The 30/30 Division is having its semi-finals this weekend at Heritage and Community Park. DeePark XI take on the Panthers and Hustler XI take on MWCA. The Panthers are a talented side but may be the slight underdogs against a very strong DeePark XI. The other game is between a young and talented MWCA and an explosive Hustler XI with Hammad making a strong statement in the playoffs. Both games should be quite closely fought and full of entertainment.
The Division 2 playoffs continue this week with the Quarter Finals. Number 1 seed Eagles take on the young and spirited Madison team who squeaked in the next round. Eagles are a very good all round team with deep batting and bowling line ups. Madison is a young team with a lot of potential, but they will have to fight hard to overcome the Eagles who are going to be moving to Division 1 next year. Evanston vs Jaguars is likely to be the game of the week. Evanston has a good bowling lineup and can be explosive on their day, but the Jaguars may be the most talented batting line up in Division 2 and maybe even the entire league. This game is likely to be won by Evanston's bowling or the Jaguar's batting. Next up are the highly under-rated team of IIT versus the enigma known as Arena. IIT is a perrenial playoff team and always near the top of the table. However, this year they have flown under the radar. This team has the potential to go all the way and is a match for any given team in Division 2. Arena on the other hand is a difficult team to plan for. They may or may not show up with XI players. On somedays their bowling is very disciplined and incisive, and on other days they can put up big scores. It all depends on which team shows up to the ground for this weeks game. The final game in Division 2 this week is between AAA who are looking to regain their place in Division 1 and the Jolly Rovers. AAA, like IIT is capable of beating any team on any given day, depending on if their stalwarts like Abdul and Adam decide to dominate. On the other hand, Jolly Rovers is truly a team of XI who can all contribute and get the job done whether with the bat or ball. All the matchups are extremely good ones and it is very difficult to find much to separate the teams. However, with an eye set firmly on the prize of getting to Division 1, it's a question of who can outlast the opposition in a game of pressure!
Finally, Division 1 playoffs are here as well. Last week there were some very exciting games to finalize the playoff teams. Phoenix has finally made the playoffs in their third year in Division 1 while Peoria has done it in their very first year. The Bears are back in the playoffs are a short hiatus. The Challengers, Pak Gym, United, Milwaukee, and Saint Louis continue their streak of playoff appearances. Number 1 seed Challengers take on Number 8 seed Peoria. This is likely to be a battle between Peoria's very strong and very deep batting line up against the Challengers excellent bowling options. Whoever wins this battle should win the game. Peoria's bowling is not to be taken lightly, as is the Challenger's batting, but the reverse battle is likely to decide the outcome of this game. Number 2 Pak Gym take on Number 7 Saint Louis. On paper this may look like Pak Gym has an advantage with their strong batting lineup and attacking bowling options, but Saint Louis has some very good batsmen and the wiles of Tehsin Ahmed who can turn a batting lineup on its head. Number 3 United take on Number 6 Bears. United is likely the team to beat this year. The last time United lost, they played with 9 players. The time before that was against Milwaukee in the middle of July!! They play a very determined Bears team who have fought hard to make the playoffs despite all odds. The Bears have some very good players like Adeel, Shaid, and Hammad, and they will rely on all of them to fire to beat early favourites United. Finally, Number 4 seed Phoenix take on Number 5 seed Milwaukee. This is a rematch of a game played a few weeks ago in Milwaukee where Phoenix went in and against all predictions dominated Milwaukee on their home ground. Phoenix will need to contain Romesh, Kabir, Asif, and the rest of Milwaukee again if they are to keep their season alive!
Some really good games on the cards in all three Divisions this week. This is the business end of the season and everyone is fighting hard to be crowned the Division Champion!
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Playoff time.....
according to today's forecast, there is no rain for the weekend. The high on Sat is 80 and 70 on Sunday.
As of now, it doesnt look good for next week- got rain on Mon and dropping to 60 on Tue. I hope we can have decent weather for the 20/20 finals.
Adi was all that your analysis or c8w's? ;)
hmm I have the same question too adi..
Mine. I asked C8w to provide the commentary, but he as pretty busy this week. So I tried my best to emulate his style!!! :-D
looks like I wasn't too far off??? ;-)
*as = was
adi,
I was taken aback when i saw your name at the end of the analysis. You were missing some acronyms that sadiq revels in but man you were bang on target.
Good luck writing. And thx for being kind to us.
Guys do not take Arena lightly. They are the dark horses. I can feel it. If we get to play them, i know, we will be on our guard.
Well, preetam I think IIT will win this match eventhough its gonna be a close one
Shabri n Preetam Sir ..
Win your respective matches .. I want to see you guys in the finals ....
Alpesh,
Will certainly try to. Our team is in high spirit and looks like we will beat em. No offense.
Ok. Can anyone from ARENA/MGMT confirm the start time for the game tomorrow? I know playoffs normally start at 10.00 am. Is this the case?
Ok. Can anyone from ARENA/MGMT confirm the start time for the game tomorrow? I know playoffs normally start at 10.00 am. Is this the case?
- Lakshmikumar(IIT)
Yes Kumar, 10 AM is the official Start time and we will be there.
Ajoy
lakshmi,
We were discussing this the other day and i think Arena/IIT game is scheduled to start at 10 am. Please double check and GoodLuck with your game.
Shabri, I am sure you will win. I just feel like Arena are the dark horses. I heard they had a very impressive bowling attack. Good luck for the game though.
Aditya,
So Arena is ENIGMA (a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation). I like that man because normal is boring.
I agree we have struggled at times to get playing 11 like in pre-quarters. But I can assure everyone that we will play hard and fair no matter what.
Good Luck to all playoff teams.
Ajoy, Preetam, Lakshmi, Shabari, Rohit, ram, ...
Good luck guys...
It'll be a crackling saturday..
will try to stop by..
Yes, for playoffs, all games start at 10 am
Thanks Shekhs,
Do stop by, would be nice to see you.
May be you will get to see why Arena is an ENIGMA and a dark horse. :)
Wish all the best to all the teams playing this weekend. I wish bowlers playing on Ground #1 to pray god and hope for the best.
This pitch is a bowlers nightmare if batsman don't loose patience. QC was under pressure right from the beginning with flat pitch, shitty ball and lightening fast out field not to mention dropped chances. But i am sure it is no reason get allout for 100.
It should be a good game between good batting line-up of Jags and Perin from Evanston. I hope i am there to watch this games as a bowler but sure i can check some good summary after the game.
Its been 3 years in playoffs now and we have seen all different situations at washington park. We will sure come back hard next year.
Thanks,
Sheks, preetam, Alpesh...
Thanks for the wishes we'll definately put our hearts in
Ajoy,
You are welcome. I'm not questioning your team's committment of showing up with 11. I realize there were extenuating circumstances along with playoff eligibility rules. And yet you guys showed up and won convincingly. That is part of the Enigma that is Arena!!
