'Da freaks for the game: Maddy, Vicky, Mani, Raghu, Sri, Jagan, Raghav, Kail, Ram, Yogi and Suresh.
Jagan has been our lucky mascot and his toss winning habit continued. We elected to bat first as Mani believes it is our weak link. Our batting has a familiar pattern, slow start, lose wickets in the middle, break free in the end. So in order to break the routine, we decided to start with Raghu and Sri hoping to get an impetus. It turned out ok till the third over by which we had managed 19 runs without losing a wicket. When Raghu got out to a rash shot, the very next over, our scoring rate dropped alarmingly. Kailash, Ram, Raghav and Sri didn't last long and we were struggling to get any momentum to our innings. Yogi and Vicky played sensibly from then on, Yogi especially looking good at finding gaps thru the covers. We managed to score 61 runs at the end of 11 overs when Yogi got out. I stepped in and hit some blows and our running between the wickets also helped. The opposition were now struggling to control the leak and we managed to get 92 at the end of 14 overs.
Fielding in the deep is not my forte and I found out how hard it can be even to have the visual of the ball. Jagan and Suresh started the innings, and our bowling unit seems pretty set now. Jagan leaked some runs in his first over and so Mani brought himself as the first change. Soon enough he got a wicket. Though the runs were coming off their bats, it never really looked like a chase as we pegged them back with wickets everytime. Raghu and Jagan picked up a couple of wickets each. I was asked to bowl an over as part of the lets-try-the-second-string options. Though I managed to pick up a wicket, 9 runs were scored in my over as I persisted with bowling full tosses, then again we managed to put down two catches, one tough and another one a sitter. There was also a dubious run out when Raghav showed good awareness to throw the ball to me when the runner was just strolling back to the grease after the ball was bowled. We effected a run out and since the ball was not dead, the umpire also had to give that out. We once again managed to knock a team inside the 14th over as the opposition only managed 70 runs.
A victory by 22 runs margin in a 14 over match is quite a good margin. Vicky keeps tracking our winning streak, it has now stretched to five games!!
Cheers,
Maddy for 'Da Freaks
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Jinx Broken!!!!
We finally managed to win both the morning and noon match in a day. Its a fantastic achievement, not that we haven't won two games in a day, just not in different time zones. It looked like some kind of jinx and now its finally broken.
'Da freaks included Maddy, Mani, Vicky, Sri, Anand, Fred, Kail, Raghu, Jagan and Ram. We played a twelve over match and starting the game we only had seven players awaiting the arrival of Sri, Anand and Raghu. Jagan won the toss and we batted first. Ram and Vicky opened the innings and gave a steady start until a rash shot got rid of Ram. The ground looked half empty and so it was easier to judge runs. Vicky was in sublime form playing till the end, knocking singles and twos. He was ably supported by Ram and Fred. At the end of 12 overs we managed to get 61 runs, which was a decent score. Enough to stake claim for a victory.
All 10 of us were available for our defending. Mani and Raghu started the proceedings. Raghu looked fresh and was bowling fast. He picked up a wicket too in his first spell. Since I wanted to test my bowling skills, I opted out of batting and was given the ball first change. I picked up a couple of wickets in my first over but leaked 7 runs in my second. Looked a little rusty but thats what you get when you don't bowl regularly. Sri came in to the attack and carried on his fine form with the ball with pace that troubled our opponents. I am not quite sure but I think he picked up three wickets. One a good running catch at deep square leg by Vicky. Jagan finished off the innings as we looked to end this chase early. The opponents would have scored 50 odd, not more. Freddie as our wicket keeper and our overall fielding looked confident.
Since the jinx is finally broken we should reconsider playing at noon. Very soon it will become unplayable because of the heat. At least I am considering not participating, but lets see.
Cheers,
Maddy for 'Da freaks
'Da freaks included Maddy, Mani, Vicky, Sri, Anand, Fred, Kail, Raghu, Jagan and Ram. We played a twelve over match and starting the game we only had seven players awaiting the arrival of Sri, Anand and Raghu. Jagan won the toss and we batted first. Ram and Vicky opened the innings and gave a steady start until a rash shot got rid of Ram. The ground looked half empty and so it was easier to judge runs. Vicky was in sublime form playing till the end, knocking singles and twos. He was ably supported by Ram and Fred. At the end of 12 overs we managed to get 61 runs, which was a decent score. Enough to stake claim for a victory.
