Monday, August 28, 2006
Midwest Cricketer Idea Page
Summary of Div 1 Matches: Aug 26/27 - by Sadiq Yusuf
aka That Was The Week That Was
Strangely wonderful happenings all across the league, as
teams make the desperate final push towards the
playoffs - and the playoff picture is as murky as ever
after this weekend.
With the top 4 teams already certain to make the
playoffs (Pak Gym, Challengers, Milwaukee United and St
Louis), it was a straight fight between 5 teams for
4 spots...and there is almost no change in that scenario
even after a wild and wonderful weekend of cricket.
It all started on Saturday with contenders Flames hoping
to knock off the #1 seed Pak Gym and maybe simultaneously clinch a playoff spot (historically 8 wins, that is 32
points, has always been enough to make the playoffs in
Division One). Flames batted first and Kiran supposedly
knocked up 80+ as the Flames put up a very competitive
229/9 in their 45 overs. Pak then demonstrated why they
are overwhelming favourites this year however with their
response - with 50 from Bakshi, 41 from Shahid and 30s
from Irfan, Imran and Ali, Pak cruised to a win with 5
wickets in hand and 8 overs to spare. This leaves the
Flames on 28 points, with 3 matches to play - a crunch
game against Purdue on the long weekend next week,
followed by a back-to-backer to finish the season,
a monstrously huge Saturday game against Wildcats,
followed by a trip to Milwaukee to take on Asif on
Sunday.
Purdue was the other team hoping to clinch a playoff
spot on Saturday, and they did their part by continuing
their good form - they bowled out Rivercity for 138
(with 4 more wickets for left-arm spinnining veteran
Dr. Ravi Krishna), and knocked off the target with 6
wickets in hand and 20 overs to spare. This vaulted
Purdue to 32 points with 2 matches to play (Flames,
followed by Milwaukee United)... but due to other
happenings around the league, the elusive playoff
spot remains unclinched for Purdue, despite 7 wins in
their last 8 games.
The really big result on Saturday was the defeat of
Milwaukee United by the resurgent defending champions,
the Not-Dead-Yet Wildcats. For the third time in a row
(2 playoff games last year, and now Saturday), the
Wildcats have taken on Milwaukee United on a grey day
with a persistent drizzle (and with yours truly
umpiring)... and each time they have won a crucial
toss, inserted the deep batting lineup of Milwaukee
United in to bat, and proceeded to knock them off
for about 130 runs. This time there were 3 rain
interruptions during the first innings, but both teams
were keen to play and worked hard to cover and then
fix the pitch and runups (Milwaukee deserving huge
credit for this, as they already had a playoff spot
clinched while the Wildcats were desperate for 4
points). Milwaukee had an excellent start with 39/0
in 6 overs.. and then the wickets fell with monotonous
regularity as the famed Wildcat pressure-in-the-field
exerted itself. The rain interruptions didnt help, and Milwaukee folded for only 134 with Balaji claiming 4/21.
Inspired by his bowling form, Balaji came out blazing
with the bat too, hammering 29 off 23 balls as the
Wildcats took control of the reply. The Wildcats would
have other reasons to be pleased with this near-perfect
outing - Vikram looked to be regaining form (which has
been lost since his legendary innings in the finals
last year) during his unbeaten 25, while Ajit oozed
class in his knock (with one breathtakingly gorgeous
lofted offdriven six being the standout shot of not just
this day, but probably a few months). This huge win
vaulted the Wildcats to 30 points with one game (against
the Flames) to come, and put the pressure squarely on
the shoulders of the other contenders - one more Wildcat
win, and any loss by either Muslim Gym or the Bears
would put the Wildcats, considered dead and buried only
a month ago, into the playoffs.
Today, however, demonstrated what makes this league so
much fun - the other contenders rose to the challenge,
and responded with vigour.
