HCC Canada tour updates

Aug 9th 2009 Game 1: HCC Vs Vancouver Vagabonds

HCC scored 215 in 40 overs and got the Victoria Vagabonds out for 156.

Aug 11th 2009 Game 2: HCC Vs Cowichan CC

HCC 318 (Travis 48 n.o., Munna 40 n.o., Pankaj 40 n.o., Mike 39, Ragu 35, Mark 20)

Cowichan 174 (Ragu, Munna, and Mark took 1 wicket each; and Karthik and Pankaj took 2 wickets each; 2 runouts and 1 retired out)

August 13th Game 3: HCC Vs Arrowsmith

It was a 20-20 affair in constant drizzle.

Arrowsmith batted first and scored 77 runs in 20 overs.

Ram (the skipper) reversed our batting order and we scored 79 for 5 in 19 overs.

The wicket and the ground was soppy wet and the batting extremely difficult. But Ram (24), Troy (21) and Pankaj (23 n.o.) made sure that we won the game.

August 15th Game 4: HCC Vs Victoria select XI

Victoria select XI made 195 in 40 overs

HCC 196 in 40 with one wicket remaining (Mark retired, came back in and saw us through with help from Russ)

HCC swept the tour with a 4-0 record...!!

Gutsy sloggers seal the deal

UPDATED: Much mahalo to Pankaj bhai for adding more information to the review and it should now look complete. A correction is also made to reflect Shabbir's wicket in the second innings.

I apologize for the very late review...

Look closely; you see my big flat foot in my mouth? After 'predicting' a win for us (the Royal Lions) I was a little nervous before the game. This was a lovely match that saw some nerves from both teams and the steadier ones got the trophy (does anyone else thinks Mark modeled for the trophy?).

We won the toss and put the Sloggers in (ouch; teams that set the target won it all in the last two finals). The Sloggers needed a strong start so they could ease the pressure on their middle order. The skipper and Zoob (who we not so brightly thought would be rusty) walked out to bat while we had Sachin and Munna share the new ball. Both of them started with a couple of wides but did not really give away too many runs off the bat in the first couple of overs. Mark gave himself the ball in the third over and Zoob drove him for a boundary over long off. He brought back Munna for the fifth over and that was when the fireworks started. Zoob swiveled and hit one behind square for four and then Travis burned him for a couple of more boundaries on either side of the wicket. Munna then came back to bowl a peach of a delivery that Travis nicked to the first slip where Mark floored it (the only thing that was bruised here was our Skipper's ego as he usually has one the safest pair of hands). Both batsmen were rotating the strike easily and did not have to wait for the bad balls for too long. We were bowling too short, too wide, just not to our fields and leaking runs in plenty.

Lazar stepped up and stemmed the runs from his end. He had a pretty good field set for himself and positioned me between a short and silly mid-off for Zoob to cover his aerial straight drives. As expected Zoob did go for the shot but boy did he hit that one; I muffed the chance and my excuse was that the ball was travelling (yep, it is an excuse). Lazar bowled his entire spell of 4 overs at a stretch and gave away just 23 runs (would've been 5 less if not for the wides). Our skipper showed some confidence in Naveen's quickish off spinners (anyone remember Vijay Bharadwaj?) and he did bowl a decent spell. But then, there were too many gaps and the batsmen were milking us away for singles and doubles and the extras allowed them the luxury of not taking many risks. Both Zoob and Trav retired after scoring 30 off 35 and 22 balls respectively and the Sloggers were cruising with 80 for no loss at drinks.

Barry and Vishan replaced the openers and went about their business briskly. Vishan had a huge hit to long on for a six off Naveen and he looked as if he was preparing to cut loose. I was brought into the attack in the 15th over and Vishan probably saw the opportunity for a bucket load of runs here. He greedily stepped out but was outfoxed by the wily spinner and was promptly stumped (actually, it was a very ordinary dismissal where I got lucky as Vishan missed the heave; I just wanted to rub it in). We pulled them back a little without conceding too many boundaries and keeping the extras to a bare minimum.

Subbu walked in next and used his feet brilliantly (not bright though; well, he just started walking down the track with the bowler's run up) to Mark and lofted him for a few quick runs (I was genuinely scared for him as I know Mark's affinity for snorters). He then tried to slog me over midwicket but completely missed it and got stumped. Pankaj bhai walked in next and made sure they did not loose any more wickets. They were 143 in the 19th over when Munna came in to finish it off. Barry saw him bowl a couple of short ones and moved into the line (premeditation at its best) for the next one and hooked it behind square for the maximum and finished with 14 runs in that over.

Sloggers 157 for 2 (yep, u read right; TWO) in 20 overs.

We definitely did not think this was too huge a target and planned for a sensible (Ha!) innings from all our batsmen. A couple of quick wickets would have put us in some pressure but we figured we batted pretty deep and should cross the finish line without much drama. I walked out (God knows why; I should be flogged every time I touch a bat) with Misa to open our innings while Barry and Troy shared the new ball duties for them. Misa played the first over from Barry and for the first time in the tournament forgot that we were playing a T20. He left (yes, left) a few balls that were not really unplayable (but in his defense, he is a slow starter and picks up the momentum gradually; and really, I am in no position to critique any batting nuances (but then, this is the blogger and not the batsman here, so screw it)). I faced Troy in the next over who had precisely placed 2 fielders (short mid-wicket and covers) in front of the wicket for me. The rest of the fielding unit was behind square and I did feel a little embarrassed by the set up. I wound myself up for a short one around my legs and was all set to hit the shnitz out of the ball and place it somewhere over the square leg boundary. But then, I just managed to scoop it up to short square leg where Travis came running in from mid-wicket to get me out. That sealed my fate as the worst batsman in this tournament statistically.

