over bowled by bobby he got his fourth wicket when he got the best batsmen out caught at long on in the safest hand of manesh. Then as usual bobby cannot finish an innings without bowling a wide this thime it cost extra 4runs.. in the next very ball he got the last batsmen LBW. Thus giving us a well deserving win. Thus again he proved lucky for me.. he he he he he... The opponent were allout for just 64runs from 31/3 in the 10th overe.. a well deserving 10points for all the hard work we had done....
Notables
Bobby 3.4-5wickets, sijo 5 -2, johnson 4-2, manesh 4-1
The excitment which was shown by my team was tremendous.. the joy and happines was something i cann't express here..Friends the personnel achivements are something which will come by itself.. our main priority should be team and when the team as a whole does good the personnel achivements will be sweeter..
I recently came to know that one of the teams asked the scorer where is the team captain he dosen't come to bat or ball, dear freinds the win is the answer for the them....
I am enjoying being the part of this team and leading them... you too cherish the time you are spending with the team because i think it is the second family after the one you have ... hope i am correct.
Alas! it is 1hour i am writing this post forgot about the work.. need to finish some work will catch up later... Have a deserving one week off from cricket.. enjoy it with your family and those who are bachelors enjoy chatting and sh........ but don't do too much he he he he he he...
Till next time have a wonderful time.. and may god bless all of us...
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
GCC2 vs IIT Alumini, GIIS Queenstown, 5th of June 2010
Was a bit busy with the work and little tired and sick... got wet in the rain :).. thats why late to post, though was eager to do it as early as possible.. he he he he...
As i written in my 1st post ever that due to cricket i came to know a lot of good people in singapore and it proved the same this weekend too... i must refresh my memory because i am good rembembering the face but the name ALAS! it is difficult...... but somehow i manage he he he he...
Now back to the game which was scheduled 1Pm start. When i started from home it was sunny, so was happy that we could have full match... but as i approched queenstown it started to drizzle... oh again i thought in my mind. Reached the ground to find that not even the pitch was covered and the outer part of the ground was flooded with water..Seeing all this the hope to have a match vanished..
Couple of guys came by 12.15 had enough time to put up the boundry rope and preparing the pitch for the match.. though couple came 1hr after the scheduled start time.. :(. The opponent team too reached the ground and they too were keen to play the match..Last time though both the captains were ready to play because of umpires decision had to call off the match. Lucky enough this time around the umpires were ready to play the match without any reduction of overs..
Went for the toss, was thinking of bowling after winning toss.. again the luck was not with me lost the toss and the opposing captain asked us to bat. As we walked back to the team members it started to drizzle again... Again had an hold up in the start.. Luck was with the couple of guys who came late for the match he he he he...
I guess the rain god heard our prayers and the rain stopped there was a delay of 1hour or so. Hence the umpires reduced the match to 22over aside.
Same as the last match the opening pair of Ramesh and guruvinder walked into the middle to start our innings. From the word go Ramesh was on the attacking mode not for the wet outfield he could have scored 50+ runs as he was out (thru a LBW decision which he thought was a wrong decision from the umpire, it is the case hope he learns the truth fast doing umpiring himself) when his individual score was 44 and the team score was 99 in the 9th over.. going at a healthy rate of 11.
Then it was the turn of Karthi to partner guru for the second wicket, then the scoring rate become a bit slow though both tried there best to keep up but it was not enough.In the process lost the 2nd wicket in the form of Guru at a score of 36. Anoorop who was playing his 2nd match joined Karthi in the middle..
It was the time when the team members were enjoying the most including me when we got a scrape goat in the form of Anoroop one of the youngest lot and the peron who is very helpful and lovable till date (touch wood)... Though the start was abit slow for him but he started to accelerate through aSIX..and one more he he he he... by the time the team score wasa on track with 10an over. then we lost couple of wickets and it was upto the shoulders of our dependable mr.Mani to carry on till the end of the innings, but intentions were different he scored at a strike rate of 200+ 37 runs with 3huge sixes.. In the mean time were loosing wickets the other end.. We ended our innings at 222/8 in 22 Overs a score which was 30-40 runs more what was in my mind.. and good show from my people..
Noteables:
Ramesh 44, Mani 37,Guru 36,Anoorop 23,Karthi 19
This was going to be a good game as even the sun came out and dried the out field. With a formidable bowling attack i was pretty sure that we can win the match. It is only the matter of points which was going to play a role in the win. But during the break told all that don't worry about the points just do the basics right and try to win the points will come by itself.
Concern was about the wicket keeping, I was a bit concern about that as it was a small ground and we were not having the service of our regular keeper.So was thinking of doing about 11Overs or so by me and later part can ask Anoroop. But by the time I had my snacks he was ready with the keeping pads on, the confidence was good with him so i went on with it. And he really proved his worth as a wicketkeeper with some good collections even i would have failed to do that. Nice one dear and now is the problem.. he he he he...
Started with the regular openers of Manesh and Johnson.It was now easy to handle the ball as the sun was out and the outfield was dry. They Bowled well with Manesh hitting the deck hard and troubling the batsmen with the height on the other hand Johnson was swining the ball to great extennd with some extra runs due to swing. he he he..
the breakthrough came in the 5th over when there well set batsmen was bowled by Manesh. In the very next over Johnson was also rewarded for his good bowling when he got a wicket and it was well caught by Karthi in the deep (touch wood having a safe pair of hands) :)
Same is the case of runouts it is the copyright of ramesh I guess a good thow which was cleaning picked up by wicketkeeper and the stumps were uprooted at the right time to keep the batsman out of the crease..