The Bears had the hardest road - coming off consecutive
losses to United and Muslim, they had an uphill climb,
facing the #2 ranked (and twice-champion) Challengers,
with a long trip to St Louis in prospect. Today they
batted first, and had slid to 50/3 when skipper Faisal
(who has often batted #11!) promoted himself all the
way up the order to #5 with the season on the line...
and, looking Pressure squarely in the Eye, refused to
blink. With Afroze contributing a strokeful 43, the
skipper took on the task of first steadying the
rocking ship, and then guiding it through stormy waters.
By the end of a real Captain's Knock (a top-score of
44), the Bears were already up near 170 with half-a-dozen
overs to go, and excellent strokeplayers (Tariq, Salman
and Adeel) to come. Adeel contributed a vital strokeful
25, and the Bears put up a highly competitive 214 on the
board. The Challengers blazed only briefly in response -
they scored rapidly and had a hundred up on the board in
less than 20 overs, but they had lost 5 wickets by then
already. Wickets continued to tumble until the
Challengers slid to 145/9 (wth former Challenger Afroze
claiming 3 wickets) - but once again the last pair of
this Challenger team in which literally everyone can bat
well refused to give in. The last pair put on 30, and
had brought the Challengers to within 40 to win with
30+ balls still to go, before their brave resistance
ended and the Bears had won their biggest game of the
season. This massive win has vaulted the Bears to
32 points, with one last game left in Saint Louis -
and has left their destiny in their own hands, as a win
will definitely take them into the playoffs.
While the Bears were winning a huge game at Washtington
Park, Muslim Gym were locked in their own do-or-die
struggle in Milwaukee against MCC. Having dismissed
Milwaukee for 167, Muslim waged a grim battle against
mounting pressure. Reports remain sketchy at this stage,
but skipper Farhat remained unbeaten on 26 and guided
his immensely talented young side home with only 3
wickets to spare in the final over of the match! Another
61 runs from Imran (who thus remains the highest
rungetter in Division One this season), and a big win
for Muslim that vaults them to 32 points as well, with
one last game against United to come. Their destiny too
remains in their own hands - with this very big win
today, they will make the playoffs if they win their
last match.
Meanwhile... The Ground Beneat Our Feet....
While there is an excting fight for the glory of a
playoff spot at the top of Division One, the most
thrilling race of all in this entire league is the
intense and pressure-packed Life-and-Death struggle
to avoid relegation.
Last week Tigers beat Chargers by a mere 5 runs in
one of the most intense and tight games Ive umpired
in a long time, to move to 2.5 wins (ahead of the
Chargers, at 2 wins, for the last relegation spot).
The gutted and emotionally shell-shocked Chargers
had to try and regroup in a hurry, to take on Phoenix
this week. Regroup they did, and how! They game out
charging, for lack of a better word - and with Phoenix
not quite at full intensity (their chance for a
playoff spot was already gone by today), the Chargers
took full advantage with an inspired display. Phoenix's
22/1 in 6 overs became 37/2 in 10 overs... and then
the Chargers actually stepped up the pressure further.
Arshad claimed 3/21 and Sameer 4/16, as Phoenix was
pushed to 92 allout. The Chargers put up 45/0 in 10
overs in reply, and finished off a thoroughly clinical
and professional performance by romping home with 7
wickets and 23 overs to spare. This critical win
pushed them to 3 wins, and once again ahead of the
Tigers.
And then news slowly started filtering through from
the Northwest Suburbs... that the Tigers had collapsed
to 85 allout against the Royals... but had somehow
risen from the dead and bowled the Royals out for 79
to win by 6 runs! At Hanover Park, no less! It was
unbelievable at first, and must surely have sounded
like a cruel attempt at poor humour to the Chargers
to start with... but it was true! With no details
at the time of report, one can only imagine the
amazingly gutsy performance the Tigers must have
produced in the field to defend that ridiculously
low score!