Also, being in Chicago, and this being your first year as Arena in the league, a lot of teams don't know too much about you guys. Adds to the aura of being an Enigma.
You guys can win it with either bat or ball or both. And you have a lot of variety as well. Adds to the enigma for any captain that has to prepare for you guys.
With you, Keshava, Sameer, and Aditya (not me), you guys are quite an exciting team. Definitely not normal or boring - adding to the enigma quotient.
Finally, I had to come up with something different to describe the teams and make the article somewhat more interesting to read. That's the best I could do... :-)
Good luck.
Preetam,
Thanks for the compliment on the article. It pays to keep an eye on on "future" opponents!! ;-)
hehe.
Thanks Aditya.
We will do our best and may the best team win.
Romeen if you are reading please pray.. and you know what I am talking about. :)
Considering that its playoffs and dew is a major factor for the first hour or so, what do teams plan to do if they win the toss?
Aditya,
Why don't you think of some article topics and request for submissions, may be some of us can pitch in.
My predictions this week for DIV2
Eagles vs Madison (Team that blinks first will loss)
Jags vs Evanston (Evanston wins easily if Perin gets going in bowling as Jags are shaky against pace and swing)
IIT vs Arena (IIT will win comfy)
AAA vs Jolly rovers( end of road show for jolly and won't be lucky second time as this will be rematch of rained out game in the league stage)
No offence just prediction for fun and right on money
Thanks,
Fellas..
Finally..
ALNT finals will be played on tuesday - 09/30/2008.
If the ground is unplayable or in case of rain, we'll move it to the next day or thursday depending on Eid.
Please note the date and show up and support us..
See you all there..
Thanks
Shekhs
yeah Ajoy, will try to stop by..check the Enigma out..
:-)
C=mon Shekhs... You all can't be right..I can be there for the 30th man closing the books...but don't leh me hold ya back in the rain and cold::))
By the way it looks like rain all day the 30th. wednesday is sunny but 58/40 for now???
May be we can wait for the first week in October..it should be better weather ..Right?? :::;))))
Good luck to all the teams for the P/Offs this week end.
I will try to come around tomorrw.. got to do some final touches from the flood.
I will be there for sure Sunday..got to umpire(((===.
not to dissapoint you all or wishing bad weather but looks like another series of rain coming ver the next 10 days.. Looks like we in for a cold and rainy P/Offs.
I am keeping my fingers crossed, hope you all do too for good weather
Hello Winner,
1st off I want to mention that I have not taken any offense, but just wanted to mention the fact that we may be shaky against pace and swing, but since I have started playing in Div II for Jags, we have played 2 matches against evanston and we never let him have the upper hand, sure we did let him go away with a good economy but never gave him ample wickets or never showed them we can be shaky against swing and pace. Well just an explaination to stand by my team. Hope u take no offense as I mean none.
--Shabri
--Jags
yeah Rup...it might rain on tuesday..but we cant schedule anything for wednesday as of now....coz Eid depends on the moon and you wont know until tuesday...
Hence the tuesday schedule..
its kinda tricky.. :-)
but thanks for the laugh anyways..
Hear ya Shekhs... You guys keep this up and we will see da finals next year...
Good luck if you guys can play on Tuesday..i will come but later.. We will talk some more st the park on Sunday.
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Aditya said...
won convincingly. That is part of the Enigma that is Arena!!
Also, being in Chicago, and this being your first year as Arena in the league, a lot of teams don't know too much about you guys. Adds to the aura of being an Enigma.
--------
They may well be an enigma.. but honestly, before the regular season actually began, I had thought (and mentioned to some people I think) that Arena might be amongst the top 3 or 4 favourites for the division title! I actually thought their regular season results were somewhat disappointing given what their team looked like.. even though they made the playoffs quite convincingly in the end. It was disappointing because, IMHO, they never ended up contending for the #1 regular-season slot, having lost a couple games early on itself.. the vital #1 spot that assures you of automatic promotion to Div1.
The reason I thought this, without ever having seen Arena play as a team, was because we knew a lot of Arena's players already from previous play in the league. Arena as a team is new.. but the players are not! Ajoy was an opening bowler in Div1 last year for St Louis, Sameer was one of the bigger newcomers to Div1 last year from what I heard (had a couple of quite explosive innings with the bat - I recall Samarth telling me of a couple of huge sixes against his bowling for instance). Keshav has been an excellent Div1 player for ages - he was IIRC captain of Book Club in Div1, and also played regularly with a lot of success for St Louis in Div1 last year. Saurabh.. another long-time Div1 St Louis player - 3-4 years ago he was one of the quickest bowlers in Div1, he actually represented MCC in the LA Open 3-4 years ago IIRC, and also in ProCricket (ie with Robin Singh, Marlon Samuels etc).
At the start of the season I thought about 5-6 players from Div1 St Louis had moved to Arena - so I expected them to be a real handful in Div2 anyway. And they showed signs, especially late - Hafez-bhai from AAA was telling me how his team got bowled out for 80-odd against Arena, and thought they felt like a Div1 bowling lineup from last year etc.
I dont know how they'll do in the playoffs - to some extent it might depend on if they can come up north with a full team (they had a couple important players out of town last week for example). But IMHO nobody should regard them as a "surprise" per se - quite a few of their guys have had long-term success in our league in the past, and are quite well-known!
c8w
Sadiq,
Very true, but a lot depends on team chemistry. A team can have some very good players and yet still struggle, while a team may over achieve because they fit well together. Teams that are very good one year, may not be the next year for many reasons. That is why teams like Pak Gym, Challengers, and Wildcats deserve a lot of credit for doing so well consistently year after year.
Although the players are known, the team is new. And Arena have done well to really gel together in their first season itself. So, Arena is an enigma, which may become very clear soon. So is Peoria. They are a very different team from last year. They have a bunch of stars, and you never know which Peoria you are going to play - one that can occasionally underachieve, or one that can look pretty daunting!
Arena..IMHO..
They have a good bowling attack but I am witholding my view until i see how well the perform in the p/offs before granting them a real good attack..
We all have to remeber WP wickets are a killer for the Travelling teams and has proven that in more often than less in recenty times.
Now their batting is what I am most concerned about. i feel they will struggle against a good attack. Very suspect batting as I dont think they have any one bat that has shown real consistency.
Chasing 42 against ICC with 9 fielders I thought was going to be a cakewalk but they were soon Sitting at 13 for 6 in 11 overs. what I did not see and was missing was proper technique from their front line bats against good bowling.
So lets see what the P/off bring and my views on Arena can checnge..who knows???
Good Luck to all the teams, cant wait to get to WP later today..... i'm expecting it to be a cracker of a day for cricket....
Good Luck to All the Teams in the Playoffs. A special congratulations to Eagles for Division 1 Status next year and also to Phoenix and Peoria, who have made thier first Div 1 Playoffs. It's always nice to see, new teams get in the mix of it. Hopefully, Rogers Park can overcome its 3 year Hiatus from the Playoffs next year. I'll see you all on Sunday, as I am umpiring one of the games.