Then it was the turn of the change of bowlers with Mani and Tariq doing good jobs Tariq even had a Maiden over in the ground though he wentwicketless. We had to wait till the 16th over to get a break through which was given by Mani a well judged catch by Tariq culprit for dropping 2catches though hard ones. Meanwhile had seen a well commited try for a catch from out oldies Mr. Thalivar :) after that don't ask me what happened.. he he he he he...
Though the scoring rate was below Par for the opposing team it was the wicket which was not coming in our way. Then i had to look for my Lucky Mascot Mr.Bobby to give a break thru and it came in the 1st ball itself. And was the highest wicket taker with 3wickets just giving away 2 runs which included a wide :). Even i had to do 2overs just for the sake of doing it and Thaliver request :) did pretty well i guess.
Notables.
Bobby 1.1-0-2-3, Baiju 2-0-4-1,Mani 5-0-17-1,Manesh 4-0-20-1,Johnson 3-0-26-1
An overall good performance my team. Happy to have a team. Keep the good work and just enjoy playing.Don't worry about the out comes..It will come by itself..
Have a nice week ahead ..... Till next time i am signing off... urs...
As i written in my 1st post ever that due to cricket i came to know a lot of good people in singapore and it proved the same this weekend too... i must refresh my memory because i am good rembembering the face but the name ALAS! it is difficult...... but somehow i manage he he he he...
Now back to the game which was scheduled 1Pm start. When i started from home it was sunny, so was happy that we could have full match... but as i approched queenstown it started to drizzle... oh again i thought in my mind. Reached the ground to find that not even the pitch was covered and the outer part of the ground was flooded with water..Seeing all this the hope to have a match vanished..
Couple of guys came by 12.15 had enough time to put up the boundry rope and preparing the pitch for the match.. though couple came 1hr after the scheduled start time.. :(. The opponent team too reached the ground and they too were keen to play the match..Last time though both the captains were ready to play because of umpires decision had to call off the match. Lucky enough this time around the umpires were ready to play the match without any reduction of overs..
Went for the toss, was thinking of bowling after winning toss.. again the luck was not with me lost the toss and the opposing captain asked us to bat. As we walked back to the team members it started to drizzle again... Again had an hold up in the start.. Luck was with the couple of guys who came late for the match he he he he...
I guess the rain god heard our prayers and the rain stopped there was a delay of 1hour or so. Hence the umpires reduced the match to 22over aside.
Same as the last match the opening pair of Ramesh and guruvinder walked into the middle to start our innings. From the word go Ramesh was on the attacking mode not for the wet outfield he could have scored 50+ runs as he was out (thru a LBW decision which he thought was a wrong decision from the umpire, it is the case hope he learns the truth fast doing umpiring himself) when his individual score was 44 and the team score was 99 in the 9th over.. going at a healthy rate of 11.
Then it was the turn of Karthi to partner guru for the second wicket, then the scoring rate become a bit slow though both tried there best to keep up but it was not enough.In the process lost the 2nd wicket in the form of Guru at a score of 36. Anoorop who was playing his 2nd match joined Karthi in the middle..
It was the time when the team members were enjoying the most including me when we got a scrape goat in the form of Anoroop one of the youngest lot and the peron who is very helpful and lovable till date (touch wood)... Though the start was abit slow for him but he started to accelerate through aSIX..and one more he he he he... by the time the team score wasa on track with 10an over. then we lost couple of wickets and it was upto the shoulders of our dependable mr.Mani to carry on till the end of the innings, but intentions were different he scored at a strike rate of 200+ 37 runs with 3huge sixes.. In the mean time were loosing wickets the other end.. We ended our innings at 222/8 in 22 Overs a score which was 30-40 runs more what was in my mind.. and good show from my people..
Noteables:
Ramesh 44, Mani 37,Guru 36,Anoorop 23,Karthi 19
This was going to be a good game as even the sun came out and dried the out field. With a formidable bowling attack i was pretty sure that we can win the match. It is only the matter of points which was going to play a role in the win. But during the break told all that don't worry about the points just do the basics right and try to win the points will come by itself.
Concern was about the wicket keeping, I was a bit concern about that as it was a small ground and we were not having the service of our regular keeper.So was thinking of doing about 11Overs or so by me and later part can ask Anoroop. But by the time I had my snacks he was ready with the keeping pads on, the confidence was good with him so i went on with it. And he really proved his worth as a wicketkeeper with some good collections even i would have failed to do that. Nice one dear and now is the problem.. he he he he...
Started with the regular openers of Manesh and Johnson.It was now easy to handle the ball as the sun was out and the outfield was dry. They Bowled well with Manesh hitting the deck hard and troubling the batsmen with the height on the other hand Johnson was swining the ball to great extennd with some extra runs due to swing. he he he..
the breakthrough came in the 5th over when there well set batsmen was bowled by Manesh. In the very next over Johnson was also rewarded for his good bowling when he got a wicket and it was well caught by Karthi in the deep (touch wood having a safe pair of hands) :)
Same is the case of runouts it is the copyright of ramesh I guess a good thow which was cleaning picked up by wicketkeeper and the stumps were uprooted at the right time to keep the batsman out of the crease..
Then it was the turn of the change of bowlers with Mani and Tariq doing good jobs Tariq even had a Maiden over in the ground though he wentwicketless. We had to wait till the 16th over to get a break through which was given by Mani a well judged catch by Tariq culprit for dropping 2catches though hard ones. Meanwhile had seen a well commited try for a catch from out oldies Mr. Thalivar :) after that don't ask me what happened.. he he he he he...
Though the scoring rate was below Par for the opposing team it was the wicket which was not coming in our way. Then i had to look for my Lucky Mascot Mr.Bobby to give a break thru and it came in the 1st ball itself. And was the highest wicket taker with 3wickets just giving away 2 runs which included a wide :). Even i had to do 2overs just for the sake of doing it and Thaliver request :) did pretty well i guess.