Lazar walked in to replace me and quickly went to business. He hit both the bowlers for a couple of monstrous blows (one behid square and over extra cover) that fetched him 2 sixes. He hit another four before slicing one high up to somewhere near short fin leg and was caught by Zoob who swooshed in from gully to take it. We were in a bit of trouble when Allan walked out. He did not hang around too long and got out for 2 to Shabbir caught behind by Mr. Lightning aka Pankaj bhai. Munna replaced him and tried to move things along. Misa was stuck in a rut all this while and the pressure was getting to him. Munna unfurled a couple of beautiful strokes, a beautiful flick of his legs against his brother and a lovely lofted drive through mid wicket against Travis. The skipper was bowling pretty well as he took a lot of pace off the ball and was concentrating on his line. Munna mis-timed a shot and hit it straight back to Travis who gladly gobbled up the chance.

Sachin walked in with some pressure on his shoulders but did not show any as he hit the first ball to the mid wicket fence. He hit another lovely shot for 4 off Shabbir but could not hang around for long as he chipped one back to the bowler. Misa then skied one to troy (who makes the most difficult catches look easy) off Travis and got out for 3 off 19 balls. Mark walked to the crease and knew he needed to deliver a captain's innings and Ricky was out there to give him company. He started out with 2 boundaries, a lovely extra cover drive and lofted square drive through point, off Travis and looked strong as we pinned our hopes on his bat. He and Ricks kept it moving along till Travis's last over. There was a lot of action in this one over as Travis leaked 18 runs. Trav got stuck with his line and bowled a barrage of wides and looked out of sorts. This prompted Pankaj bhai to come in and stand up to him. This kept Mark honest and gave Travis a clear target and made things a little easier. Mark shaped to go down the track for a lofted drive but realized that the ball was up and a bit wide and he decided to cut the wide ball between point and gully but ended up getting a thick outer edge that was caught by Zoob again at short third man or a fly slip.

Now we were in trouble. Lyle gave Ricks some company in the middle and tried to rotate the strike as much as possible. Vishan got his first over (now we had our hopes back again; hehehe) and Ricks gave him the stick. He hit him for three consecutive boundaries, the first one was a beautifully executed pull to the square leg fence, the second one was a lofted drive to the long off fence which was booted over the fence by Francis, and the third was an exquisite cover drive, that breathed life back into our chase and finished the over with 16 runs. Ram was bowling from the other end and kept it tight as Lyle missed one off him and was quickly stumped by Pankaj bhai behind the stumps. We were down to our last pair as Naveen limped (he had a bummed out knee) in. He struggled to connect the ball while Ricks was trying his darned best to score. Credit goes to Ram as he kept the relative green horn under check by not giving him anything at a driving length. Nav did manage to score a boundary and Ricks hit another pull shot over Subbu’s head to the square leg fence that brought our target closer.

We now needed a gettable 16 off the last 2 overs. Naveen tried hard to connect and after failing to do so for a few balls decided that he needs to get out and let Ricks bat out the rest of the game (last man was standing today). He stepped out and got stumped by Pankaj off Rambo and it was all left up to Ricky. Ricky had been strong hitting behind square on the leg side all day. Props to Pankaj bhai as he moved the field around that placed Subbu behind deep square leg. Ricky took to his natural instinct and pulled the next ball from Rambo straight to Subbu who caught the game clincher. Ricky had made a valiant 38 and kept us in the game till the penultimate over.

Royal Lions 143 all out off 20 overs.

Fielding was the difference I thought as the Sloggers held on to all their chances and were definitely helped by some not so sensible batting from some of our batsmen. The game was played in great spirits and witnessed some wonderful cricket. I would've loved to be on the winning side but the Sloggers deserved this one. They played solid team cricket throughout the Tournament and rightly took the trophy home along with the entire award set.

Awards:

Best batsman : Travis

Best Bowler: Karthik

Most improved/surprise of the tourney: Vishan (really? jk, he thoroughly deserved that one)

MVP: Barry

I might write a review of the tournament if I find adequate motivation for it as I feel like I've missed out a few things I wanted to fill in.

Aloha till the next one...

oops

Had to step out for a while this evening and couldn't finish the match review (or maybe I am just a sore loser and in no mood of writing). Will put it up tomorrow.

Have a great week...!

Preview : The Finals: Sloggers Vs Royal Lions

This is it.

The final game promises to be an exciting match up. The last time these two teams met, the sloggers chased (almost successfully) the record highest score. It was an orgy of gorgeous strokes from the batsmen. Both teams have been in a pretty good form and should be a fun game. No target will be safe with either side as both teams are packed with stroke makers.

The toss should not be a huge factor as the teams have been successful with both chasing and setting a target.