Any updates on Div 2 playoffs ??
Alpesh,
AAA Def JR
Eagles Def Madison
Jaguars Def Evanston
more about Jaguars match, jaguars batted first ended up with 215/9 in 40 overs, evanston all out for 140 odd runs.
Rohit
IIT Def Arena
I think they defended 150 odd runs....
Semi-finals:-
Eagles Vs AAA
IIT Vs Jaguars
Congratulations Rohit and your team ... Congratulations to Preetam Sir as well ... my dream div 2 final is just on step away .. Eagles vs Jaguars ...
Eagles beat Madison in Q/F.
Madison, electing to bat first, were all out for 195 in the 40th over. Eagles chased the score with the loss of 5 wickets. The highlight of the chase was Mankesh's 51 of 22 balls and Subbu's 49.
AAA defeated JR ..
JR batted first and managed only 103 all out in 32.x overs.
AAA started and were reduced to 21/5 in 9 overs.
Bilal & Sabbir put in a patient knock and AAA won with 3 wickets in hand after being 66/7...
A good season for JR and we hope to come back stronger next year...
--------
Rohit said...
IIT Def Arena
I think they defended 150 odd runs....
-------
They did, in an excellent game.
The other games results are already mentioned above - Jags got 215, Evanston started slowish (30/0 in 9 or so), eventually lost a few wickets (Doneieke 20-odd), ended up 140 odd IIRC. Jolly Rovers got 103, AAA were 57/6 when I went back to my game, supposed a 7th fell soon after, but they buckled down and got home by 3 wickets. Madison got 195 on the Eagles, when I was there Mankesh was going bananas and had gotten to fifty when Eagles were 72/0 in 8 overs! They eventually won with 5-6 overs to spare with 5 wickets in hand IIRC.
Finally the best game IMHO, IIT-Arena. Tightly played, hard fought all day, and in remarkably good humour on both sides. Arena was missing their main paceman Saurabh, but replaced him with another former Div1 pacer in Aquib! (If they ever put up their real full-strength XI theyd be a real handful!) As it was, they bowled very very well - Sameer bowled a magnificent spell of 8 overs on the trot to start, excellent pace and control (including one beautiful clean-bowled). Laxmi got a few runs quick runs before being caught behind, but when Deepak was lbw on the last ball before break, IIT were 72/6 in 20 overs. They lost another wicket 2 balls after break, and were 73/7, and I was thinking Id get another early day courtesy of the Arena attack, and would be able to watch the end of the other games once again (this time, tho, I was planning to guard with my left while spectating ;-)
At this point, however, the IIT lower order did a tremendous job - Vijay, Vamsi, Pallav etc. Defending stoutly, running singles and twos whenever possible, batting very safely and yet keeping the scoreboard moving along. A terrific 49-run partnership for the 8th wicket, dragging it to 122/8. Then another partnership for the 9th wicket, then for the last (only in the last 6-7 overs did a couple of catches go down, which could have made it about 140 allout maybe, vital in retrospect). Eventually Vijay hit the last ball of the innings for a big six to drag IIT to 158/9 - 85/2 for the lower order, in 19 overs, fantastic effort, turned the entire momentum of the match on its head.
Arena came in and lost a wicket in the first over as the momentum kept flowing towards IIT, then consolidated a bit. And then suddenly sufferered a few horrible overs - great bowling by Laxmi, claiming 3 wickets in 2 overs.. Vasu claimed one at the other end, Sagar cramped and retired hurt.. Arena fell from 40/2 in 10 overs to 44/5 (plus 1 retd hurt)!
Then Arena fought back - great partnership from Raju and Sai, dragging it to 97/5, crucial 53-run stand. 62 needed in 12 overs with 5 wickets in hand, 2 set batsman, and Arena back on top. Laxmi in desperation brought himself back, and immediately broke the partnership, claiming the 6th wicket. He decided to come back for his 7th over, and there was a brilliant direct-hit runout from squareleg, and then Laxmi got a clean-bowled 2 balls later, and it was 8-down and IIT on top again. Finally when the last pair came together it was almost over, 50 runs needed at more than a run-a-ball. But Arena still refused to fold - the last pair kept battling, and when Ajoy launched a six it was suddenly 28 needed in 3 overs. It was down to 24 needed in 14 balls when the last wicket finally went down and the see-saw contest was finally over.
All in all, a terrific game of cricket all day long - and played, as mentioned, in terrific spirits on both sides. In the end a wonderful performance from Laxmi won it for IIT - 25 with the bat early, and a brilliant 5/15 off 8 overs with the ball (including Sameer and Keshav, the two big guns, in one over - both misjudged the pace of forcing shots on the legside and were caught, huge blows that reduced Arena to 44/5 from which eventually they never could recover).
Next week's semis should be terrific - the old Jaguars-IIT rivalry renewed (pretty much 2 IIT teams battling there, almost everyone in both teams is an IIT alum), and AAA/Eagles (AAA is one of only 2 teams to actually beat the Eagles this season).
c8w
congratulations to all the winners! Seems like the arena- IIT game was a classic! Congrats IIT and tough luck Arena.
mwca in thirty thirty final!!!
hi guys mwca beat hustlers xi
fahad and abhijeet and scoring more than fifty runs partnership.
fahad 51 and abhi 15
mwca won by 5 wkts and 10 overs to spare....
Congratulations Farhad n team .. You guys won the semis rite ??
Any updates for today's Div 1 play-off matches ...??
Pak Gym beat St. Louis
Peoria beat Challengers
United beat Bears
Phoenix beat Milwaukee
Oops ... Upset by Peoria ... so semi-final line up is Phoenix-Peoria and Pak Gym-United ... So seems like Phoenix will make into finals ... but the champions will be Pak Gym-United match winner ...and I bet on United ... avenging their 20-20 defeat to Pak Gym ...
it will be a good playoff semifinal in div 1... wish all the teams to perform their best in the semis in div 1 and div2
Congratulations Madhu and Adi. Shekhs did finally get to play yesterday ? I heard you were injured. Tushar, Did challengers put up a IX ? I remember you guys talking on saturday about missing players.
Adi,
What did i tell you ?
So is it going to be you against my other fav team. I don't know whom to cheer for now.
Congratulations all winners.
Preetam,
Thanks buddy. It was a big win for us and we enjoyed each moment of it thoroughly. Appreciate the confidence that you had in us.
Milwauke played hard, but our guys responded very well. Wade batted superbly and Shakir's knock was extremely useful as well. Wade bowled with fire and aggression and Asif really bowled his heart out.
On our side kudos have to go to DC, Arvind, and Athreya for batting sensibly and to their potential. Prasanna bowled well again and was ably supported by Jaggi, Athreya, and the rest.