Notables.
Bobby 1.1-0-2-3, Baiju 2-0-4-1,Mani 5-0-17-1,Manesh 4-0-20-1,Johnson 3-0-26-1
An overall good performance my team. Happy to have a team. Keep the good work and just enjoy playing.Don't worry about the out comes..It will come by itself..
Have a nice week ahead ..... Till next time i am signing off... urs...
Monday, May 31, 2010
Cracking Willow Vs Golden CC2, IA
It was a long weekend in Singapore as the Visak Day fell on Friday..and had a sunny and bright weekdays, so was happy that atleast can have a full match on the Saturday.
But alas! all the hope went bleek when it started raining on Friday night.. went to bed with a heavy heart and hoping that it stops raining and the ground won't be too wet for a delay or no match the next day morning as it was an early morning start..
Got up early to find the clear sky may be we are lucky today and it was ... thanks to the Rain god....
Reached the ground and found it not too wet. All was set up for a good match and fun again it was spoilt by and on field umpire..One of the umpires for the match pulled out from the assignment at the last moment. Lucky enough we had one umpire to start with..
Once again the toss luck was with me (when ever i am in doubt i loss toss to the oponent captain.).The opponent captain won the toss and elected to field. Had to make a cautious start as it was an wet out field and the pitch too would have kept low due to damness. As regular opners were not there had to go with a changed pair of Ramesh and Guruvinder. They Played a sensible cricket till Ramesh played a rash shot and was bowled by a low kept ball in the 6th over.
One end was kept safe by guruvinder and he was given a good support by Karthik they pushed the score to 63 in 10 overs with smartly taken singles and running between the wickets and few good shots to the fence.
In the 11th over Guruvinder was bowled again by a low kept balls.Then we lost a couple of wickets at the regular intervals and at the break we were 77/4.
All were thinking of a target of above 200 from 30overs, but the way we lost couple of wickets reaching 150 seemed a difficult target. Usually at the team regrouping i tell my players to just stay there and play the 30overs the runs will come by.. it seems couple of them had heared that. And that to pay off when we had a good partnership between Bobby and Tariq, then tariq and Mani. Mani was playing a anchors role. The trio together helped the team score to reach 137 in 20 Overs.
Again Lost of couple of wickets playing some rash shots including the hero of couple of matches :) :) :)...Mani got out in the 27th over we had to complete the 30overs because the opponent were short of 1over and when i joined Johnson told him to keep the wicket in tact and just play the 30 overs.Both were not out and kept the wickets and we could post a target of 180 to the opponent in 29overs.
had to take the wicket keepers job as Mohammed was not available for the match and the stand in Keeper (guru) also was injured playing a friendly the day before.
The only condition which was against was hot sun and the very dry out field even a small edges can make the ball travel like a bullet to the fence with all seamers in the line up.
Started with our opening pairs of Manesh and Johnson. Johnson got the break thru in his first over itself with a blinder taken by bobby at covers(1st time anyone commented on my captancy :) :) )). Our bowling pairs were doing good in the 6th over of the inning that of Johnson , ramesh hit the wickets from deep and got one of their best batsmen short of ground to adjudge him Run out clebration followed was like a EPL player celebrating after scoring a goal(LIke of Torres).... Again johson bowled one of the batsmen in the very next ball of the over with the help of a very well judged catch by Guru in the deep he was involved in another wicket with the same well judged catch in the deep...
Then it was the turn of the next pair.. It seems like bowling in pairs keep rewarding the team in between a small changes :) :) :) ..The Pair of Mani and tariq couldn't get the reward they were worthy of.. so had to changes the ends for them so Bobby was introduced and the 1st ball of his over got the edge and was taken by tariq in the slips..the gamble paid off.. We too were running one over short due to constant field changes due to left and right combinations...
after the Drinks break and change of ends for the bowlers it started in our favour and with a good judge catch by Manesh the game started in our favor. though at the start of the innings i was just trying for a win.. but the way my bowlers and fielders supported i knew we could for the max and it was the case.The opponents were all out for 87/10 in 21overs...
Noteables:
Batting:Mani 30, Guru 26, Karthi 18....
Bowling: mani 6-1-19-3, Tariq 5-1-23-3,Johnson 4-1-17-2,Bobby 2-1-7-1
All went in our favour this week... Mariners too lost to Anza and IIT won against Jelutang...
Cricket is really a funny game 1over or 1player or the conditions can change the full game.. So my dear friends as long as you play... play it to the fullest and have fun don't worry of the results...
Have a great week ahead and forget about the cricket till you play the next match He He He He..... i don't know how i am telling this when i am thinking of it....
But alas! all the hope went bleek when it started raining on Friday night.. went to bed with a heavy heart and hoping that it stops raining and the ground won't be too wet for a delay or no match the next day morning as it was an early morning start..
Got up early to find the clear sky may be we are lucky today and it was ... thanks to the Rain god....
Reached the ground and found it not too wet. All was set up for a good match and fun again it was spoilt by and on field umpire..One of the umpires for the match pulled out from the assignment at the last moment. Lucky enough we had one umpire to start with..
Once again the toss luck was with me (when ever i am in doubt i loss toss to the oponent captain.).The opponent captain won the toss and elected to field. Had to make a cautious start as it was an wet out field and the pitch too would have kept low due to damness. As regular opners were not there had to go with a changed pair of Ramesh and Guruvinder. They Played a sensible cricket till Ramesh played a rash shot and was bowled by a low kept ball in the 6th over.
One end was kept safe by guruvinder and he was given a good support by Karthik they pushed the score to 63 in 10 overs with smartly taken singles and running between the wickets and few good shots to the fence.
In the 11th over Guruvinder was bowled again by a low kept balls.Then we lost a couple of wickets at the regular intervals and at the break we were 77/4.
