Relatively sketchy reports at the moment from Division
Two - but a few important results.
Top-of-the-table Illinois took on the Jaguars today,
and collapsed to 110/7 and in big trouble. But as the
old song went, "When it dont look good, who ya gonna
call?"... and the answer has always been, and
remains, R-U-P. We knew something special was happening
when we had to stop our game a couple of times because
the ball was landing halfway into our playing area -
Roop bludgeoned 111* and carried his team to 228 in
their 40 overs. He then came back and took 4 wickets
(with Jack claiming 5), and Illinois coasted home by
140-odd runs.
Second-placed AAA had a similarly easy win - they took
on Collinsville at Hanover Park, and, chasing only 91,
scored 95/5 in 18 overs for the win.
Third-placed Capitol received a walkover from Rockers,
and IIT in 4th place (but sharing the top-of-the-table
in the loss column with Illinois and AAA, with only 1
defeat) squeaked past Deccan Blues by 17 runs (in a
match that started late, maybe shouldnt have started
at all, but finished early).
The really interesting things are happening in the middle
of the table, however. MDS, the darkhorse favourites
who are getting on a roll at precisely the correct
time, put up 229 (aided by the old-firm of Asif & Asif),
and 3 wickets apiece for Naser Yemani and Altaf
Khadry propelled them to a 50-run win over the
playoff-contending Eagles. Suburban, another team that
has gotten on a roll (including beating Illinois a couple
of weeks ago), handily rolled over Jolly Rovers - with
Ram Chandrashekar not playing, Jolly Rovers were bowled
out for 97 and Suburban strolled home with 20+ overs to
spare (increasing their all-important run-rate at the
same time). At this stage of the season in Division
Two, "number of losses" (or lost points) is more relevant
in my opinion than total points, since everyone has played
a different number of games. Given that, MDS and Suburban,
both with 2.5 "losses" each to date, cannot afford any
more if they want to stay in prime playoff position - and
they have been doing the job lately, hitting form at the
right time.
Lucky XI, with 3 losses to date, rolled over the
Warriors; Arsenal (also with 3 losses, all consecutive)
returned to their winning ways over Continental.
Peoria CC, a pre-season title favourite who got themselves
into serious trouble with 4 early losses (and can thus
afford no more than 1 more the rest of the year if they
are to assure themselves of a playoff appearance),
continued their turnaround with a hard-fought victory
over the NoStars (by only 2 wickets, chasing 185). The
Eagles lost their 4th of the year to MDS - but both
remain in playoff position, with the knowledge that they
cant afford too many more slipups.
The last few playoff spots remain up or grabs - Advancers
pulled out a 10-run win over the Raiders today, but at
the time of going to press there is no news on the
Chicago Giants or Madison games (both of which have
major playoff implications); or even of the QC Kings,
who are in solid playoff position, but fighting to
secure a better spot.
written by Sadiq Yusuf