Teams

Sloggers

Travis, Vishan, Barry, Pankaj, Subbu, Shabbir, Troy, Francis, Ram and Zubin

The sloggers lose their strike bowler in Karthik for this one. He injured his already bummed knee and is out of cricket for a while. He has been the best bowler of the tournament so far and the Sloggers will miss him sorely especially when they try to take early scalps. Troy should fill the void and they also add Rambo who can bowl a right line. Zubin gets his first game of the tournament with the Sloggers as he gets back from DC. He should add some depth to the batting and is one of the better fielders in the club.

The big three (Skipper, Barry and Pankaj bhai) in the batting department are in great form and the team should look build their innings around them. The ploy of opening with Travis and Vishan has been pretty good so far and has added depth to the middle order.

Watch out for Travis. He's been the best batsman of the tournament so far. He can be very destructive once he gets his eye in and we should really look to get him early.

Royal Lions

Mark, Munna, Lazar, Misa, Sachin, Naveen, Sankar, Ricky, Allan and Lyle.

We got Ricks Allan and Lyle from the pool. Our batting's been really strong so far and Ricky should add to the depth. We've been the most disciplined team with the ball . Munna has not had a good stint with the ball in the tournament and should look to be a little more disciplined when he opens the bowling (warm ups perhaps?).

Sachin and Misa have been very strong in the middle order while Lazar and Munna have found their mojo back in the top order. I've sucked for most of the tournament with the bat (Actually, I am pretty sure I've been the worst batsman so far) and hopefully will bat a lil more sensibly this Sunday.

Watch out for Mark. He is the big match player who featured in both the previous finals with a combined score of 166.

Key match up: The batsmen Vs the batsmen. I have a feeling that this will be a slog fest with a bunch of runs from both teams.

If the sloggers keep their extras down they should limit us to a decent score. Trav and Zoob make this a sharp fielding unit and Pankaj bhai should be at his lightening best again. A lot could be decided with a couple of catches held or dropped.

Good luck to both teams. I think we have a little edge here with a little more experience but the game could swing either ways pretty quickly.

See you Sunday...

Game 5: Underdog Billionaires Vs Royal Lions

We're in the finals baby...!! This really wasn't a close game at the end, but it did not lack in the excitement department whatsoever. It was a perfect day to witness some clean hitting as batsmen from both sides played some lovely strokes. The uBills won the toss and elected to bat first. They picked Troy, Tim, Francis and John from the pool and we had Arron, Allen, Lyle and Rambo playing for us. Arron and Tim were visiting the island from Australia and joined us just for a game (more about their exploits later). The umpires (duties shared by Pankaj bhai, Travis and Shabbir) took control of the game early on as Pankaj bhai proudly flaunted his yellow cards and warned the more volatile players from both teams that mischief will not be tolerated.

The Underdogs opened with an unusual opening pair of Srinivas and Tim. This pushes their other batsmen down to bolster the middle order. It was an eventful first over to say the least asMunna opened with a wide. The next ball was a bouncer aimed at Tim which was sent sailing over deep square leg with a hook (that was Tim saying Helloooo Hawaii). A few more wides laterSrini was caught behind (golden duck) by Misa. The first (and Munna's last) over ended with 15 runs and a wicket. Ragu walked in at three (which was a pretty good move I thought) but did not stay around too long getting out to a soft dismissal. He played a really well timed shot off Mark but never finished it and ended up hitting to Lazar at point. Tim then gave Sachin the treatment with 3 more boundaries; He was on a roll. We wanted to see how he does with spin (or maybe the skipper just wanted to give him his 30 asap...;-) ) as I got the ball in the 5th over. I had them on the leash for a bit before Tim hit one over long on for the maximum and reached 32 in 14 balls. Arron (Tim's 15 year old son and one of the better bowlers I've seen in a while) came in and bowled a lovely over showing off his pace and accuracy. He dropped one a little short and a tad bit wide and Raghu jumped on the opportunity to play a lovely cut that fetched him 4. Raghuand Big O were steadily taking them to what looked like a score of 150 as they were 74 off 10 at drinks.

Right after drinks, Mark brought himself on from the beach end and Arron continued from the shell end. They both bowled the next 6 overs giving away just 21 runs. Raghu played and missed a bunch of times as the ball whizzed by his outer edge. He struggled to score and the pressure mounted as he tried to play shots that he wouldn't normally consider. Big O had his share of dot balls but slowly kept gathering singles. He had a couple of big hits before he retired as he hooked a shorter one off Arron to the boundary and hit Lazar for the maximum before retiring at 35 (off 48 balls). Kamran joined his skipper and flicked a lovely one behind square for 4. Raghu tried to hit out and did not even try to get back into the crease when he stepped out to Naveen and missed it by miles and was not so promptly stumped by Misa. Nadeem then holed one to deep mid-wicket where I caught him. We pulled them back after their quick start and gave away just 50 runs the in the last 10 overs thanks largely to the lovely spells by Mark and Arron.

Underdog Billionaires 124 for 4 in 20 overs.

