Hi everyone. Not great news this week. We were brought down to earth after a two match winning streak. It was a defeat by 12 runs. Our Team Owner and wannabe-pace bowler(Madhavan) was unavailable for the match as he was down with fever and says its because of his absence that we lost. :-) Also missing were Kaipulla Ram (fever) and Goutham (not in town). Sridhar and Yogesh, both of whom had missed a couple of games were back this time. We were also a man down and had only 10 on the field.
We lost the toss and the opponents chose to bat. I am not sure who went in for the toss this time around. I guess it was Raghavendran's turn to lose the toss this week and he promptly did just that. :-). Mani and Suresh started off the proceedings and it was a good first 2 overs in which we got wickets. Mani disturbed the stumps and Raghu brought about a brilliant stumping. Mani's second over went for 13 runs and that was, probably, the beginning of us losing control. Suresh bowled a decent spell of 2 overs without giving away too many. Raghu and Sridhar were the next set of bowlers and I thought they did a decent job at that. Sridhar was among the wickets but runs kept coming each over.
Our fielding demons of the past had returned to haunt us this week. Overthrows, byes, drop catches and what not? We managed to leak runs in every possible manner. I dropped a sitter at deep midwicket and so did Suresh at long on. Their innings meandered to a close at 75 after 12 overs. They were all out but had enough runs in the board.
I had decided to have some batting this week and hence I opened with Kailash. Kailash was dismissed after 2 overs when we had put on 8. Sudharshan joined me at the crease and started his innings with a four through point. We were getting 5-6 runs each over but there were quite a fair bit of dot balls. Sudharshan was dismissed when the score was 38 in the 8th over. We reached 42-2 after 8 overs, with Raghavendran and myself at the crease. 34 reqd off 4 overs and we were in with a chance. But both myself and Raghavendran got out soon after this. Raghu came in and hit a four but it was getting out of our hands. 25 runs were needed off 2 overs. Sridhar, Suresh and Yogesh did their best to pile up runs but in the end, we were short by 12 runs.
I felt the reasons for defeat was our poor fielding and the fact that we were a man down while fielding. Also, the fact that the batting order was shuffled didn't help and I had abstained from bowling just to test the bench strength. On a positive note, despite the above-said reasons, we had lost only by a small margin. But on the flip side, we lost the chance to build on a winning streak. Its all back to scratch again and we are facing the same team next week. Lets see if we can bounce back by correcting our mistakes.
See ya all next week,
Vignesh
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Diwali Delight - A Team Effort
Hi everyone. It was Diwali weekend and we celebrated in style by winning this week. And whats more, it was unlike last week where one or two stole the show. It was a team effort where no one stood out. It really lifts the morale of the team when we snatch victory from the doors of defeat and I guess we did that perfectly.
For a change, Mani won the toss and he was proud. I guess he practiced a lot with the coin at home after reading my previous blog (pun intended) :-). I hope he practices some catching too. :-) We chose to bat as that seemed to be the consensus. No one seemed opposed to the idea of batting first. The opening combo was the same - Vivek and Raghu. Maddy was apprehensive about facing the "new ball" and he promptly declined the offer to open:-).
Raghu got into his groove well enough picking up singles and scorched a boundary over the covers. Vivek seems to have been hit by the Shahid Afridi Syndrome. He puts his foot forward and hits the ball as hard as he can. He didn't last long holing out at long on. Sudharshan went in at No.3 but there was no fireworks from him this time around. He was finding hard to get his touch.
We reached 17-1 at the end of 3 overs. When Sudharshan got out, Goutham went in. It was Vivek's sensational bit of intuition that led to Goutham going in and we all had a laugh about it. To make matters worse, it was Goutham's comeback game after a hiatus and he seemed rusty every inch. He didn't last long and the innings began to stutter after this. Raghu got out to a slower one. Freddie and Ram seemed to arrest the slide when Ram got out caught at long off.
The innings slid downward when I got run out soon after. For a change, Raghu (running for Fred) was conservative while running and he didn't respond to my call. Mani got run out as the ball struck someone close by and landed right into the hands of the 'keeper. Fred was playing well before lifting one straight to the deep midwicket fielder. The lower order comprising of Suresh, Maddy and Kailash stole a few singles and we scrapped to 55. Once again we were bowled out under 12 overs.
We started off with our bowling knowing we had a stiff task. Mani bowled a fierce spell of 3 overs giving away only 12 runs but unlucky not to strike. I bowled a couple of unconvincing overs and was taken for 12 runs as well though I managed a wicket. They had coasted 27 off the first 6 overs. Raghu stepped in and bowled a splendid over. He took out the tall and dangerous guy and took another wicket courtesy a good catch by Vivek and this really lifted our morale. They needed 25 of the last 5 and we backed ourselves. Suresh bowled an over that went for 9 and Raghu dropped a sitter at long off. 16 runs were required off 4 overs.
Raghu bowled another good over taking 2 wickets - one was a skier taken at deep midwicket by yours truly and the other was a spectacular bit of fielding of his own bowling. He ran out the batsman with the direct hit. It came down to 12 runs needed off 3 overs and Mani insisted on me bowling though I was against it asking him to bowl instead. I bowled a maiden and took 2 wickets and we were well and truly back in the game. After a long discussion, Mani bowled the penultimate over and gave away only 2 runs besides picking up another 2 wickets.