The playoff-contenders are fighting hard to try
and make the Elite Eight, its true - but there are
surely no teams in the entire league who have fought
harder and with more effort than the Tigers and
Chargers in the past two weeks. The sad truth remains
that one of them will probably be relegated anyway -
but no matter the final result, both teams have
produced an amazing effort the past two weeks and
deserve huge kudos for the sheer guts and fighting
spirit they have shown.
________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at midwestcricket.org
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
TW3 and THLPG - Division Two
aka That Was The Week That Was... and...
The Handy Little Playoff Guide - Division Two
Some big happenings in Division Two this weekend as
well, having great impact on the playoff picture.
Illinois (with another ton from Rup, and a 7-fer from
Jack), IIT (with another fifty from Laxmi) and MDS (with
a 90 from Asif) rolled in their quest for the Top
Four spot. Capitol won a huge game against Suburban in
a big Top Four battle - and also proved they arent just
a one-man-army (they won despite "only" a 17-ball 31
from Satha). And a resurgent Peoria, needing to win
to make sure of their playoff spot, beat AAA in another
game that has huge implications in the Top Four as well
as the playoff battle.
Meanwhile Evanston and the Eagles both won big games,
keeping their playoff hopes alive (Evanston with a 99 LBW
for Mikey Allen! Poor guy! And the Eagles with another
big contribution from Subbu, who is in the midst of
another excellent season). The Giants (with a major
contribution from Atif) and the Advancers (with another
good performance from Suresh) both also kept their
playoff hopes alive with big wins over the weekend.
The Division Two situation at the moment is much more
complex and much more open than Division One - not
least because making the Top Four is of the utmost
importace. The situation for the Top Four at the moment
is as follows:
Illinois 52 points, 0 games left, assured of Top Four
(and probably #1 seed)
IIT 44 points, 2 games, vs MDS and AAA
AAA 40 points, 1 game, vs IIT
Capitol 38 points, 2 games, vs CCI and Jaguars
MDS 38 points, 2 games, vs IIT and Madison
Suburban 34 points, 2 games, vs Giants and Nostars
Arsenal 34 points, 2 games, vs Jaguars and Raiders
These are the 7 contenders for the Top Four spots. Some
fascinating games in prospect there - IIT has lost
only once all year so far, but face their two hardest
games now, in MDS and AAA. AAA seemingly had a Top Four
spot wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, but have lost
two straight and now finish with IIT - and a loss will
almost certainly push them outside the Top Four. MDS
has a couple of tough games, and will need to maybe win
both to retain a Top Four spot - but this is a very
strong team that has won 8 of its last 9 games (the
only non-win was a rainout!) and will back themselves
to win out. Because these 3 teams play each other at
the top, both Suburban and Arsenal retain excellent
chances to sneak into the Top Four, if they can win
against teams that are currently ranked below them
(but will be fighting very hard to make the playoffs
themselves).
These 7 teams have almost certainly wrapped up a playoff
spot already. Below them, are maybe 9 teams fighting
for the remaining 5 spots! Sometime 32 points (ie an
8-6 record) has been sufficient to make the playoffs
in Division Two.. However, last year even 9-5 only got
in on run-rate, as contending teams went on surprising
winning streaks at the end. If this happens again, the
playoff picture could yet alter radically. However, at
the moment, we have the following:
8. QC Kings 32 points, play Jolly Rovers and CCI
9. Lucky XI 32 points, play Evanston and Collinsville
10. Peoria 32 points, play Springfield
11. Giants 30 points, play Suburban and Deccan Blues
12. Evanston 28 points, play Lucky XI and Collinsville
13 Eagles 28 points, play Elgin
14 Advancers 28 points, play Nostars and Continental
15 Jaguars 28 points, play Arsenal and Capitol
16. Madison 26 points, play Springfield and MDS
QC Kings at 32 should have a great chance - they play
2 teams that are already eliminated from playoff
contention. Lucky XI looked a sure-shot a couple of
weeks ago, but have lost 2 straight - they face a
crunch game this weekend against fellow playoff
contenders Evanston (actually, Lucky and Evanston have
the same schedule - they play each other, and both
finish up with a trip to Collinsville. The winner of
this weekend obviously has the better chance at the
playoffs). Peoria is another strong team that has
gotten on a roll at the right time - they have won 5
of their last 6, and play Springfield who have been
eliminated from playoff contention already.