All were thinking of a target of above 200 from 30overs, but the way we lost couple of wickets reaching 150 seemed a difficult target. Usually at the team regrouping i tell my players to just stay there and play the 30overs the runs will come by.. it seems couple of them had heared that. And that to pay off when we had a good partnership between Bobby and Tariq, then tariq and Mani. Mani was playing a anchors role. The trio together helped the team score to reach 137 in 20 Overs.
Again Lost of couple of wickets playing some rash shots including the hero of couple of matches :) :) :)...Mani got out in the 27th over we had to complete the 30overs because the opponent were short of 1over and when i joined Johnson told him to keep the wicket in tact and just play the 30 overs.Both were not out and kept the wickets and we could post a target of 180 to the opponent in 29overs.
had to take the wicket keepers job as Mohammed was not available for the match and the stand in Keeper (guru) also was injured playing a friendly the day before.
The only condition which was against was hot sun and the very dry out field even a small edges can make the ball travel like a bullet to the fence with all seamers in the line up.
Started with our opening pairs of Manesh and Johnson. Johnson got the break thru in his first over itself with a blinder taken by bobby at covers(1st time anyone commented on my captancy :) :) )). Our bowling pairs were doing good in the 6th over of the inning that of Johnson , ramesh hit the wickets from deep and got one of their best batsmen short of ground to adjudge him Run out clebration followed was like a EPL player celebrating after scoring a goal(LIke of Torres).... Again johson bowled one of the batsmen in the very next ball of the over with the help of a very well judged catch by Guru in the deep he was involved in another wicket with the same well judged catch in the deep...
Then it was the turn of the next pair.. It seems like bowling in pairs keep rewarding the team in between a small changes :) :) :) ..The Pair of Mani and tariq couldn't get the reward they were worthy of.. so had to changes the ends for them so Bobby was introduced and the 1st ball of his over got the edge and was taken by tariq in the slips..the gamble paid off.. We too were running one over short due to constant field changes due to left and right combinations...
after the Drinks break and change of ends for the bowlers it started in our favour and with a good judge catch by Manesh the game started in our favor. though at the start of the innings i was just trying for a win.. but the way my bowlers and fielders supported i knew we could for the max and it was the case.The opponents were all out for 87/10 in 21overs...
Noteables:
Batting:Mani 30, Guru 26, Karthi 18....
Bowling: mani 6-1-19-3, Tariq 5-1-23-3,Johnson 4-1-17-2,Bobby 2-1-7-1
All went in our favour this week... Mariners too lost to Anza and IIT won against Jelutang...
Cricket is really a funny game 1over or 1player or the conditions can change the full game.. So my dear friends as long as you play... play it to the fullest and have fun don't worry of the results...
Have a great week ahead and forget about the cricket till you play the next match He He He He..... i don't know how i am telling this when i am thinking of it....
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Golden CC 2 Vs Australia NewZealand Association (ANZA) 4
This is the second match we played..
Second match of the season and our first in GIIS. No one else in team had seen the ground except Manesh who had went there for signing the contract. We had decided for a nets session on Saturday evening to have a look of the ground and have a bit of practice. There was a Div 4 League match scheduled between Andhra CC and Avadh CC and got first reports from the players that due to the continuous week day rain, ground is a bit wet and they are trying their best to start the game. But real shock was when our first set of players reached ground for nets. They gave the report that its better to keep swimming shorts handy as instead of cricket session we can have a swimming session in ground and nets area..!!
About half of us reached the ground and seen that the league match was washed out. Chances of us to play next day morning also bleak. Almost all were convinced with that opinion and some asked whether we have to come next day morning or stay back home. But its league match and irrespective of rain or shine playing 11 has to be at ground at start time unless it will be a walk over to other team. But some body was optimistic in team who has the record of no washed out games till that day in league career in Singapore. Guess who… !!! But will his luck continue???
We have discussed and all of us proceed to Admirality to have our nets session instead of swimming session in GIIS. There the story was different. We found that the Nets are was so dry and two teams having nets at same time. We joined as third team and had a good session. After much tiring, we went home.. with less hope for a match.
Morning we reached ground and for our astonishment, all water had disappeared and sun was shining. But ground is still muddy/wet and some places is too worse for a start. ANZA guys have reached ground and they also were hoping for a game as well as us. Umpires were a bit hesitant as first but after both captain’s consent, they have decided to start the game at 9AM instead of 8AM if the ground condition is getting better. Thanks for our umpiring colleagues/contacts too… which usually comes handy in such situations. At least a positive sign… !!!
We had another issue by the time. Our 11th guy was unreachable in phone and we’re left with 10 if there is a match. SOS was sent and Thariq came as a savior at last who had a Div 2 match on Saturday evening. Hats off for his stamina, commitment and support taking consideration of a 40 overs a side game a day before.
At 9AM we have decided for a shortened match of 24 overs a side and will stop if it rains and condition worsens. Sun was shining at that time. Baiju won the toss for first time and we have decided to field. ANZA guys are mostly Aussie or Kiwis players (Except two of the Indians in their Div 5 team). ANZA team is quiet strong in terms of batting and we have to restrict them with in 100 to ensure a smooth win. The small ground and slippery conditions may work against us. Especially for the bowlers to grip the seam. Later it proved correct with us bowling quiet lot of wides and some running for 4s. We have pretty good start with Manesh and Johnson with ANZA guys are stunned by the movement and bounce. But slowly they regained and started rotating strike running quick singles.
First blow was from Manesh who bowled a beauty to find Mohamed Ghouse to stump ANZA Captain who was trying to come down the pitch to break loose. 12/1 in 4 overs.