Shekh's didn't play coz he's broken his collar bone - poor chap. I can well imagine that it was killing him to not play. Challengers did put up XI and looked like they had the match in hand when Peoria was 35/5, but they bat upto no. 11 and they ended up with 199 which was a superlative effort. I guess the Challs started disastrously and were 80 odd for 6 and though Nilesh batted through N.O, it was too much. I believe they got to 150+.
Hard luck for the Challengers who had another consistent and very good season. Peoria is a champion team and they are going to be a hard nut for us to crack.
nope..didnt play Preetam..
Yeah, challengers did have xi...and we lost..
Peoria outplayed us in all depts..
Shekhs bhai ..
Sorry for ur injury .. did that happen in the Sat 20-20 match??
yeah Appu..
it did indeed happen on saturday..
Hard luck sheks and challengers, was routing for you real bad. Anywasy congracts Peoria, Pheonix, Pak, United for moving into semi-fnals and best of luck for all u guys. I think United-Pak is definately the thriller match, since united will be trying to avenge their 20-20 loss. Peoria-pheonix is gonna be very interesting too as both the teams are in a very good form.
--Shabri
--Jaguars
what are the details of peoria and challengers, as in individual performances and stuff
Div II Playoffs is definitely going to be a treat to watch this Saturday..... Both the semifinal games are between very talented sides. IIT Vs Jaguars will be the fun game to watch - something like an inter-collegiate game back home. AAA Vs Eagles will be an intense affair with so much at stake for AAA since Eagles have already booked their place to move to Div I next season. Should be a crowd puller too. Good luck to all the four teams.
Shiva
Yep...looks like we got a weekend of good Semis coming up...
Looking at the weather for now I think the games Should be on Saturday cause sunday looks Rainy??
Congrats to all the Div 1 teams, hard luck Challengers, well played Peoria. Yes this weekend weather looks good and surely its high voltage Div 2 semis, all the four teams are very good. Cannot take anything away from IIT, they have always been in the thick of action all the time. As c8w mentioned AAA is one of the two teams to have defeated Eagles, so I am sure Preetam and co will be looking fwd to equaling the win-loss score, and AAA are a threating side as always.
Cant wait to get to WP again....
Preetam,
You guys haven't uploaded the scorecard yet? wanted to take a look at the scorecard, just in case we meet in the finals.
Thanks,
Shabri
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Shabarinath said...
what are the details of peoria and challengers, as in individual performances and stuff
-----
I umped this game - and another very good game, it turned out to be.
Challengers came in somewhat depleted - missing Darshan (whose uncle had passed away), Afroze (still in India), and Sheks (who ran away from his bet with Satha by breaking his collarbone playing 20/20 in South Barrington on Saturday).Sorry, Sheks :-) - poor guy is in great pain, especially mentally having to miss the playoffs because of a freak horrible injury like that. He was there the entire day cheering his team on, though.
Peoria won the toss and batted, and faced a quite spectacular spell from Sanjay, surely one of the best bowled by anyone all year long. He started by getting Satha bowled leg-stump in his second over (Satha strode across to cover the line, ball bent back and took leg). Three balls later Madhu fell too, with me giving him LBW :-) (Madhu felt it was sliding past leg, I felt it was hitting leg - actually somewhat similar to the Satha dismissal in a way IMHO, he went across a bit to cover the line, ball straightened on him). In his next over Sanjay got it to go away from Vivek and had him caught behind - he was bowling quite beatifully, left arm over, on line and length, and getting the ball to go both ways - and Peoria were 15/3. Next over he got Anirudh caught at slip - 24/4.
Ravi then tried to launch a counter-attack - when Bobby was brought on, he crunched him for 3 consecutive very well-hit boundaries. But Sanjay returned in the next over to claim him too - another one that went away and had Ravi caught behind. After 12 overs Peoria were down to 43/5.. and Sanjay had quite ridiculous figures of 6-1-19-5!
At this point, when an early finish to the day looked distinctly possible, Ashwin and Chintan came together and put their heads down to avoid further damage - especially playing out Sanjay for 2 maidens (he bowled 9 straight, finishing 9-3-26-5). Defending stoutly and running hard, they took it to 75/5 at 22-over break. A bad misunderstanding led to Chintans runout for 19 (82/6), and Tayyab too was runout on a terrific direct-hit throw (99/7).
At 99/7 (batting at #9!) entered the MVP of the CER and the mini-World Cup, skipper Yousuf - and he and Ashwin led another recovery, with a vital 50-run partnership, before Ashwin was well caught by Mahesh standing up for an important 35. By this time Peoria was 149/8 with 7 overs left, had something to bowl at already, and were beginning to accelerate. Yousuf was in and already beginning to go hard and well - he hit Nilesh for a six and Bhavesh for two, before falling to Nilesh for a terrific captain's knock of 53 (170/9 off 40 overs).
Coming in at #11 was Madan - a sign of just how deep Peoria's batting is (Madan is a proper allrounder - in Div2 for Capitol, he has hit a couple of 25-ball fifties in the past IIRC, batting quite high in the order). Madan too launched 3 sixes (including consecutive ones off Daxx), and the last pair put on 29 in 3.1 overs before a tight runout ended the innings. Peoria had recovered quite magnificently from 43/5 to 199, setting the Challengers exactly 200 to win.
The Challengers came in with makeshift openers - and were beaten repeatedly by Peoria's new ball pair who bowled very well, generating excellent pace and swing (it was windy at WP, all games saw swing featuring prominently all day). However the openers survived, the first wicket falling at 28 in the 9th over. However, Ravi then went on a run - he claimed Shital bowled, Sanjay caught behind, and Bandish caught excellently by Ashwin (running from 2nd slip to short-fine leg, 20+ yards, and holding it on the run with his back to the pitch). Tushar then was tragically runout - a misunderstanding with Mahesh led to his turning back, and he slipped, fell and lost his bat - he still got up and ran back to the crease, but was a couple yards short. Mahesh then guided Chintan straight to short-gully, and Challengers had fallen to 50/5.
Dax and Nirav Amin fashioned a recovery, Nirav nudging and Dax attacking - adding 40 before Dax hit one shot too many and top-edged Tayyab to be caught for 25. Bhavesh followed, another top-edge off Tayyab right before break - and Challengers were 99/7 in 21 overs at break (ironically the same score Peoria had been when their 7th wicket fell, batting first!)
Post-break Nirav continued on in his calm way, joined by Nilesh batting very well, and the game was still on - they added 30 in 10 overs (still leaving only 60 needed in 15), but Yousuf came back to claim Nirav (130/8) and it was almost over. Nilesh vainly battled on, but ran out of partners - Bobby claimed by Kiran for a well-deserved wicket, and Tayyab came back to finish it off by bowling Vishal. It ended 152 allout, Peoria winning by 47 runs.