Alas, 10 runs off the last over and just one wicket needed. Me, Raghu and Mani had bowled our max quota and it was left to the Comeback Man Goutham to do the honours. He started off nervously to give 2 runs off the first ball but got a wicket the next ball as I held a low catch at long on bringing to an end a really thrilling encounter.
I must say we are on a high after back to back wins and lets hope the winning streak continues. Guys!! All hell will break lose next week as Maddy is willing to bowl and is serious about it. Wishing you luck, Maddy.
Cheers
Vignesh
For a change, Mani won the toss and he was proud. I guess he practiced a lot with the coin at home after reading my previous blog (pun intended) :-). I hope he practices some catching too. :-) We chose to bat as that seemed to be the consensus. No one seemed opposed to the idea of batting first. The opening combo was the same - Vivek and Raghu. Maddy was apprehensive about facing the "new ball" and he promptly declined the offer to open:-).
Raghu got into his groove well enough picking up singles and scorched a boundary over the covers. Vivek seems to have been hit by the Shahid Afridi Syndrome. He puts his foot forward and hits the ball as hard as he can. He didn't last long holing out at long on. Sudharshan went in at No.3 but there was no fireworks from him this time around. He was finding hard to get his touch.
We reached 17-1 at the end of 3 overs. When Sudharshan got out, Goutham went in. It was Vivek's sensational bit of intuition that led to Goutham going in and we all had a laugh about it. To make matters worse, it was Goutham's comeback game after a hiatus and he seemed rusty every inch. He didn't last long and the innings began to stutter after this. Raghu got out to a slower one. Freddie and Ram seemed to arrest the slide when Ram got out caught at long off.
The innings slid downward when I got run out soon after. For a change, Raghu (running for Fred) was conservative while running and he didn't respond to my call. Mani got run out as the ball struck someone close by and landed right into the hands of the 'keeper. Fred was playing well before lifting one straight to the deep midwicket fielder. The lower order comprising of Suresh, Maddy and Kailash stole a few singles and we scrapped to 55. Once again we were bowled out under 12 overs.
We started off with our bowling knowing we had a stiff task. Mani bowled a fierce spell of 3 overs giving away only 12 runs but unlucky not to strike. I bowled a couple of unconvincing overs and was taken for 12 runs as well though I managed a wicket. They had coasted 27 off the first 6 overs. Raghu stepped in and bowled a splendid over. He took out the tall and dangerous guy and took another wicket courtesy a good catch by Vivek and this really lifted our morale. They needed 25 of the last 5 and we backed ourselves. Suresh bowled an over that went for 9 and Raghu dropped a sitter at long off. 16 runs were required off 4 overs.
Raghu bowled another good over taking 2 wickets - one was a skier taken at deep midwicket by yours truly and the other was a spectacular bit of fielding of his own bowling. He ran out the batsman with the direct hit. It came down to 12 runs needed off 3 overs and Mani insisted on me bowling though I was against it asking him to bowl instead. I bowled a maiden and took 2 wickets and we were well and truly back in the game. After a long discussion, Mani bowled the penultimate over and gave away only 2 runs besides picking up another 2 wickets.
Alas, 10 runs off the last over and just one wicket needed. Me, Raghu and Mani had bowled our max quota and it was left to the Comeback Man Goutham to do the honours. He started off nervously to give 2 runs off the first ball but got a wicket the next ball as I held a low catch at long on bringing to an end a really thrilling encounter.
I must say we are on a high after back to back wins and lets hope the winning streak continues. Guys!! All hell will break lose next week as Maddy is willing to bowl and is serious about it. Wishing you luck, Maddy.
Cheers
Vignesh
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Raghu - Sudharshan Show - dt.11 Oct 2009
Hi. This is Vignesh again. Looks like Madhavan wants me to persist with blogging and here I am posting this blog, albeit a bit late because of my procrastinating ways. I decided to get this done atleast by the time we begin our next game.
I was hoping for a better sunday in my last blog and we got ourselves exactly that, courtesy, some good bit of batting by Raghu and Sudharshan. As is the norm these days, we lost the toss. Mani's luck with the toss is no better to mine and he lost the toss again. Its high time we reconsider the right guy for the toss.:-)
We started off well with the ball. Mani and Suresh(My friend) began the proceeding and bowled the first 4 overs and gave only 16 runs and picked up a couple of wickets. They had scored only 21 off the first 6 overs and had lost 3 wickets. From here, things began to drift away from our control. They had a good partnership and their run rate was steadily on the rise. By the end of 9 overs they had posted 49 runs and were on the rampage till the end of the 12th over and piled up 73. We managed to pull things up in the last 2 overs giving away only 7 runs.
