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??