A high-qualtiy game all day (as only to be expected from two of the best teams in the league).In terms of individual performances, Sanjay's 5 wickets in 6 overs in the morning was outstanding. A terrific battling recovery from Peoria - Ashwin's solidly vital 35; and Yousuf's match-winning, aggressive and chanceless 53; Madan's vital blasted 25 at the end. Ravi's 9-1-26-3 bowling for Peoria, and Tayyab's 7.4-0-21-3 (with 2 huge wickets in Dax and Bhavesh- Tayyab, BTW, is Yousuf's brother, and played only a handful of games for Peoria this year, I had never seen him bowl before. He unfortunately bowled at the other end to me, so I couldnt see the amount of spin etc.. but he bowled with terrific control and flight, and Rup umpiring at the other end told me he was spinning it beautifully even on astroturf. All in all looks a quite outstanding spinner).
Two very very good teams battling each other hard, with Peoria coming out trimphant in the end. Phoenix is a very very good side (and won the best game all day yesterday - the highest score achieved batting second, and getting 175/3 in the chase was ridiculously impressive) - it should be a very good game next weekend (unlike Alpesh, however, I would not rate Phoenix an automatic win - Id rate it a relatively even contest going in, actually).
c8w
finger... call me on your free min tonight.. i don't want to list my Cell #s here.. can you look it up on the MCC site.
Thanks
Rup
Sheiks.
Has the password to login and enter the scorecards been reset or what? I seem to have difficulty loging in to enter our score card..
I meant Shekhs
Sadiq Sir ..
Those were my predictions ... but I think both the Div 1 semis will be hard-fought ... But again winner of 2nd Semis (Pak-United) will be favourites for the finals ...
We could have a new winner in Div 1: Phoenix, Peoria and United have never won. Can they stop Pak Gym who've been there done that? Div 2 also AAA have won but I don't think IIT, Jags or Eagles have. Sheky is the night final on for tomorrow confirmed?
Alpesh,
I think it all depends who wins our semi-finals. At this point, given how good Peoria look, we are the under-dog. Despite Peoria being the 8th seed, they just proved how good a team they are and throughout the year they haven't really played with the best 11.
I think if Peoria makes the finals it would be an even match (Pak Gym or United). If Phoenix makes the finals, we would still be the under-dogs.
I think that is just what most people would think, and one could argue it would be a fair assessment - for now!
Tough luck to all the losing teams in the Div 1 playoffs. I think the 4 best teams have made it to the Div 1 Semis.
I for one would like to get on record with my prediction - I think Pak Gymkhana will win it all - just a prediction, no offense to the other 3 teams. Good Luck to United, Pak, Pheonix and Peoria...may the best teams prevail.
ebrahim(AAA),
I was able to login using the default password - mcc2008 to enter the score for challengers.
I'm thinking it will be the same password for div 2 as well..
Please give sridhar a call if you have any questions..
s_d,
yeah, the finals is still on for tomorrow nite..
I know its cold, but please try to show up fellas..
---------
Shekhs said...
yeah, the finals is still on for tomorrow nite..
I know its cold, but please try to show up fellas..
-----
It is? Despite the rain today and some apparently forecast for tomorrow and all?
If youre having a vote, I'll vote for postponement BTW :-) Its gonna be cold as heck, obviously.. but apparently by the weekend its up to 70, and up to like 74 by next Monday! We've waited a week already.. if we wait another maybe we'll have a quite decent day after all. (Of course, you cant postpone just for cold.. but given the rain, it might just be an added bonus too :-)
c8w
Guys,
A couple of people have promised/threatened to write articles for me to post. So far I have received a whopping 0 articles. Any chance I can get one by Wednesday??
Please email them to me at aditya.burman@gmail.com and I'll review and put them on the website.
Sory Adi,
I can't write up anything today for sure.
Tomorrow i have to deal with an Auditor so I will not be able to put together an article this week.
Guys i will not be able to make it to the Finals tonight.. i will finishe work around 10 pm ???
By the way guys..any news on the Semis--- Saturday look like the only day with Sun..are they going to have them on Sat at WP.
Rup,
The semis are on Saturday at WP - both Div 1 and 2. I think the 30/30 finals are on this weekend as well at the HP/CP ground.
Man it is quiet today. Shekhs, where are you? Looks like the weather will hold for the finals.
I guess right now Pak Gym must look like the favourites on paper for the night tournament finals. But I think you guys can pull it off if a couple of guys fire.
For Div 2, AAA will need to have a good day. Right now the Eagles are very strong and I personally would give them the edge and consider them favourites. I guess IIT have a good record against the Jaguars, and they have proven that they are a champion team that has playoff experience. This is a tough one to call and I personally think it's an even toss-up.
For Div 1, the Pak Gym vs United game is huge. That could have been the finals as they are probably the 2 best teams in most people's minds. I think it's an even toss up personally. Very difficult to give anyone the edge. And for the Peoria vs Phoenix game, I can't comment except that Peoria is a very very good team with champion players and we are probably the under-dogs.
I'm not smart enough to make a prediction for any of the games, so I'm hoping others will do so! :-)
Haven't posted on this blog in a long time now. Congrats to all the teams that made it to the semifinals.
Reading through the blog it just occurred to me that midwest cricketers don't talk much at all about fielding. There is a lot of talk about batting, bowling, umpiring, and even weather. Nobody mentions about fielding at all. Is it the typical sub-continent attitude towards fielding or is it that there aren't many good fielders in this league? Having played in this league for a few years, I have seen some horrendous fielding. I have also witnessed some top-class catching and fielding.
How about we open up a discussion on the best fielders in the league this year?
To start with, I think charlie is an excellent fielder. He throws his body at everything. As a team, I rank IIT very highly.
Adi,
Just got back from an Ortho appointment. Things aint that bad - 6 weeks is the rehab time.
yeah...Pak definitely is the fav for tonite..
but, we are still the champs..so never underestimate the heart of a champion...
Fielding is very important for a team but only fielding cannot get you selected to a team. First you do have to have main skill of batting or bowling then if you field well its bonus; makes your selection to the team that much easier. Fielding collectively as a team is always a deciding factor for a team winning or loosing. Fielding stats are hard to quantify and reason why its not measured the same way as bowling or batting. You never glorify fielding unless team wins. No one will talk about fielding if a team looses. Blame always goes to bowlers or batsmen and they get the axe if team doesn't do well.
Congrats & Good Luck to United, PAK GYM, Phoenix & Peoria for there win and upcoming semis.
We played in the quarter final with UNITED, were outplayed by a talented team. They batted excellently to reach 200+ despite being 110/6 at one point, credit to Mehul and Mateen for there sensible batting.
In a big game as such 200+ was always a big ask for us as we generally rely more on our bowling then batting to win games for us, and eventually we were all out for 135.
A fun and exciting weekend awaits us for the semis, good to all teams.
C ya all tonight in the night final, please dress warm, we are in for cold one....
Cheers!
Shekhs,
Glad to hear you'll be back on the field (although it'll be cold) in no time!