Giants at 30 points play a very big game against a
strong Suburban side this weekend, who are still
contending for a Top Four spot.
Then come the 4 teams that are currently holding spots
13 to 16 - but hope to move into a playoff spot by the
end of the season as the teams ahead of them falter.
The Eagles are at 28, but can only hope to get to 32 at
best, if they beat Elgin - they may then need some
other results to fall their way to make the playoffs.
The Advancers at 28 have a very good chance - they play
Nostars (who are currently out of playoff contention),
and then Continental (which has been giving up a few
walkovers in the past few games - so that could be 4
free points). The Jaguars at 28 have the hardest
schedule by far - Arsenal and Capitol, who are both
fighting for a Top Four spot. Madison at 26 will need
to win both games to have a chance - first against
Springfield this weekend, and then against a very strong
MDS in the last week of the season.
IIT and MDS is the obvious headline game this weekend.
But Giants-Suburban, Evanston-Lucky and Jaguars-Arsenal
are other very big games between two sides with playoff
aspirations. These should clarify the playoff picture
somewhat (but not very much!) by the end of this weekend.
________________________________________________________________
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TW3 and THLPG - Division One
aka That Was The Week That Was... and...
The Handy Little Playoff Guide - Division One:
Much of interest took place over the weekend in Division
One - and it has greatly clarified the Playoff Picture.
A huge win for Muslim Gym over the rival Bears in the
headline game - it was almost a must-win game for Muslim,
and they came through in grand style with the brilliant
Imran Syed hitting his third century of the season (this
time with seven huge sixes, some of which landed once
again in our ground). The magnitude of this achievement
needs to be put into historical perspective to be
properly understood - no man has hit 3 centuries in
Division One in a single MCC season since the legendary
Wasim Khan of Rogers Park, by consensus the best batsman
in all the midwestern states, did it 4 years ago! This
crucial win propels Muslim to 7 wins and in relatively
good shape for the playoffs, while the Bears now face a
difficult schedule while still needing at least one more
win to reach their goal.
Meanwhile, next door, the Flames had a huge upset win
over the Challengers to solidify their playoff hopes.
The next day the streaking Wildcats continued their
Thousand Mile March by taking another successful step -
they knocked off giant-killers Phoenix, which has
probably ended Phoenix's playoff hopes. The Royals beat
a Mehul-less United on Saturday to extinguish United's
faint playoff hopes - and then, playing in a brutal
back-to-back game at Saint Louis on Sunday, the valiant
Royals had their own playoff hopes buried in a
heart-breaking 7-run loss. (The Royals surely have just
played the most brutally scheduled weekend in Midwest
history - they started at 8am on Saturday and beat
United, then drove down to St Louis and lost a heartbreaker
on Sunday, then drove back to Chicago and beat Anjuman in
the Abid Laheri Tournament on Monday night! Ah, to be
young, fit, and just a little cricket-crazy! )
Meanwhile, Rivercity lost two games over the weekend to
fade further into the relegation morass - to Milwaukee
United in Peoria on Saturday, and to Milwaukee Cricket
Club after travelling to Milwaukee on Sunday. And the
Tigers won an absolutely massive victory over the Chargers
on Saturday - a wonderful game of cricket, an incredibly
hard-fought game and very clean (the leg-umpires from
both sides gave one decision each that I, as the main
umpire, would not have been able to give from my end).