We knew this wasn't a great target and just needed some sensible batting to overhaul it. Misaand myself opened the innings and they had Kamran and Troy sharing the new ball. I played an absolute horror of a batting stroke (to call it even that is blasphemy) and was cleaned up by Troy. Munna walked in at three and had to just set his eye in and rotate the strike andaccumulate his runs as he was in a dry patch so far in the tournament. Well, he was supposed to do that but he upped it by clobbering their bowlers. He started with a beautiful six off Troy over the covers and followed it by blasting Kamran for 15 more runs. He tried to slice one over point off Kamran's last ball but ended up hitting it high up and was caught by Troy who did an astounding job running behind and keeping an eye on the ball which was moving in all directions owing to the wind. Munna provided the momentum we needed and Lazar walked in to replace him. Lazar was due a big score after failing in the first 2 games and boy did he deliver! He took a little while to settle down before throwing the kitchen sink at Raghu. He had a coupla monstrous hits that cleared the longest boundary (behind square batting from the shell end) while travelling against the wind. He and Misa (who was slowly accumulating his runs) provided the steadiness we needed while guiding us to 77 at drinks.

Lazar then retired at 30 bringing our skipper in. Ragu (who predictably came in to bowl) had a go at him and was trying too hard to beat him with his pace. But by then it was a little too late as our target wasn't too big and we were comfortably placed to reach it. This probably dampened his spirits and Mark saw him off without much drama. Misa faced one from him and stepped out to play an insanely wonderful lofted shot over mid-off for 4 (something tells me the bouncer that hit him in the chest a few balls earlier had something to do with the bravado). Tim was bowling his cleverly disguised leggies and was by far their best bowler till then giving away just 6 runs off his three overs. We needed about 23 off the last five overs when Mark happened; He pillaged Tim for 20 runs starting with a monstrous hit that was still on the ascent when it cleared the long-on rope. He hit him for 3 more boundaries on both sides of the wicket and by the end of the over it was almost game over. We finished the formalities in the next over. Mark had scored 25 off 11 balls and Misa had 29 off 42 (he opened the innings and carried his bat). I thought Misa batted very sensibly (for this target) as he held one end up and let the big hitters at the other end do the damage.

Royal Lions 128 for 2 off 16.3 overs

Though it was a competitive target, we never looked out of the game and more importantly (for us anyways), the underdogs never felt like they were in the game. The dad son duo of Tim and Arron performed beautifully and added some zing to the game. The Underdog Billionaires are ousted from the tournament but did a darn good job of playing well as a team and did the best they could over the last few weeks. Ragu's wonderful spells, the skipper's graceful strokes and BigO's acrobatic keeping efforts among other performances will be not be forgotten soon.

Cant wait for the finals next week...!!

Aloha till the preview...

Sorry for the delayed review guys...my back's killing me (tweaked it during the game) and I have to hit the bed early...I'll have the blog up tomrw...

Have a great week...!!

Preview : Game # 5 Royal Lions Vs Underdog Billionaires

This is do or die for the Billionaires. Lose this one and they are out of the competition. They need to put everything on the line come Sunday to win this match as all slots in the finals are still open. From the Lions camp, we are hoping to show a much better performance than we did the last time we played them. We are feeling a little upbeat after our victory over the sloggers and feel more confident about our batting. This should be a fun contest except that Rambo's throwing a 4th of July party at his house in Kailua and everyone reading this knows (or should know) how that ends up. Hopefully we'll still have full teams at the ground by 10 and no one will be pulling a PUI (Playing under the influence) as some of the others have(Sachin ahem ahem Subbu ahem).

Teams

Underdog Billionaires

Raghu Srinivasan(C), Ragu Vijayakumar, Kamran Masih, Owen O'Callaghan(wk), Vemuri Srinivas, Matt Hawkins and Nadeem Joseph

The Underdogs cannot afford play like Billionaires when they come out to bat. They have to be very cautious, stick to their basics and concentrate on accumulating some runs before they go all ballistic. They have to make sure they bat all 20 overs (they are the only team that got all out in all their games). To me, it doesn't look like they have guys assigned to specific roles when they go out to bat. This side is filled with stroke makers and no one has taken the responsibility of curbing their instincts for the good of their team. The skipper is probably the only one here who can bat a long innings without taking many risks and still score plenty. Though he's definitely got the strokes to go over the top, he needs to bat out as many overs as he can while guiding his blasters around him. BigO can get bogged down at an end if he is not allowed to deal in boundaries and he might have to rotate the strike a little more.

Having said that, Ragu is someone that definitely needs the licence to go bonkers (well he never really cares if he's got it or not). There is just no way around it. Asking him to rotate the strike and not take any risks will just smother him and its something that should be avoided if you need any productivity from him with the bat. Kamran is mostly an unproven commodity and could come into himself this game.

The bowling department looks pretty strong but will need a decent score to defend if they are setting the target. I am not sure if there is an injury I don't know about but it just boggles my mind that Srini hasn't seen the ball much. Maybe the skipper's got a different plan and is sticking to it.

Watch out for Kamran and he needs to watch out for those toe crushers (He's been hit more than a few times). He has not yet shined with the bat or been very effective with the ball and it could be his last chance in this tournament.

Royal Lions

Mark Berwick(c), Munna Hussain, Lazar Joseph, Sachin Shah, Naveen Margankunte and Sankar Venkataraman

Even without our top order firing away, we managed to make the highest record score. Our middle order has bailed us out so far with Sachin and Misa playing some wonderful innings. We might see a change in our batting order this game with Lazaar coming down the order and maybe Munna/Mark/Misa opening the batting with me (or maybe not). We do have the deepest batting line up and can afford to take a few risks up the order. Munna's looked a little sluggish so far with the bat and this could be the turn around.