I think the Challs are like a wounded animal right now - most dangerous! Given the loss to Peoria, I am sure you guys will come out strong.
Either way, I'm sure it'll be a very good final and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it.
good luck to pak and chall in the finals of the abid laheri tournament
Cubbybear,
Yeah, fielding isn't cherished as much as the other skills. It's not always easy throwing yourself around.
As for good fielder, from Phoenix I can say that we have a couple of good ones. Mitul is an outstanding fielder in the deep - one of the best. He is quick enough to get to pretty much anything, has a good arm, and catches just about anything. Most of us in Phoenix would bet a lot of the catch was going to him. Athreya is another very good fielder who generally takes all catches, is very quick, and has a terrific arm. There are others in our team that are very good too.
For other teams, there are a few outstanding fielders as well. I find it very hard to tell who is very good in the in-field and who is excellent at say slip - maybe Kabir from Milw. But there are some very safe hands around.
as you can probably tell, this is a slow week at work. Welcome though, after the last 4-5 weeks being so hectic!!!! :-)
devils_advocate said...
"Fielding stats are hard to quantify..."
That's precisely my point. I can look at the score card to get a good idea on how well a batsman played or a bowler bowled. But there is no way for me figure out how the fielding was. Sure the scorecard has who got how many catches, but doesn't say much about how difficult or easy it was. On top of that, the scorecard doesn't capture any information about the dropped catches and mis-fields.
I don't watch that many of our league games but I have a good idea of who the best batsmen and bowlers in the league are. I have no clue as to who the best fielders in this league are and that's the reason why I thought this might be a good discussion. Alas! the bloggers seem to be on a snooze today :)
Yeah Aditya, it's been slow for me too at work. No complaints though, I get to spend some time on this blog :)
The Outfielding standard in this league is probably better than close fielding (especially catching in the slips). I rarely see catches being taken in the slips. More often than not, catches in the slips are dropped.
A couple of years ago when our team played against Peoria in Div2, I thought their catching in the slips was exceptional. They took all the catches in the slips very comfortably (4 in total, IIRC). Not sure if it was just one-off good day from Peoria or if they're generally that good.
Great. Just what I wanted to hear.... ;-)
I think Peoria in general is a very good fielding side.
Ha ha...didn't mean to psych you up before the semi-finals, just remembered that game while thinking about slip-catching in this league.
Well, atleast you know not to expect any reprieves from Peoria :)
Going by the discussions on fielding going on this blog today, I thought I would ask you guys a question that has always intrigued me. When one stands in the slips where does he focus his eyes to....Do you follow the ball right from the bowler's hand? or do you rather keep your eyes focussed on the edge of the bat. Well, of course it is easier when you are standing in the first slip, since you have a straight view of everything then...But I guess my question is directed more towards the techniqiue you would apply when standing at a wide slip/gully. There are pros and cons to both these techniques...it would make an interesting reading what our bloggers have to say about this.
cubbybear you don't get that 'quatification' even in international games. Fielding is just something you seem enjoy, and get entertained; but holds no significance if team doesn't win. If good fielding leads to win that's when everyone seems to talk about it. It is diffucult stat to present. If a fielder take a astounding diving catch or takes a simple catch that comes to his hand its same relevance of one out. Sames goes with the fileding a the boundary. U dive and stop a boundary or u just field the ball it just means you saved team few runs. It definitely adds up as innings progresses. Unfortunately, fielding is the least appreciated skill in cricket.
Vasu ..
I do look at the edge of the bat when I am at slips ... I never knew abt this until I played in MCC in 2005 ... I was told by a team-mate of mine to do so ... The technique seems to have worked so far .. only one dropped catch .. I remember ... :)
Shekhs bhai ..
Aaj khane mein kya hoga in the finals ??
vasu,
When I'm standing in the slips I try to keep my eyes on the ball all the time. So, I start with the bowler's run up, stay low with both palms joined in a catching position as the bowler reaches his delivery stride and from then on try to follow the ball. I tried focusing on the bat's edge, as suggested by some of my team mates, but didn't really work out that well for me.
I think it's up to the individual to do what he's comfortable with.
I'm not a great slip fielder but ain't that bad either, so take this advice with a pinch of salt. :)
I was taught to watch the edge of the bat. I have found that has helped me a lot. I pick up the ball a lot quicker and am able to move my feet instead of having to dive. The times that I have dropped a slip catch is when I have not done that and have watched the ball instead.
Shaid Hussain Ali of Bears is an exceptional slips fielder.... he took three blinders against Phoenix this season.... and I have heard a lot from others about his prowess.....
Most people in the midwest league do not throw the ball to the keeper's gloves but rather bounce it once or twice.. such a pain for any keeper I am sure... this is very glaring indeed...
Vasu
A slip/gully fielder ought to just crouch and focus on the bat edge... and no where else... it is advisable to have very soft hands while catching...
Shiva
yep thats true, well watching the bat has always helped me when I field in the gully, but it is even more comfortable when I donot think about anything and go with the flow.. I have done both thing watching the ball all the time as well as keep an eye on the bat and both have helped me half the times..the other half times..I dunno what goes thruogh me but end up dropping catches even if I look at the bt or the ball..
mebbe its just coz I am a bad fielder :)
advocate,
I must disagree with what you said. If fielding were that insignificant, Jonty Rhodes couldn't have been as big a star. Jonty is remembered purely for his fielding skills than his batting.
You said, diving and stopping a boundary or just stopping the ball at the boundary is just the same, the end result being stopping a few runs for your team. But, what you're failing to acknowledge is by diving and putting in that extra effort, you stop more balls and hence more runs. In the end, these additional runs could make the difference between a win and loss. That extra effort could also be the difference between getting a batsman out cheaply and letting him pile up runs.
A team can lose a game just because of bad fielding/catching, especially in the ODIs and T20s.
I agree with cubby here, I think that fielding is obviously one of the important things that result in winning a match. I also remember couple matches that we lost just by dropping 8 catches..well as they say catches win matches..
Growing up in India, we're told, even forced sometimes, to comply with orthodoxy. Personally, I think one should do what works best for him, be it in batting, bowling or fielding. I wouldn't go and change the batting style of a Dhoni or a Sehwag just because they don't follow the book rules. Similarly, if you're comfortable with your style of catching, whichever technique you follow, stick to it. Ofcourse, if the results aren't good, then it's only wise to change your style :)
Here is an excellent article from Kumar Sangakkara, on how not to force orthodoxy on players and let them be:
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/362921.html
Talk about bas fielding and losses we have had, last season we put 250 odd runs against giants, dropped 10 catches and lost, this season in T20 had challengers under control defending 127, but 8 drop catches 2 run out misses costed us the game but against QC Kings in the league game we defended 139 with some great fielding and catching..... so Shabari and cubby hit the nail on the coffin, fielding is THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of cricket.
As for slip catches have always been taught to follow the bat, again its how fielder(s) get used to. Mark Waugh has always watched the bowler, followed the ball to the pitch.