That lasted for a minute as their new batsman paired with the opener started rotating strike and scoring swiftly. Mani was introduced from one side and Thariq from another. Thariq was the first to break through with one of their key batsman had his middle stump reeling. 42/2 in 9.2 overs. The very next over Mani done a double distraction by bowling superb incutters to shatter the stumps on 1st and 4th ball. ANZA on backfoot at 48/4 in 10.4 overs.
Their revival started from there. Next pair were too cautious and blocked Yorkers from Thariq and in cutters from Mani effectively to tickle the score and they started finding boundaries too. We broke for drinks and came back wished to pack them off around 100.
Vishnu was brought in to break them. But they are already set and very strong in the off side and runs started flowing. Ground was too wet especially in the walkway end and on short end. Inspite of our good fielding , they are pretty fast in going for 1s and 2s easily.
Bobby was introduced to attack and bowled two tidy overs jus giving away 9 runs in that critical situation. Mani was the one to break their 52 runs partnership at 100/5 in 19.1 overs. Last 4 overs and they started hitting as had enough wickets in hand. Manesh came back to bowl two tidy overs and claimed one more wicket - ANZA were 120/6 in 22.1 overs. But other end its loosened a bit and ANZA finished with 140/6 in 24 overs. A tough score to chase in such hostile conditions and 40 runs above our expectations.
Pick of the bowlers were Mani (5 overs – 24/3), Manesh (5 overs – 23/2), Thariq (5 overs – 21/1, 1 Maiden)
On contrary we had good batting line up too to chase any target which we have done on many occasions. We have an asking rate of 6 per over and had decided to play for a win and aim at 8 points. Ramesh started as usual with explosive hitting and Mohamed supporting him well with occasional hitting too. Run rate was steady and suddenly a blow for us. Ramesh was stumped and his short stay came to an end – 16 runs (11 balls, 1 x 4 and 1 X 6). We are expecting a big entertaining innings from you Ramesh… !!!
Rakes walked in and was middling well. Both started working on quick singles and we were progressing. A good throw found Mohamed inches out of crease and was run out. He is now a days very stable and unfortunate this time though. 17 runs (22 balls, 2 X 4). Ever reliable Bobby walked in. But a ball later one stunning catch (or not..! Still doubtful..) had Rakes walking back to Pavilion and we are 38/3 in 6.5 overs. Rakes – 5 runs (9 balls). Mani walked in to join Bobby for a revival. Both of them slowly started accelerating with Bobby leading it. They put in valuable 34 runs together before Bobby was ruled LBW with 19 runs (21 balls, 2 X 4 , 1 x 6). Score read 72-4 in 12 overs and we broke for drinks.
It’s a tricky situation with our middle order was exposed and has to score another 70 runs in 12 overs. Couple of wickets can prove fatal to us…. !!
Manesh was sent in with a mission to accelerate and ease the pressure. He had started with a cracking 4 in first ball. Manesh was on his usual aggressive mode and started sending ANZA guys out of ground. Mani had supported well with good singles and joined the show soon. It was fireworks then with Manesh and Mani ruining ANZA bowlers…!!! Both of them shared 7 sixes among themselves and ANZA were forced to change two balls which were hit out of ground by Manesh. They had chipped in 55 runs in 3.3 overs. We had our hopes back and now time to look into points. 10 points mark already crossed. Next one is 9 points which has to be reached in 18 overs. But were well ahead…!
Mani got bowled by a tricky off spin and we were 127/5 in 15.2 overs. Jus leaving us needing 14 runs in 2.4 overs for 9 points. Great batting by Mani – 31 runs (22 balls, 3 X 6). Thariq joined the show and finished the game with a huge six.. and we reached 142/5 in 17.3 overs. Convincing win against a strong team.
Manesh stood unbeaten with 38* runs from 18 balls (2 X 4, 4 X 6) and Thariq 8* runs (4 balls, 1 X 6).
We got 9 valuable points too.. !
Second match of the season and our first in GIIS. No one else in team had seen the ground except Manesh who had went there for signing the contract. We had decided for a nets session on Saturday evening to have a look of the ground and have a bit of practice. There was a Div 4 League match scheduled between Andhra CC and Avadh CC and got first reports from the players that due to the continuous week day rain, ground is a bit wet and they are trying their best to start the game. But real shock was when our first set of players reached ground for nets. They gave the report that its better to keep swimming shorts handy as instead of cricket session we can have a swimming session in ground and nets area..!!
About half of us reached the ground and seen that the league match was washed out. Chances of us to play next day morning also bleak. Almost all were convinced with that opinion and some asked whether we have to come next day morning or stay back home. But its league match and irrespective of rain or shine playing 11 has to be at ground at start time unless it will be a walk over to other team. But some body was optimistic in team who has the record of no washed out games till that day in league career in Singapore. Guess who… !!! But will his luck continue???
We have discussed and all of us proceed to Admirality to have our nets session instead of swimming session in GIIS. There the story was different. We found that the Nets are was so dry and two teams having nets at same time. We joined as third team and had a good session. After much tiring, we went home.. with less hope for a match.
Morning we reached ground and for our astonishment, all water had disappeared and sun was shining. But ground is still muddy/wet and some places is too worse for a start. ANZA guys have reached ground and they also were hoping for a game as well as us. Umpires were a bit hesitant as first but after both captain’s consent, they have decided to start the game at 9AM instead of 8AM if the ground condition is getting better. Thanks for our umpiring colleagues/contacts too… which usually comes handy in such situations. At least a positive sign… !!!
We had another issue by the time. Our 11th guy was unreachable in phone and we’re left with 10 if there is a match. SOS was sent and Thariq came as a savior at last who had a Div 2 match on Saturday evening. Hats off for his stamina, commitment and support taking consideration of a 40 overs a side game a day before.