Our bowling looks potent and we do have guys like Lazar and Mark that we can throw the ball to when things go awry. Misa has slipped into the keeper's role pretty well and Naveen had a decent spell the last game. We have plenty of variation here and should be looking to bowl a disciplined line and frustrate the shit out of their batsmen.

Watch out for Sachin. He's played a couple of beautiful innings in both the games and kept us alive. Could he continue his form or will the bowlers have him figured out?

Key match up Ragu 1 Mark 0. Will that change this Sunday or will Ragu do it again? I've got 5 that says Mark evens it out.

This has got to be interesting. If we prevail, the next match between the Sloggers and us will turn into a dead rubber and we probably will just go ahead and play the finals. The Billionaires will be looking to extend the tournament and induce some (unwanted) excitement into the last game. We will be looking to wrap it up here and rather not have any drama going into the next week. I have a feeling that the Sloggers would rather play the Billionaires than us in the finals and might be hoping for a greener result this Sunday.

Good luck to both teams and see you all at Rambo's this Sat'day...!!

Aloha.

P.S. Note to the umpires: Helmets and yellow cards could be handy ;-)

Game 4: uBills Vs Sloggers

After the run fest in last week's game (record for the highest total) this was a low scoring affair. The uBills won the toss and elected to set a target. They thought 130 should be a defend-able score with their bowling line up. There were not many batting highlights from both sides but astounding fielding and some lovely bowling were at display.

uBills opened with Kamran and BigO. They needed a big innings from atleast one of them but Barry and Troy opening the bowling had other ideas. Barry bowled a tight first over. Troy bowled beautifully to BigO not giving him any width and keeping him on the leash with his length. BigO struggled to get off the blocks and tried to hit an over-pitched delivery over long on. He dint have enough power behind the shot and ended up giving a simple catch to Subbu stationed at mid-on. The skipper came in at 3 and needed to to provide his team with a good start. He played an exquisite cover drive off Barry that raced away to the boundary. This was one of the few batting highlights of the game. Troy in his next over bowled one that was wide and over-pitched; Raghu went for it and tried to slice over point. It had more elevation than distance and Barry was running backwards from point and took and amazing catch. I don't know a lot of people who would've caught that one. This was the turning point of the match as Raghu was crucial for their batting line up. Troy was bowling beautifully and I thought he was unlucky with some umpiring decisions that went against him as he appealed for a few lbws (I was the umpire; damn those lacrosse girls). He finally caught a break and Kamran, plumb in front of the wickets with a toe crushing yorker. Ricky tried to keep the runs coming with a few singles but was bogged down by some lovely bowling from Karthik and Vishan. Karthik bowled a peach of a delivery to get Ricks caught behind. It was amazing piece of fielding where Pankaj bhai dived to his right and held on to a one handed catch inches above the ground. Nadeem had a couple of boundaries that kept the score moving. Karthick then had a devastating spell (justifying his nickname as the destroyer). He got Nadeem and Srini out on consecutive balls. Pankaj bhai to get Nadeem out off a thickish edge and Srini was cleaned up the first ball going for an extravagant slog. The uBills were in a heap of trouble. Meanwhile, Ragu was playing some nice shots along with some very ugly heaves with mixed results. He did play some trademark shots that fetched him a few boundaries. He was quickly running out of partners as Matt, Lyle and Allan did not trouble the scorer (Misa) at all. Ragu was left stranded without anyone to support him. Matt and Lyle were cleaned up by Shabbir and Barry (who was bowling his last over and told me he'd make this the last one of the innings) caught Allan off his own bowling. Ragu's frustration was obvious as he felt he was playing a controlled innings without going all out and in the end was ditched by his other team mates. Not to take away anything from the Sloggers; they bowled beautifully, took most of their catches and were mostly very disciplined. uBills scored just 53 runs and the extras gave them a not so embarrassing total of 76.

Underdog Billionaires 76 all out in 16.4 overs

This was a tricky score to chase. The sloggers could not afford to take it too lightly and had to deal with it a little cautiously as a few wickets up the order and the pressure would be on them. Sloggers displayed a clinical performance with the chase. Travis and Vishan opened the innings. Vishan was a little uncomfortable playing and missing a few balls before playing on one of them off Kamran. Travis was a little cautious early on and then started rotating the strike with a few singles. Barry complemented his skipper beautifully by running hard between the stumps. Kamran maintained a nice line and length for the most part. With this total, the uBills needed something of a miracle with their bowling or a complete meltdown in the Slogger's batting to have any chance of defending it. It was up to Ragu to produce something wonderful to get a few quick wickets and he did try pretty hard. He bowled a beautiful bouncer at a mind boggling pace; Travis was the batsman and of course, as everyone expected, he went for the hook. He connected and the ball raced away to the fine leg boundary. It was a lovely reflex shot. Ragu then bowled an absolutely gorgeous slower ball that Travis completely missed and took his middle stump. This was the only bowling highlight from this innings. Troy came in and tried to stick around but was quickly cleaned up by Raghu. Both Pankaj bhai and Baz played a few lovely shots on both sides of the wicket and quietly carried their side over the victory line.

Sloggers 79/3 of 13 overs

This was a comprehensive victory by the sloggers who rightly lead the table with 11 points. They've played wonderful cricket all season and deserve this lead. Their great bowling along with some not so great batting from the uBills set this victory up for them.