Irfan Siddiqui performed the hat-trick by going Bowled,
Bowled and LBW with the last 3 Tigers wickets to bowl
them out for 165 with 5 overs to spare - but the Tigers
fought back like, well, Tigers. A valiant Sami, braving
severe cramps, carried the Chargers down to the last
over with 7 to win with 1 wicket in hand- but was
clean-bowled by Jaggi with 5 balls to go as he tried to
repeat the six he had hit in the previous over to give
the Chargers hope. One of the tensest and hardest-fought
MCC games Ive umpired in a while, by two teams desperate
to win and avoid relegation to Division Two next year -
just on the basis of this one match neither team deserves
to be relegated, but one almost certainly will be. Given
that, this was the biggest victory of the season for
the Tigers, and a heart-breaking loss for the Chargers
who must now regroup in a hurry and try and beat Phoenix
next week.
The results this week have greatly clarified the playoff
picture - this weekend definitively ended the faint
playoff hopes of United, and probably put paid to the
hopes of the Royals and Phoenix as well (both these teams
are possibly still alive mathematically - but both can
only get to 28 points if they win out, and that looks
increasingly unlikely to be sufficient). Thus we
essentially have 9 teams contesting for 8 spots - and
with the Top Four already sure of their spots (Pak,
Challengers, St Louis and Milwaukee United), it is really
a race between 5 teams for 4 spots.
The situation is as follows at the moment:
#5, Purdue - 28 points, with 3 matches left. They play
Rivercity next week, then the Flames on the long weekend
in a rescheduled contest, and finish with Milwaukee
United in a night-game at Hanover Park the last weekend
of the season. Purdue is a team that seems to be playing
better as this season wears on - they started 1-3, and
have gone 6-1 in their last 7 games (their only loss
coming by 2 wickets against the Challengers). Their big
game is next week - if they can beat Rivercity that is
fighting desperately to stave off relegation, that will
put them at 32 points, which has historically been enough
to make the playoffs.
#6 Flames - 28 points, with 4 matches left. They play Pak
Gym next week, then travel to Purdue over the long weekend.
They wrap up by playing the Wildcats on Saturday of the
last weekend, and then travel to Milwaukee Cricket Club
on Sunday to finish the regular season. They have the
most games left, but a hard schedule - nobody would want
to go into the last weekend needing a win, and having
to play the defending champions on Saturday and then
travel and play a back-to-back game against Asif on
Sunday! This was why their win against the Challengers
was one of their biggest wins in several seasons - they
have made their task much much easier now, needing only
1 win in their last 4 games (a loss to the Challengers
would have left them needing 2 wins, which might have
been very difficult).
#7 Muslim Gym - 28 points, with 2 matches left. They play
the rapidly improving Milwaukee Cricket Club (who have
won their last 2 matches) this weekend, and finish with
United in the last week of the season. Their biggest game
of the season was probably last weekend - coming off an
upset against Rogers Park, and failing to defend 220 in
a 20-over Night Game during the week, they faced a
do-or-die contest against the Bears. A loss would have
left them in deep trouble - needing 2 wins in their last
2 matches. One of the biggest victories in club history
this weekend has now left them needing 1 more win in the
last 2 matches to make their first playoff trip in
several years.
#8 Bears - 28 points, with 2 matches left. They play
the Challengers next week, and travel to Saint Louis to
finish the regular season. The Bears looked a sure-shot
for the playoffs at 6-2, but have lost consecutive
games to United and Muslim Gym. They are now left needing
at least 1 more victory in their last 2 matches - and
their schedule is one of the most difficult of the
contenders, the current #3 and #4 teams in the table.
The Bears will need a return to their early-season form
this weekend to make their playoff spot safe, and need
it immediately - in time for the Challengers game this
weekend.