First slip esp is a specialist position, since it mainly depends on the keeper's reach.
cubby bear Jonty Rhodes was very good bat go check his stats and his running between the wickets is the BEST. He won games for SA by batting also. He was a decent bat and extra ordinary fielder. He wouldn't have been on the team purley for his fielding skills. Also, remember what big deal they were making of suresh raina and kaif when entered Indian team. Fielding did save their face when weren't performing but patience does run out. So is the example of Ganguly. How long did he sustain in Indian team purely as batsmen and a horrendous fielder. So, does Laxman. Go check some of the Test games and see how many catches these guys dropped. NO one is selected because he is a GOOD fielder. He atleast have to be a good or decent bat or bowler. If don't have enough runs on the board by good fielding you delay inevitable of getting thrashed. Try telling it to your captain to select a guy based on Fielding see how far it gets
Thansk Cubby...Very Good read indeed... Treating an experienced player of over 100 tests and a new comer on the same level speaks volumes of the camaraderie in the Sri Lankan dressing room.....
Shiva
Salman Quershi is another youngster with a terrific arm..... he probably can throw from one end of the ground to the other flat.... amazing....
Shiva
Appu said
"Shekhs bhai ..
Aaj khane mein kya hoga in the finals ??
"
Biriyani....for everybody..
devils_advocate,
I think you totally misinterpreted what I said. I agree with you that a player cannot be selected based purely on his fielding. A classic case is Kaif. However, I don't agree with you when you say that fileding doesn't play an important role in the outcome of a game.
Regarding Jonty Rhodes, I never said that he's not a good batsman. I only mentioned that if not for his fielding prowess, he wouldn't have been as big a star as he is now. Jonty Rhodes is known more for his scintillating fielding, for raising the standards of world cricket and inspiring a whole generation of cricketers to work on their fitness and fielding, than for his batting. When somebody says Jonty, the one thing that comes to my mind is his brilliant run-out of Inzamam in the world cup. When you do a search for Jonty Rhodes on YouTube you find a number of video clips of his run-outs and catches but hardly any of his batting performances. This is not to say that he wasn't a good batsman but just to belabor the point that he's a star more for his fielding than batting.
Yes Shiva, I saw Salman the other day and he's definitely one of the quickest fielders I've seen in this league and he's got a great throwing arm.
Regarding throwing ... I don't think it has much to do with strength ... but with the technique ...
I have seen some days .. when I have thrown from the outfield straight to keeper .. while some days I have struggled to reach the keeper with even 2-3 bounces..
Cubbybear,
Good article. Took up about 8 minutes. This is such a long day.....
cubby bear I understand what you are saying my point was first you need to be good in either batting or bowling then you hone your fielding skills. Viceversa is not true. You cannot justify position on the team based on your fielding skills solely. Fielding is collective team effort and cricket is a team game. Only game I can think of that fielding made the biggest impact to me personally watching was Inda Vs Bangladesh in last world cup. I think fielding made big difference in Bangladesh win eliminating India. They pretty much stopped every thing and just made batsmen play unconvetional shots.
All,
Wish you and your family Eid Mubarak.
Rohit
Challengers beat Pak in the 20-20 Finals yesterday...
Appu or Adi can shed more light on the details....
Eid Mubarak to everyone.
Shekh's what was the final diagnosis on your shoulder? btw we did win that game agains patriots.
Eid Mubarak!
Tonald,
I broke my clavicle/ collar bone.
5-6 weeks of recovery time.
I'm glad my dive wasn't in vain..
The night tourney finals was a damn good game. It was quite cold, but both teams played their hearts out.
Challengers batted first and were looking damn good at 50 odd in 5 overs. But then Pak Gym reigned them back in and a total of 126/9 in 20 overs didn't look very daunting in my opinion. Mahesh played very well as did Bhavesh initially and Tushar later down the order. Nirav Patel kept the tail wagging and Dax hit a couple of nice shots. Raheel bowled an outstanding spell early on. Maqsood and Bakshi were very very good and Shahid and Rashid were quick and disciplined.
Pak Gym started out well scoring 11 runs in the first 5 balls. But then Dax struck and got Imran out. After that, Sanjay and Dax kept it tight and amazingly enough after 3 overs the score was just 15. After 10 overs the score was 40 with about 4 wickets down - Imran, Bakshi, Maqsood, and Ashhar. Shahid and Irfan were at the crease with 87 to go in 10 overs.
They batted well for a few overs, and the challengers refused to take the catches that they gave. But finally Mrudul got the breakthroughs getting Irfan bowled and Shahid stumped soon after. Abid hit some big shots, but got out soon. It came down to the last over with 13 runs required. Faisal Nafast was bowling the over with Farman and Rashid at the crease. He bowled a beauty to give just 2 runs and get Rashid out as well.
Challengers won the Abid Laheri Night Tournament for the third consecutive time. They truly are champions at that format of the game - maybe even our very own MCC "dynasty"???? :):):)
Congratulations.
great job challangers they truely diserved it...........hard luck pak you guys were the favourites....
It was cold but a very good game played by both sides.
Congrat to Challengers.. and yes they should be consider the dynasty team of our 20/20 league.
Hard luck to Pak and we all know the are a heck of a Team to beat in any format of the game so we could look for them to seek some revenge in winning the Premier league...
A wounded Lion is still VerRRRRRRYYYy...Dangerous.. so look out Div 1...
I will see ya all at the Semis this saturday..
I was reading the finals weekly summary ... and came across the line that 'Alpesh made some horrible decisions on our side' ... Well .. I am sorry to Pak Gym team if they felt it that way ... but as per my view point .. those were correct decisions ..
Anyways .. All the best to you guys for the Div 1 play-off games ... Relax .. I will not be the umpire in any of those games :)
Appu,
I believe and I know that you've been a fair and good umpire all through the night tournament.
Matter of fact, teams were asking for you as an umpire.
I think your decisions were fair last night ....
Please take it from me...you did an outstanding job last nite..so did Adi..
If there was another game/ final for ALNT, I'll definitely have you as my umpire..
Thanks for umpiring bud....
EID MUBARAK !!! Everybody.
Congratulations Challengers. Toughluck Pak Gym. Although the comment was unwarranted.
Appu, don't take it to heart we all know you are a good umpire. People make comments in the heat of the moment sometimes. I am sure they don't mean it.
Shekhs, thx for the biryani. Maan i was famished.
I was Pak Gym fielding last night and damn they have fantastic arms. They threw like the Cubs/White Sox.
Belated Eid Mubarak.
I thought I had wished people, but apparently had not.
Anytime Preetam!
thanks for stopping by..
I brought some VSOP right after you guys left...that kept a lotta us warm...told ya to stay back..
:-)
So what's cooking for this weekend.
Looks like the Semis are on Saturday...