Next week's game between the Royal Lions and Underdog Billionaires should be a very exciting battle. See you all at the preview...!!

Aloha

Preview : Game # 4 Sloggers Vs Underdog Billionaires

The king is dead. I felt like letting out a big scream. After blasting his music for the last coupla days its now sunk in that its just his music that'll heal the world. Only now that I can mourn no more, think of doing something else (like writing this blog). Oh well...back to cricket...

We decided to scrap the double header as it is pretty hard to fit in 80 overs (+ another hour of just bowling wides) in a day. The tournament will now follow the same pattern as the first three matches with the Sloggers and uBills going at each other this Sunday. If it is half as exciting as the first encounter between these two teams (remember the time?), it'll still be a thriller of a contest. Who would've thought that the uBills would be leading the table with 8 points (they were the 'underdogs' remember?). Though the sloggers are at the bottom of the table at 6 pts, both teams need to win this game to increase their chances of reaching the finals.

Teams:

Underdog Billionaires

Raghu Srinivasan (C), Ragu Vijayakumar, Kamran Masih, Owen O'Callaghan (wk), Vemuri Srinivas, Matt Hawkins and Nadeem Joseph

Ragu was the most dangerous player in this team the last match. It needs to be seen if he still shows the same motivation without Mark on the other team. He is the speed demon and if he can work up some chin music, there sure will be some blood on the dance floor. The skipper's been in great touch though he has not carried the bat all through the innings. BigO has not contributed as much as the team needs him to with the bat, yet. I am sure he's looking at his form from the previous season and going I want you back. Kamran is yet to fire with the bat and the skipper needs to show a little more confidence in him as a bowler and keep the faith. Nadeem has not shown any indications of the player he used to be (a little warm up jam with the team ahead of the match would do a lot of good). Srini could provide some vital discipline to the bowling attack as he bowls a pretty nice line most of the times and should be good for atleast a couple of overs.

Watch out for BigO. He is due a big score and this could be his match. He goes for the pull/hook at anything slightly short and just says I cant help it.

Sloggers

Travis Wilkinson(c), Barry Watt, Subbu Raman, Shabbir Hussain, Pankaj Bhanot(wk), Vishan Dookhu, Karthik Vijayarajan

I picked this team to be at the top but then they lost a couple of very good games that they wont cry for. This team has been leaning on their skipper to score most of their runs. Travis is in great form with the bat but some one else needs to step up and provide him some support. Barry has not shined too much as a batsman and its just too bad as he is much better than the scores he has had (He has compensated with his beautiful bowling though). Pankaj bhai's foot has not let him play the way he likes (going to the pitch of the ball and smacking the shnitz out of it). Though he might not be able to score runs in a hurry, he cant afford to be gone too soon as he will need to guide some of the others. Vishan struggled a bit to connect a few of his extravagant swings with the ball in last game when he opened the innings (I am guessing he has not opened too often and probably had a few butterflies in his stomach when he came out to bat). He needs to probably choose his bowlers and rotate the strike till they come on. This wont be mistaken for a disciplined bowling attack anytime soon. There is not just one person who is guilty for this and the whole team (Except for maybe Barry) could do well to look at the man in the mirror. They've gotten into this frustrating habit of indiscipline and will do well to just beat it.

Watch out for Karthik. He is definitely a smooth criminal with a gentle action and devastating results. He swings the ball a mile and is capable of getting rid of the best batsmen. Watch out for his lethal inswingers.

Key match up: Ragu bowling at Travis. This is a face off between the best bowler and the best batsman in their respective teams. If Ragu manages to get rid of the almost invincible Travis early in the innings, it'll prove to be a heart breaker for Sloggers.

This should be another exciting match. Who ever is batting first should just say 'Dont stop till you get enough' on the board as most targets are chaseable in this format. A win wont guarantee either team a place in the finals but a loss will definitely hurt their chances.

Good luck to both teams whatever happens...!!

Aloha till tomorrow.

P.S. I couldn't include another fav song of mine...what the hell...here it is...OFF THE WALL

P.P.S I suggest all the batsmen wear just one glove while batting in honour of the king...;-)...!!

Any takers??

Game 3: Sloggers Vs Lions (U've gotta be kiddin me...!!)

All the matches will just end up being compared to the first one between Sloggers and uBills. It was a perfect game with no losers. This match was the closest to it with almost no losers even though we (Lions) won the game by less than 3 feet. Both skippers played some fantastic cricket that showed why they were two of the best cricketers of the club. Pankaj Bhai turned up for this game with his half healed foot and displayed some lovely wicket keeping skills which would've made Allan Knot proud.