At 9AM we have decided for a shortened match of 24 overs a side and will stop if it rains and condition worsens. Sun was shining at that time. Baiju won the toss for first time and we have decided to field. ANZA guys are mostly Aussie or Kiwis players (Except two of the Indians in their Div 5 team). ANZA team is quiet strong in terms of batting and we have to restrict them with in 100 to ensure a smooth win. The small ground and slippery conditions may work against us. Especially for the bowlers to grip the seam. Later it proved correct with us bowling quiet lot of wides and some running for 4s. We have pretty good start with Manesh and Johnson with ANZA guys are stunned by the movement and bounce. But slowly they regained and started rotating strike running quick singles.
First blow was from Manesh who bowled a beauty to find Mohamed Ghouse to stump ANZA Captain who was trying to come down the pitch to break loose. 12/1 in 4 overs.
That lasted for a minute as their new batsman paired with the opener started rotating strike and scoring swiftly. Mani was introduced from one side and Thariq from another. Thariq was the first to break through with one of their key batsman had his middle stump reeling. 42/2 in 9.2 overs. The very next over Mani done a double distraction by bowling superb incutters to shatter the stumps on 1st and 4th ball. ANZA on backfoot at 48/4 in 10.4 overs.
Their revival started from there. Next pair were too cautious and blocked Yorkers from Thariq and in cutters from Mani effectively to tickle the score and they started finding boundaries too. We broke for drinks and came back wished to pack them off around 100.
Vishnu was brought in to break them. But they are already set and very strong in the off side and runs started flowing. Ground was too wet especially in the walkway end and on short end. Inspite of our good fielding , they are pretty fast in going for 1s and 2s easily.
Bobby was introduced to attack and bowled two tidy overs jus giving away 9 runs in that critical situation. Mani was the one to break their 52 runs partnership at 100/5 in 19.1 overs. Last 4 overs and they started hitting as had enough wickets in hand. Manesh came back to bowl two tidy overs and claimed one more wicket - ANZA were 120/6 in 22.1 overs. But other end its loosened a bit and ANZA finished with 140/6 in 24 overs. A tough score to chase in such hostile conditions and 40 runs above our expectations.
Pick of the bowlers were Mani (5 overs – 24/3), Manesh (5 overs – 23/2), Thariq (5 overs – 21/1, 1 Maiden)
On contrary we had good batting line up too to chase any target which we have done on many occasions. We have an asking rate of 6 per over and had decided to play for a win and aim at 8 points. Ramesh started as usual with explosive hitting and Mohamed supporting him well with occasional hitting too. Run rate was steady and suddenly a blow for us. Ramesh was stumped and his short stay came to an end – 16 runs (11 balls, 1 x 4 and 1 X 6). We are expecting a big entertaining innings from you Ramesh… !!!
Rakes walked in and was middling well. Both started working on quick singles and we were progressing. A good throw found Mohamed inches out of crease and was run out. He is now a days very stable and unfortunate this time though. 17 runs (22 balls, 2 X 4). Ever reliable Bobby walked in. But a ball later one stunning catch (or not..! Still doubtful..) had Rakes walking back to Pavilion and we are 38/3 in 6.5 overs. Rakes – 5 runs (9 balls). Mani walked in to join Bobby for a revival. Both of them slowly started accelerating with Bobby leading it. They put in valuable 34 runs together before Bobby was ruled LBW with 19 runs (21 balls, 2 X 4 , 1 x 6). Score read 72-4 in 12 overs and we broke for drinks.
It’s a tricky situation with our middle order was exposed and has to score another 70 runs in 12 overs. Couple of wickets can prove fatal to us…. !!
Manesh was sent in with a mission to accelerate and ease the pressure. He had started with a cracking 4 in first ball. Manesh was on his usual aggressive mode and started sending ANZA guys out of ground. Mani had supported well with good singles and joined the show soon. It was fireworks then with Manesh and Mani ruining ANZA bowlers…!!! Both of them shared 7 sixes among themselves and ANZA were forced to change two balls which were hit out of ground by Manesh. They had chipped in 55 runs in 3.3 overs. We had our hopes back and now time to look into points. 10 points mark already crossed. Next one is 9 points which has to be reached in 18 overs. But were well ahead…!
Mani got bowled by a tricky off spin and we were 127/5 in 15.2 overs. Jus leaving us needing 14 runs in 2.4 overs for 9 points. Great batting by Mani – 31 runs (22 balls, 3 X 6). Thariq joined the show and finished the game with a huge six.. and we reached 142/5 in 17.3 overs. Convincing win against a strong team.
Manesh stood unbeaten with 38* runs from 18 balls (2 X 4, 4 X 6) and Thariq 8* runs (4 balls, 1 X 6).
We got 9 valuable points too.. !
IIT Alumi Vs GCC2
I was thinking how to write all the previous match reports again. Then came to know this also can be done.. Science has played a wonderful innings with the human Life. Hence he it comes...
Our first match as a team in SCA League 2010. We were pretty nervous to approach League again but on high confidence on team’s latest performances. Only trouble is rain which is playing a big part in League with washed out matches, rain hit Parabola matches, so on. Luckily it was a clear day on the start. Over night rain had made out field sloppy and wet. There was an AM friendly match going on when we reached ground which gave us assurance of a game.
As usual our Cap, Baiju lost the toss and elected to field.. lol… forced to field. All of us were very punctual that we have reached very much in advance for warm up and preparations except one who was a bit late which made us to go to field with 10 initially. It was not one of the fantastic starts which Manesh and Johnson usually give. Both of them went wicket less in first 6 overs. But runs were also not coming. IIT Alumini guys seems glued to wicket that they are not loosing the wickets too. IIT guys were 20/0 in 6 overs. Pretty good score in this wet conditions. Vishnu was brought in from one end and had a tidy over. But wicketless.
