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

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