We won the toss and elected to bat as we figured we have a bowling to defend almost any target. Though I thought I'll be part of the middle order, skipper wanted me to open the innings with Lazar and I hoped I could score a few and not betray his trust (a faint HA again). I faced the first ball from barry and played a lovely cover drive to the boundary but...the umpire called it a dead ball as the bails flew away before the ball was bowled and I knew it was going to be one of those days for me. Lazar faced Barry after a single and played on to his stumps as he tried to cut a ball off a good length (Barry 1 Lazar 0). Mark came in at 3 and knew we needed a big innings from him today. Shabbir shared the new ball with Barry and gave away 12 runs off his first. Barry came back to bowl a beautiful one giving away just a couple of runs. Karthik came in at first change and bowled one on the off stump right in the slot for my aerial cover drive. I managed to sky the ball into the safe hands of Travis who was cleverly positioned halfway to the boundary just for that shot. Munna walked in at 4 and got out to an inswinging yorker off Karthik that started outside the off and uprooted his leg stump. He didn't trouble the scorer (bigO who did a good job) much with 3 runs and brought sachin in. We were in a heap of trouble reeling at 26 for 3. Mark was playing a very watchful innings accumulating some crucial runs for us. Sachin had other ideas. He will never be mistaken for a michael Bevan. His hatred for anything remotely resembling a jog is well known. Luckily, he has a few shots that help him play like he wants (dealing in boundaries). He hit a couple of sixes off Travis and Karthik that landed between mid wicket and long on and had three more more boundaries around the same area.. Travis's second over will definitely end up in the record books of HPL (for all the wrong reasons). He started with a not so bad a ball that was sent sailing over his head (Mark was the butcher, errr, I mean the batsman). He then lost the plot completely bowling 6 consecutive wides all going down the leg. I must mention that it was very windy with him bowling into it. He then came off of a shorter run up and tried bowling few slower ones. Mark got stuck into him and scored a couple more boundaries with the total tally reaching 23 runs in that over. Mark retired at 32 and brought Naveen in. He struggled to score quickly and got out at 4 bringing Misa to bat. He played an unlikely innings scoring 27 off 19 balls with edges flying to the boundary and some solid hits before getting bowled to Vishan. I thought he played one of the most crucial innings for us as he kept the momentum going in our favour. Troy added 5 runs when Vishan cleaned him up with another beautiful delivery. Allen hit a few runs before an astounding piece of fielding got him out. This easily slips into my top 10 catches of all time on tv or otherwise. Allen hit the ball very straight towards mid on and Travis was standing a little wide of mid on. He moved quickly to his left and dived towards the ball and pulled a blinder with his left hand. He hit the ground hard and managed to keep the ball firmly in his hands. Lovely piece of fielding. Mark came in and didn't add much to his previous score before getting run out. Sachin added 10 more runs to his 30. He made sure we did not concede a bonus point by not loosing his wicket.

Lions 162 for 9 in 20 overs

We thought this was a great target given our start and never saw that being chased; well, we were wrong. Travis was determined to make up for his bowling disaster and opened the innings with vishan. This was a really good move I thought as it does two things; first, it gives Vishan all freedom to go for his shots and then it leaves Barry and Pankaj Bhai in the middle order (which I previously thought was a little weak). Troy and Munna opened the bowling for us and I thought did a good job apart from a few extras. Troy erred a little in his line and pitched one on Travis's legs that was promptly put away to the square leg boundary. Travis played a predominantly quiet innings piling his runs slowly but steadily. Vishan was cleaned up by a great ball from Lazar for 17 and sachin did the duties on Francis. Misa bowled on over where he missed his line too much giving away 12 runs. Mark was handling the keeping duties (pretty well I must add) for us for the first 10 overs and then Misa took over it around when Travis retired after scoring his 30. Sloggers were well on their way with 77 for 3 at drinks. Pankaj bhai came in and valiantly fought for his team. He played a magnificent loft off a slower ball from Mark that landed over the long on cones. Barry who replaced Travis was batting wonderfully. He and Pankaj bhai seemed to take the game away from us. Mark then pulled the game back for us with some clever bowling. He mixed his pace and length and showed us why he was one of our better bowlers. He got both Barry and Pankaj bhai playing away from their bodies and were caught by Vishan and Allen respectively. Pankaj had 17 and Barry 16 at this point and we seemed to have the game.They still had Karthik, Shabbir, Subbu and Allen before Trav could come out to bat again. Our game plan was to keep them in until it was too late for Trav to do anything. Unfortunately, Karthik and Shabbir ran themselves out to non-existent twos. Alan was caught behind (a wonderful reflex catch by Misa) off my bowling. This brought Trav back in and we knew he was capable of taking the game away from us. Subbu batted brilliantly (though he could've done well to take some notes from last week's game and Sachin's innings where he retired drunk) giving ample support to Travis. The sloggers needed 19 improbable but not impossible runs off the last over. Our skipper took the responsibility upon himself and came on to bowl. They scored 5 off the first three balls and the next one from Mark was judged a wide (more about events stemming out of this call later). Travis slog swept the next ball over Lazar's head who was stationed at deep mid wicket. Subbu had piled up 16 runs in singles and twos before sacrificing himself to a run out going for an impossible second run (we were stupid enough to get him out and bringing Travis back on strike). They now needed a six off the last ball to win. We all knew what was going to happen but there is a thing about knowing what was going to come and the ability to do something about it. Travis was going to slog sweep the next ball no matter where it was going to be bowled (that was his most fruitful shot all day). Mark pitched it on the middle stump (ouch) and Trav went for his shot but unfortunately it landed about 3 feet inside the boundary where Lazaar dropped the catch (costing us a bonus point but managed to keep it inside the circle).