We needed 81 off 14 overs and I decided to stick on with Raghu in the opening slot but this time he paired up with Vivek. The partnership lasted only one over. Vivek got out and then the real show started. We sent in Sudharshan at No.3 and he found his rhythm with a hook which went for a Six and a cover drive for a four. Raghu was playing his part well with the ones and twos finding the gaps at will. They paced the innings so well that the run rate was always above 6 runs per over and the reqd rate was always under control. Raghu struck some meaty blows in the latter part of his innings. The two had amassed 60 runs off 9 overs and our score read 66-2 after 10 overs when Sudharshan departed.
Ram and Raghu finished off the target with more than 2 overs to spare. I must say, this was one of our comprehensive and dominant victories ever. I hope that this is the start of many more wins.
I was hoping for a better sunday in my last blog and we got ourselves exactly that, courtesy, some good bit of batting by Raghu and Sudharshan. As is the norm these days, we lost the toss. Mani's luck with the toss is no better to mine and he lost the toss again. Its high time we reconsider the right guy for the toss.:-)
We started off well with the ball. Mani and Suresh(My friend) began the proceeding and bowled the first 4 overs and gave only 16 runs and picked up a couple of wickets. They had scored only 21 off the first 6 overs and had lost 3 wickets. From here, things began to drift away from our control. They had a good partnership and their run rate was steadily on the rise. By the end of 9 overs they had posted 49 runs and were on the rampage till the end of the 12th over and piled up 73. We managed to pull things up in the last 2 overs giving away only 7 runs.
We needed 81 off 14 overs and I decided to stick on with Raghu in the opening slot but this time he paired up with Vivek. The partnership lasted only one over. Vivek got out and then the real show started. We sent in Sudharshan at No.3 and he found his rhythm with a hook which went for a Six and a cover drive for a four. Raghu was playing his part well with the ones and twos finding the gaps at will. They paced the innings so well that the run rate was always above 6 runs per over and the reqd rate was always under control. Raghu struck some meaty blows in the latter part of his innings. The two had amassed 60 runs off 9 overs and our score read 66-2 after 10 overs when Sudharshan departed.
Ram and Raghu finished off the target with more than 2 overs to spare. I must say, this was one of our comprehensive and dominant victories ever. I hope that this is the start of many more wins.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
A Poor Display -dated 4th Oct 2009
Hey ppl.. This is Vignesh posting the blog instead of Maddy, who had to leave midway during the game because of his official commitments..
This was a day when we were not at our best. Our fielding let us down badly; the bowling was ordinary and the batting - the less said the better..
As a precursor of things to come, we lost the toss. I had asked Mani to go for the toss as I thought my luck was pathetic with the toss. Mani's luck was no better. :-) The opponents won the toss and chose to bat.. Nothing much happened in the first 4 overs (bowled by Mani and Jagan) except for the opponents scoring freely. I dropped a sitter standing at deep midwicket and my pals were generous leaking runs in the field. They had accumulated close to 30 runs in the first 4 overs.
The same trend continued during the middle overs - more runs and more fielding lapses..but in the last 4 overs we pulled things back a bit. I thought Mani and myself were good at 'the death'. So, after 14 overs, they managed to pile up 84 runs. It was an attainable target as the off side boundary was short and the hard ball was travelling.
We started our chase with our two best runners in the team - Raghu and Sridar. It was my idea to send them both together so that we could get off the blocks quickly.. but it was not to be. Both of them got out pretty soon. Idli (Fred) was meddling the ball well and we were maintaining a run rate of 6 per over.. Vivek was in pinch-hittin mood. He struck two boundaries on the trot. but we kept losing wickets almost every over.. I got out to a contentious decision and, to no one's surprise, lost my cool...:-)
Kaipilla Ram ws holding one end up and played a decent hand. But in the end, we were all out for 40-odd. It was a disappointing performance. We did not play to our potential.
Hoping for a better Sunday next time around..
Cheers..
This was a day when we were not at our best. Our fielding let us down badly; the bowling was ordinary and the batting - the less said the better..
As a precursor of things to come, we lost the toss. I had asked Mani to go for the toss as I thought my luck was pathetic with the toss. Mani's luck was no better. :-) The opponents won the toss and chose to bat.. Nothing much happened in the first 4 overs (bowled by Mani and Jagan) except for the opponents scoring freely. I dropped a sitter standing at deep midwicket and my pals were generous leaking runs in the field. They had accumulated close to 30 runs in the first 4 overs.
The same trend continued during the middle overs - more runs and more fielding lapses..but in the last 4 overs we pulled things back a bit. I thought Mani and myself were good at 'the death'. So, after 14 overs, they managed to pile up 84 runs. It was an attainable target as the off side boundary was short and the hard ball was travelling.
We started our chase with our two best runners in the team - Raghu and Sridar. It was my idea to send them both together so that we could get off the blocks quickly.. but it was not to be. Both of them got out pretty soon. Idli (Fred) was meddling the ball well and we were maintaining a run rate of 6 per over.. Vivek was in pinch-hittin mood. He struck two boundaries on the trot. but we kept losing wickets almost every over.. I got out to a contentious decision and, to no one's surprise, lost my cool...:-)
Kaipilla Ram ws holding one end up and played a decent hand. But in the end, we were all out for 40-odd. It was a disappointing performance. We did not play to our potential.
Hoping for a better Sunday next time around..
Cheers..
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