We hardly needed a wicket at that point as both the batsmen getting set. Next change was Mani who has struck gold in his first over. Got the wicket of one of the set batsman and a good catch by Baiju in slip. On his second over Mani removed another one by a sharp reflex throw which found the batsman out of his ground with stumps shattered. IIT Alumini were in backfoot with 34/2 in 10 overs. Another excellent throw by Johnson found Mohamed ghouse to click the bails with batsman miles away. IIT 34/3 in 11.3 overs. Baiju replaced Vishnu and tried his off breaks. But no luck as ball was by the time wet and un-grippable. Went for drinks and IIT score card read 43/3 in 15 overs. Pretty good stuff by bowlers so far and its time to wrap up things as chasing 100+ in this pitch may be risky considering the wet factor and predicted evening rain.
We had refreshed after drinks and first over itself we got one of the guy walking out after a good run out my Mani – 45/4 Mani was excellent in the field through out the day breaking stumps every now and then… ! But the danger was not yet over as one of the opening batsman is still around who seems set and started hitting paired with the new batsman. Praveen tried to restrict them but was unlucky.
Baiju had a chat and decided to bring back openers for a change as score is 60/4 in 17 overs. It can prove dangerous if this two batsman get going like this. Johnson was brought back from a different end and he struck in his second ball of second spell taking out the new batsman - 61/5. Manesh was given ball from the other end with a task to finish. First ball had the middle stump of the opening danger which we had on crease – 62/6. Second ball had another one – but this time off stump of the incoming batsman – 62/7. On the verge of a hatrick – but missed it. We had the sense of a low score now. Three more to go. Johnson struck on next over with a well judged catch by Ramesh to take the 8th – 68/8. Next over Manesh came back to finish the wagging tail by double strike in 3rd and 4th ball – Both bowled and we have had a good start with IIT Alumini 71 All Out in 21.4 overs. Good start.. ! Excellent contribution from all bowlers and fielders… !
Pick of the bowlers were Manesh (4.4 Overs – 14/4), Johnson (5 Overs – 16/2), Mani (5 overs – 14/1) and Vishnu (4 overs – 10/0).
Now rest of the job was left to our Batsmen. Good chance of playing for 10 points as each point will be crucial in end of the year. We have decided for that and our regular opening pair walked out to bat. As usual Ramesh was in his “Sehwag” mode and hit two huge sixes. But couldn’t last much as deceived by a slow ball and was caught and bowled – 20/1. Ramesh – 14 runs(12 balls, 2 X 6)
On the other hand Mohamed Ghouse was playing fluently with his usual drives and taking lot of singles to rotate strike. Our ever reliable Bobby was promoted to 1 down to speed up and finish the match. Both were brilliant with the bat and were going smoothly to finish the game. The scores were leveled. 71/1 in 11 overs. Thanks to Bobby and Ghouse for fast scoring with singles, two and threes. Unlucky Mohamed went for a winning shot and mis judged to get bowled. Otherwise his average would have been more better. 20 Runs (31 balls). Mani walked in to finish the game in very next ball. We are 72/2 in 11.2 overs and leaving enough time for a friendly in same ground .
A convincing victory and 10 points gain… !!!
Bobby remained unbeaten with 24* runs (23 balls, 2 X 4) and Mani 1* run (1 ball)
Our first match as a team in SCA League 2010. We were pretty nervous to approach League again but on high confidence on team’s latest performances. Only trouble is rain which is playing a big part in League with washed out matches, rain hit Parabola matches, so on. Luckily it was a clear day on the start. Over night rain had made out field sloppy and wet. There was an AM friendly match going on when we reached ground which gave us assurance of a game.
As usual our Cap, Baiju lost the toss and elected to field.. lol… forced to field. All of us were very punctual that we have reached very much in advance for warm up and preparations except one who was a bit late which made us to go to field with 10 initially. It was not one of the fantastic starts which Manesh and Johnson usually give. Both of them went wicket less in first 6 overs. But runs were also not coming. IIT Alumini guys seems glued to wicket that they are not loosing the wickets too. IIT guys were 20/0 in 6 overs. Pretty good score in this wet conditions. Vishnu was brought in from one end and had a tidy over. But wicketless.
We hardly needed a wicket at that point as both the batsmen getting set. Next change was Mani who has struck gold in his first over. Got the wicket of one of the set batsman and a good catch by Baiju in slip. On his second over Mani removed another one by a sharp reflex throw which found the batsman out of his ground with stumps shattered. IIT Alumini were in backfoot with 34/2 in 10 overs. Another excellent throw by Johnson found Mohamed ghouse to click the bails with batsman miles away. IIT 34/3 in 11.3 overs. Baiju replaced Vishnu and tried his off breaks. But no luck as ball was by the time wet and un-grippable. Went for drinks and IIT score card read 43/3 in 15 overs. Pretty good stuff by bowlers so far and its time to wrap up things as chasing 100+ in this pitch may be risky considering the wet factor and predicted evening rain.
We had refreshed after drinks and first over itself we got one of the guy walking out after a good run out my Mani – 45/4 Mani was excellent in the field through out the day breaking stumps every now and then… ! But the danger was not yet over as one of the opening batsman is still around who seems set and started hitting paired with the new batsman. Praveen tried to restrict them but was unlucky.
Baiju had a chat and decided to bring back openers for a change as score is 60/4 in 17 overs. It can prove dangerous if this two batsman get going like this. Johnson was brought back from a different end and he struck in his second ball of second spell taking out the new batsman - 61/5. Manesh was given ball from the other end with a task to finish. First ball had the middle stump of the opening danger which we had on crease – 62/6. Second ball had another one – but this time off stump of the incoming batsman – 62/7. On the verge of a hatrick – but missed it. We had the sense of a low score now. Three more to go. Johnson struck on next over with a well judged catch by Ramesh to take the 8th – 68/8. Next over Manesh came back to finish the wagging tail by double strike in 3rd and 4th ball – Both bowled and we have had a good start with IIT Alumini 71 All Out in 21.4 overs. Good start.. ! Excellent contribution from all bowlers and fielders… !