Sloggers 158 for 8 in 20 overs

Sloggers were not feeling down after this game and rightly so. This is one game I wouldn't have felt bad about if we had lost either. Both teams just played some unbelievable cricket. There was some lovely batting and great disciplined bowling (Barry needs a special mention here for his mind boggling 2 for 9 off 4 overs) and astounding fielding (well, just Travs catch made this a memorable match). Travis most definitely made up for his bowling performance by almost carrying his team all the way with an unbeaten 53.

As promised earlier I'll add a few comments about the fateful wide in Mark's last over. Travis moved into the line of the ball so he could pull it over square leg and missed it. Ragu (who was umpiring from the city end) called it a wide. Mark thought it definitely was not too wide and being the immensely competitive guy he is, argued with the umpire and added a few choice words. We all get frustrated with calls we don't agree with and in the heat of the moment and the competitive fire burning under us makes us do things we are not really proud of (I am sure

Sid can vouch for some of his ill advised disputes with the umpire). This was one of them and Mark realized that. He immediately after the game went over to Ragu and apologized as he realized his actions didn't live upto the high standards he set for himself on the field. I debated writing anything on this incident but wanted to share my thoughts with everyone. We should all realize that there will be moments that not necessarily end up in our highlight reels and in those circumstances, its best to come to terms with it and do the right thing right away just like Mark did. That way things on the field will be left on the field where they belong.

At the end of the day, this will be forgotten and the match will be remembered for Travis's courageous batting and the one catch that etched into the minds of a few fortunate ones who were on the field to witness it.

Much Mahalo to Raghu and Ragu for umpiring all day and bigO for keeping the score book immaculate.

Aloha till the preview of the next game between the Sloggers and uBills.

Preview : Game # 3 Sloggers Vs Royal Lions

Last week's loss still hurts. We now face an almost must-win game against the Sloggers this Sunday. Both teams need this one pretty badly (we more than them though) so we can put some 'win' points on the table. This week's game also decides who toils away in the hot sun the week after with a double header. The looser of this game pretty much ends up playing the other two teams in the league on a single day which can be very tiring. My guess is that this will be a well fought game between two well balanced teams.

Teams

Sloggers

Travis Wilkinson(c), Barry Watt, Subbu Raman, Shabbir Hussain, Pankaj Bhanot (wk), Vishan Dookhu, Karthik Vjayarajan

Pankaj Bhai unfortunately is still a game day decision with his broken foot which is pretty bad for the Sloggers. But it could mean that Danny might end up playing for them as a pool player if he turns up. Though technically he should be playing for the Lions (he's played a game each for the other two teams) it would just make more sense in letting him play for the Sloggers in Pankaj Bhai's place which would even out the teams pretty well. The Sloggers have a solid top order with Travis and Barry who can bat for long and still score at a very quick pace. The middle order looks a little too thin and have to help out their top order if those guys retire early. The bowling department looks very strong with Shabbir, Vishan and Subbu who can contribute a lot of variation to the attack. The key will be extras that killed them in the first game. They will have to bowl with a lot of discipline and cant afford to give away too many wides.

Watch out for Travis. The skipper's been in great touch with the bat. He played some lovely strokes in the first game and should definitely use him a little more as a bowler this time around. The key is for someone else to carry on if he retires after scoring his 30 runs.

Royal Lions

Mark Berwick(c), Munna Hussain, Lazar Joseph, Sachin Shah, Naveen Margankunte, Misa Tupou and Sankar Venkataraman

I still cant believe we lost the first match with this line up. The top order looks pretty good with Lazar bhai, Munna and Mark who are all aggressive batsmen capable of scoring loads of runs. The middle order with both Misa and Sachin can keep the score moving at a brisk pace. I reckon I'll be batting with the middle order after my debacle as an opener in the last game. Thinking back, I feel like I had cost the team vital momentum early in the innings.

We have a pretty decent bowling attack like I've mentioned earlier. Infact, we dint even get the chance to bowl two of our regular bowlers in Misa and Naveen the last game. Munna was a little expensive up front but cant be blamed for some lovely batting by Danny and we are sure that was a one off game as he is a really good bowler. Mark and Lazar are the guys we will depend on when things start getting nasty for us as they can both bowl at pin point accuracy with a very good pace. Sachin could be very interesting as he mixes a bunch of no-balls pitching off the turf with some really beautiful deliveries.

Watch out for Mark. He is a player who is born for this format of the game. He can hurt teams with his power hitting and clever bowling. He is one of the very few bowlers I've seen here who can create a surprising amount of bounce off a good length as he bends his back a lot more than others (strictly for bowling purposes)

Key Match-up: Lazar facing Barry. Lazar Bhai's a batsmen who will quickly decide the fate of a team. He is someone who can give us a great start with his explosive batting and Barry is one of their strike bowlers. He would be looking to get Lazar out instead of containing him which is an almost impossible task.

This should be an exciting match and I look forward to contributing to the success of our team this Sunday.

Tidbits

Its almost impossible to recollect everything from the match while writing the recap. I managed to miss quite a few highlights from the last few games. I should've definitely mentioned Sashi's catch (a very difficult chance) that almost dismissed Ragu last week. A little thing being it was caught right after it sailed over the cones (a taller guy would've had that easily...;-)....).

I also forgot to mention that it was Rick's first game as a proud father (If I remember correctly, he dispatched the first ball he faced to the backward point boundary).

Good luck to both teams...!!

Is it Sunday yet ??!!