#9 Wildcats - 26 points, with 2 matches left. They play
Milwaukee United next week, and finish with the Flames
on the final weekend. At 2-5-1 the Wildcats were almost
dead and buried, but they have won 4 matches on the trot
to pull themselves back into contention. They face a
very hard schedule too, and probably need to win both
games to make the playoffs - there is no margin for
error now, but then there hasnt been for the last 4
weeks already.
Waiting for the Wildcats this Saturday in their biggest
game will be Milwaukee United - two years ago Milwaukee
United knocked the Wildcats out of the playoffs in a
huge upset, coming up from Division Two. Revenge is a
dish that tastes best cold as Don Corleone said - and
the Wildcats waited a full year to extract their revenge,
they ended Milwaukee United's season in the quarterfinals
last season on their way to the title. Milwaukee United
has now had to wait almost a full season too - they
are sure of their own playoff spot, and so technically
this game doesnt have much meaning for them... but nobody
can doubt that they will relish the opportunity to
effectively hammer the nails into the coffin of their
Old Nemesis' season, and not have to worry about meeting
them again in the playoffs. The match may mean nothing
to them in terms of the playoff race - but one can be
sure they will put up their strongest team and play the
match with playoff intensity.
As the Armies of Middle-Earth battled for the Future of
The World, humans went about their business without any
clue of the crucial happenings below their very feet.
So it is with our Relegation Battle. With 2 teams going
down at the end of the season, Rivercity and the
Chargers with 8 points are currently in the last 2
positions, and the Tigers are still in the zone at 10.
Rivercity has the hardest remaining schedule - they
play Purdue and the Challengers, both of whom need
victories for the playoffs. The Chargers play Phoenix
this weekend, and Pak Gym to finish. And the Tigers play
the Royals this weekend, and the Challengers to finish.
This is almost a more important race than the playoffs -
since the two teams that get demoted will have to work
at least one full season in Division Two before they can
hope to make it back to Division One in 2008 at the
earliest.
Sadiq
________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at midwestcricket.org
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Cricket in the News
Friday, August 18, 2006
A Note About Comments
Unfortuntely due to the unacceptable language that were posted by some people we had to shut down the comments for a while. The comments window has just been reopened with moderator support. That means, one of us has to constantly watch for comments and clear them. Its a bit of a soviet era model - but, that is the best option for now. We are trying to figure out a better way. Until then, you may see a bit of a lag between the time you enter a comment and see it appear on the site. I'm sure you all understand.
Thank You,
Hari
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
MVP for the month of July-06
Div-1MVP: Kamran Khan, from Muslim Gymkhana
Kamran Khan leads the table with 31 points. He scored 124 runs and took 11 wickets. He has scores of 1, 57, 4, 62.
Kamran is closely followed by Mehul Shani- United with 29 points and Satya Kallur - Milwaukee United and Shivakumar Rajagopal - Phoenix with 27 points each.
Div-2MVP: Rupnarine Seenarain from Illinois Cricket Club
Rup leads the points table with 53 points. He scored 218 runs and took 15 wickets. He scored one century, 111 and took three 4 wicket hauls.
Rup is closely followed by the Bilal Patel- AAA with 32 points and Lakshmikumar Rajaramchandran-IIT, Sudheer SS-Madison and Venkat Ramani-Peoria with 31 points each.
Div-30/30MVP: Ashfaq Arain from Burhani and Saurabh Mehta from South Barrington
Ashfaq and Saurabh both have 28 points.
Ashfaq has scores of 105 and 66, while Saurabh has taken 14 wickets including a 6-fer and a 5-fer.
They are followed by Nadeem Bhatti from Burhani with 22 points.
Abid Laheri Night Tournament MVP: Kamran Khan, from Muslim Gymkhana
Kamran Khan leads the table with 28 points. He scored 143 runs and took 4 wickets. He has scores of 33 and 110(*).
Kamran is followed by Akbar Khan-MDS with 13 points and Asif Ali- MDS Phoenix with 12 points.
PS: Will add the images containing a snapshot of the calculations tomorrow.