Pick of the bowlers were Manesh (4.4 Overs – 14/4), Johnson (5 Overs – 16/2), Mani (5 overs – 14/1) and Vishnu (4 overs – 10/0).
Now rest of the job was left to our Batsmen. Good chance of playing for 10 points as each point will be crucial in end of the year. We have decided for that and our regular opening pair walked out to bat. As usual Ramesh was in his “Sehwag” mode and hit two huge sixes. But couldn’t last much as deceived by a slow ball and was caught and bowled – 20/1. Ramesh – 14 runs(12 balls, 2 X 6)
On the other hand Mohamed Ghouse was playing fluently with his usual drives and taking lot of singles to rotate strike. Our ever reliable Bobby was promoted to 1 down to speed up and finish the match. Both were brilliant with the bat and were going smoothly to finish the game. The scores were leveled. 71/1 in 11 overs. Thanks to Bobby and Ghouse for fast scoring with singles, two and threes. Unlucky Mohamed went for a winning shot and mis judged to get bowled. Otherwise his average would have been more better. 20 Runs (31 balls). Mani walked in to finish the game in very next ball. We are 72/2 in 11.2 overs and leaving enough time for a friendly in same ground .
A convincing victory and 10 points gain… !!!
Bobby remained unbeaten with 24* runs (23 balls, 2 X 4) and Mani 1* run (1 ball)
GCC2 Vs Mariners XI 2 GIIS
Just came across how people are keeping pace with the fast changing life of ours..
so thought of spending some time blogging for some time...
In singapore one of the media through which i came to know more people and make good friends is Cricket. So thought it would be nice to start with cricket as a topic to blog..
Though we have played 4matches with 2wins and 2 washout, i am starting with a latest match which we played at GIIS..
It was the match which was very crucial as we were behind the table toppers Mariners XI by 3points. Hoped that the climate remains good for the match considering the climate of singapore you have to keep your fingers crossed till the match is started and completed...
As per the schedule we reached the ground with weather on our side with the sun out as early as 7.15am.
Hoped that match will start as scheduled..
But the 2umpires after checking the ground and the pitch conveyed that they won't be able to start match not latest by 10.30am as the ground was unfit for a play due to wet 30yards.
As a captain of my team and the captain of the opposing team were willing to play, but due to the adamant umpires we had to keep our desires to ourside.
we as a players tried to pursuade the Umpires to start the match by 9am but all in vain. As an umpire myself i know what all thoughts go inside the players it was really frustrating...Then thought there was no point waiting till 10.30am and play a 12over aside match for points. Then asked the umpires to take a call and inform.. after a 1hr long wait the match was called off and the 2 teams shared the points.
as the League match was washed off.. thought it would be better to have a friendly 20over aside. Mariners XI captain too agreed for the same.
We did the toss and I won when it doesn't matter too much without hesistant elected to Bat..
Tried to keep the same battting Line up as it would have been in the match.Our batsmen all raised to the occassion and scored 156 in 20overs. Not rembembering the individual scores..
Mariers were all out for 105 in 18th over.. notable was the 5wicket haul by Sijo 1st one and surely will cherish that for long.
Though couldn't play a league match but all left the ground with a satisfaction that atleast they could play a bit of fun filled cricket.,thanks to all including the captain of the Mariners XI and their team members...
And a big thanks to all my teams mates..
Dear friends you will find some grammer mistakes and spelling mistakes.. excuse me for that i am doing all this from my office desk..
so thought of spending some time blogging for some time...
In singapore one of the media through which i came to know more people and make good friends is Cricket. So thought it would be nice to start with cricket as a topic to blog..
Though we have played 4matches with 2wins and 2 washout, i am starting with a latest match which we played at GIIS..
It was the match which was very crucial as we were behind the table toppers Mariners XI by 3points. Hoped that the climate remains good for the match considering the climate of singapore you have to keep your fingers crossed till the match is started and completed...
As per the schedule we reached the ground with weather on our side with the sun out as early as 7.15am.
Hoped that match will start as scheduled..
But the 2umpires after checking the ground and the pitch conveyed that they won't be able to start match not latest by 10.30am as the ground was unfit for a play due to wet 30yards.
As a captain of my team and the captain of the opposing team were willing to play, but due to the adamant umpires we had to keep our desires to ourside.
we as a players tried to pursuade the Umpires to start the match by 9am but all in vain. As an umpire myself i know what all thoughts go inside the players it was really frustrating...Then thought there was no point waiting till 10.30am and play a 12over aside match for points. Then asked the umpires to take a call and inform.. after a 1hr long wait the match was called off and the 2 teams shared the points.
as the League match was washed off.. thought it would be better to have a friendly 20over aside. Mariners XI captain too agreed for the same.
We did the toss and I won when it doesn't matter too much without hesistant elected to Bat..
Tried to keep the same battting Line up as it would have been in the match.Our batsmen all raised to the occassion and scored 156 in 20overs. Not rembembering the individual scores..
Mariers were all out for 105 in 18th over.. notable was the 5wicket haul by Sijo 1st one and surely will cherish that for long.
Though couldn't play a league match but all left the ground with a satisfaction that atleast they could play a bit of fun filled cricket.,thanks to all including the captain of the Mariners XI and their team members...
And a big thanks to all my teams mates..
Dear friends you will find some grammer mistakes and spelling mistakes.. excuse me for that i am doing all this from my office desk..
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