All 10 of us were available for our defending. Mani and Raghu started the proceedings. Raghu looked fresh and was bowling fast. He picked up a wicket too in his first spell. Since I wanted to test my bowling skills, I opted out of batting and was given the ball first change. I picked up a couple of wickets in my first over but leaked 7 runs in my second. Looked a little rusty but thats what you get when you don't bowl regularly. Sri came in to the attack and carried on his fine form with the ball with pace that troubled our opponents. I am not quite sure but I think he picked up three wickets. One a good running catch at deep square leg by Vicky. Jagan finished off the innings as we looked to end this chase early. The opponents would have scored 50 odd, not more. Freddie as our wicket keeper and our overall fielding looked confident.
Since the jinx is finally broken we should reconsider playing at noon. Very soon it will become unplayable because of the heat. At least I am considering not participating, but lets see.
Cheers,
Maddy for 'Da freaks
Satisfactory Run Chase
The match was against Cheena's team, for the lack of any other names. Alfonso saw 10 of the 'da freaks assembling today for the game with the likes of Maddy, Vicky, Mani, Vivek, Jagan, Yogi, Suresh, Balaji. Fred and Kail. We got one more guy on the field.
The opposition opted to bat first. A dream start as the first ball from Jagan yielded a wicket, clean bowled. I understand that the player who got out is an important player for them and often get them to a good start. As I had been saying, Jagan looks in great form with the ball and he proved his worth in this match as well. Suresh and Jagan bowled a tight first spell of 4 overs in which the opposition was able to get only 14 and losing a wicket. I was given the ball, looked like a test of skill, which I miserably failed as I gave away 7 runs including a boundary. To my defense, it was a catch that Balaji failed to collect and aided to the boundary. Other than that I could do a lot better. Back to the game, Vicky's first two overs cost him 15 runs but he managed to pick up a wicket, a beautiful low catch by Kailash at square leg, and there was a run out as well. Highlight of those two overs was the switch-hit six by one of the batsmen. Mani, Jagan and Suresh controlled the remaining overs and ensured that we were chasing only 70 runs in 14 overs.
Our batting has been our Achilles' heals. We are often criticized for losing too many wickets in the early overs. This game was different. Yogi and Fred started the innings very steadily. Freddie was looking fresh even after running for 5 overs without a bye-runner. Just when Freddie was looking dangerous, he got out bowled to a slow off cutter. And we read 22 for 1 in 5 overs. Kailash came in next and looked nervous as usual. I just told him that they were bowling at full length and if he wanted to swing, cover his stumps first so that if he missed, the ball will not hit the stumps. Not sure how much it helped, or if it helped at all but Kailash looked good, nervous but good. Highlight of his innings was a stunning pull for a boundary. Yogi was anchoring the innings and looked determined to be there and see us through. When Kailash got run out and we still needing 34 runs in 7 overs, in stepped our batting maestro, Vivek. The runs were still flowing without a problem for us and we hadn't taken any major risks either. Yogi eventually got out caught behind and in stepped Mani as we thought myself and Vivek in the middle would be a catastrophe waiting to happen. But Mani almost took Vivek's wicket off the very first ball he faced by trying to run for a non-existent single. But our batting maestro was unfazed. The moment he asked for a bye-runner, supporting role by Yogi, Vivek started teaching us all lessons on how to play cover drives, thru the ground or over the fielder's head, he looked terrific. When we needed 8 from 2.1 overs, Mani got out and I stepped in. Yogi and I ran like our lives depended on it and took our chances well. In the end we won by 6 wickets with 5 deliveries to spare. Vivek would have scored 12+ and I was there with 2.
It is always satisfying to chase and win and we managed to do just that. Hoping that our batting becomes more consistent.
Cheers,
Maddy for 'Da Freaks
The opposition opted to bat first. A dream start as the first ball from Jagan yielded a wicket, clean bowled. I understand that the player who got out is an important player for them and often get them to a good start. As I had been saying, Jagan looks in great form with the ball and he proved his worth in this match as well. Suresh and Jagan bowled a tight first spell of 4 overs in which the opposition was able to get only 14 and losing a wicket. I was given the ball, looked like a test of skill, which I miserably failed as I gave away 7 runs including a boundary. To my defense, it was a catch that Balaji failed to collect and aided to the boundary. Other than that I could do a lot better. Back to the game, Vicky's first two overs cost him 15 runs but he managed to pick up a wicket, a beautiful low catch by Kailash at square leg, and there was a run out as well. Highlight of those two overs was the switch-hit six by one of the batsmen. Mani, Jagan and Suresh controlled the remaining overs and ensured that we were chasing only 70 runs in 14 overs.
Our batting has been our Achilles' heals. We are often criticized for losing too many wickets in the early overs. This game was different. Yogi and Fred started the innings very steadily. Freddie was looking fresh even after running for 5 overs without a bye-runner. Just when Freddie was looking dangerous, he got out bowled to a slow off cutter. And we read 22 for 1 in 5 overs. Kailash came in next and looked nervous as usual. I just told him that they were bowling at full length and if he wanted to swing, cover his stumps first so that if he missed, the ball will not hit the stumps. Not sure how much it helped, or if it helped at all but Kailash looked good, nervous but good. Highlight of his innings was a stunning pull for a boundary. Yogi was anchoring the innings and looked determined to be there and see us through. When Kailash got run out and we still needing 34 runs in 7 overs, in stepped our batting maestro, Vivek. The runs were still flowing without a problem for us and we hadn't taken any major risks either. Yogi eventually got out caught behind and in stepped Mani as we thought myself and Vivek in the middle would be a catastrophe waiting to happen. But Mani almost took Vivek's wicket off the very first ball he faced by trying to run for a non-existent single. But our batting maestro was unfazed. The moment he asked for a bye-runner, supporting role by Yogi, Vivek started teaching us all lessons on how to play cover drives, thru the ground or over the fielder's head, he looked terrific. When we needed 8 from 2.1 overs, Mani got out and I stepped in. Yogi and I ran like our lives depended on it and took our chances well. In the end we won by 6 wickets with 5 deliveries to spare. Vivek would have scored 12+ and I was there with 2.
It is always satisfying to chase and win and we managed to do just that. Hoping that our batting becomes more consistent.
Cheers,
Maddy for 'Da Freaks
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Bowling is becoming our greatest strength
Last Sunday we played two games in the morning session. One against Mahesh's team and the other against Kumar's. Our 11 was Maddy, Mani, Freddie, Jagan, Suresh, Balaji, Sri, Raghu, Sudarshan and Yogi. Raghu only played the first match.
Since this is not recorded on the day of the match, I am going to keep it crisp. Jagan is coming of age with his bowling. Fast and accurate, he is troubling most batsmen. You know about a good bowler when most of his wickets are by uprooting the stumps. He tends to bowl full deliveries some times, but he can only get better. His bowling was fantastic, equally impressive was Suresh. He started off bowling short as usual but came to his element pretty soon. He got a fiver in the first match. Both these guys were able to keep the opponents under check in both the matches.
First match - opponent's score: 15 for 6 in 4 overs.
Second match - opponent's score: 11 for 6 in 4 overs chasing 53 for victory.
That stat says a lot about the control we had over both the teams.
Batting is a worry, yes. But I guess we can afford to experiment on the line up so long as our bowling is on target.
Cheers,
Madhavan
Since this is not recorded on the day of the match, I am going to keep it crisp. Jagan is coming of age with his bowling. Fast and accurate, he is troubling most batsmen. You know about a good bowler when most of his wickets are by uprooting the stumps. He tends to bowl full deliveries some times, but he can only get better. His bowling was fantastic, equally impressive was Suresh. He started off bowling short as usual but came to his element pretty soon. He got a fiver in the first match. Both these guys were able to keep the opponents under check in both the matches.
First match - opponent's score: 15 for 6 in 4 overs.
Second match - opponent's score: 11 for 6 in 4 overs chasing 53 for victory.
That stat says a lot about the control we had over both the teams.
Batting is a worry, yes. But I guess we can afford to experiment on the line up so long as our bowling is on target.
Cheers,
Madhavan
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