Shekhs..are you coming out?. I got to umpire so i wil be there all day??
you betcha Rup!
will be out there...
looks like VSOP time again.. :-)
Congratulations to the Challengers, they definitely are the kings in the 20/20 format. It is a wonderful accomplishment to win 3 championships in a row.
I was there till the 6th over of the chase, the good old combination of Daxx and Parikh had claimed another victim ...stumped with the ball bowled down leg. I was sitting in the car with wife and son. Trying to give him as much exposure as early as possible :)
Fahad, congratulations to you and MWCC on reaching the finals. Good luck to your team and to you.
Good luck to all teams playing this weekend.
shekhs.. damn, I missed out on the VSOPs. Hope you are feeling better
Jaggi,
Rup mentioned that you were in the car...
Are you still going out of town this weekend?
I bet Adi convinced you to play.. :-)
We'll get you some VSOP this weekend, if you stick around... :-)
Rup,
Marghoob bhai wanted me to umpire thisweekend, but apparently I can't signal wides.. :-)
So, it'll be me and Marghoob bhai sippin on VSOP on the sidelines..
Satha,
You have the same squad from last weekend?
Due, I'll bring the wager from last game..
Also, I have a trophy for ya..the night winning trophy from last year.. :-)
I am travelling this and the next weekend. Just plain bad timing. Will miss out on a chance to play my first Div-1 Semis.
C-mon Jaggi...How about plaster up the fingers and show the boss..can't work like this..then we see ya at the ball game..good excuse eh!!!!
Alright..Shekhs...now ya tak'n!!!!.
I am goon try and wake up early morning and Make some appetizers..
"Casreep(Teryaki) Chicken.. west indian style???.
Unfortunately, this travel is part of the new job Rup :) Damn, Casreep chicken and the VSOP sounds real good
Even I want some chicken and VSOP. Maybe VSOP after we play Peoria - hopefully in celebration and not depression!!
Jaggi, you sure you can't play??? ;-)
Jaggi,
I heard you were moving. Is that right ? Damn!
We need to get together before you go.
It is going to be ccccccold during the semis.
---------
Preetam N said...
It is going to be ccccccold during the semis.
------
Its not that bad, actually - high 68 and sunny is what I heard. Thats pretty reasonable, really (Sunday is actually a few degrees warmer, and also sunny all day until late evening apparently).
We've seen much much worse - a few years ago I attended a Div1 final in which the high was about 48 or so... that day we had tents set up at Hanover for spectators, and portable heaters inside those tents to keep them warm. Hopefully this year we wont have anything nearly as bad, this week or next (next week hopefully we can have both Div2 and Div1 finals on Grounds #2 and #3, with tents set up in between.. and hopefully the low 70s of the early part of the week will hold till next weekend for the finals too :-)
c8w
Yes Preetam, I landed a new job. I will talk more about it after the finals. Good luck this weekend.
Shekhs,
more or less its gonna be the same team.......
anys drinks that can keep you warm is greatly appreciated.
Satha, hope your eye is doing better. Thank you for the warm drink last weekend.
Good luck to you this weekend.. on second thoughts, I take that back :)
Jaggi Sir ..
Do you know Rahul Dravid made his debut for India in Singapore only :)
yeah satha man...you got it....
Jaggi,
It will take a month or two to get back my vision completely. Its a struggle but have no other choice.
I've had already taken you wishes and now I can't give back to you....:-)
Shekhs,
Looking forward to have a few drinks after the game......WIN OR LOSE, I'LL BOOZE.
Don't forget me after the game guys..
m gonna try to get the pot rolling!!!
so guys what about some predictions?????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Appu, Rahul Nadig will debut in Singapore too :)
I like that one Satha... Win or Lose I will Booze.
Divion I semi-finals:
Pak Gymkhana vs United: Pak gymkhana are a very strong team, but united can definately end their dreams. I vote for United.
Pheonix vs Peoria: Peoria has some great bastmen, but I think Pheonix is not any less. Pheonix can definately progress to the finals.
Division II semi-finals:
AAA vs Eagles: I vote Eagles, since they have become unbeatable in the past some matches.
Jaguars vs IIT: I will vote for Jaguars, since looked very strong for the last couple matches and clearly showed they wanna stay. Well and coz its my team
United Over Pak
Will not predict Phoenix vs Peoria.
Jaguars over IIT
Eagles over AAA
MWCA will win the 30/30 championships.
In the div-2 finals, I believe Jaguars will be a position to win, but will give away the game to Eagles. Any guesses as to why that may be?
Satha,
Thats always our motto..
win or loose ..we'll booze..
Predictions:
Div2:
IIT over Jaguars
Eagles over AAA
Div2:
United over Pak
Peoria over Phoenix (adi dont get mad..get glad...)
:-)
how bout another friendly rivalry..
Satha and Adi..any wagers?
goodluck to all the teams in the semifinals in their divisions!!!!
Do Tell Jaggi!!!!.....Do Tell???
The Semis are here and seem like the most important topic is what we gona do after the games.
Sad,,isn't it..as teams get knock out we loose the bloggers..that telling you how much the love cricket as the claim?????
I know we gona BOOZE so let here you tell why Eagles will get the cup..could start a good round of debate
The "Shabari" factor: In ramayana, Shabari tasted fruits before it was handed over to Rama. Similary, our friend Shabari will taste success before handing it over to the Eagles.
Sorry, have been in the "PJ" frame of mind.
Shabari, dude this is all in good fun. I have not met you, but took the liberty. Good luck to you and the Jags.
Ok, I am out of here. Good luck to all.
Thank you for all your kind comments and predictions. I cannot ever predict. For instance IIT Vs Jaguars. How can we predict that game. Both have fanstic batting and bowling. And the more said about their fielding the less said.
I think the team that has an off day on saturday will lose.
And us Vs AAA. AAA is a damn good team. They have beaten us once before. But we are have been doing okay since then. It is going to a tough game for us and we will really have to put our heads down. But we will fight tooth and nail. That much i can promise.
Goodluck to all the teams for saturday.
Satha, i like the Booze slogan. Good 'un.
'huh!'
Thats deep Jaggi.
lol its pretty funyy..jaggi..seriously. I was sitting in my office and started laughing out loud. Well that was the old Shabari, but now its the new Shabari who eats the fruit completely no sharing. so this will help us win ;). and yes satha, "win or loose i'll booze" is going to be the quote of the month for a while I guess... Anyways good luck guys..have fun...u will hopefully see us happy tommorow..:)
Yes, lets keep that motto for everyone:
WIN OR LOSE, WE'LL BOOZE!
Good luck to all you guys and I'll see ya'll in OBAMALAND tomorrow morning.
Peace out.
Thanks Satha. We'll take your good wishes any day!
Shekhs - i see how it is!!
Shabri, thanks for the vote of confidence.
Time for me to lock myself into my room and meditate until just before the game.... - just kidding!!
LUCK IS WHAT THE OTHER GUY NEEDS....
Mehulya...kem cho..
bei game che...thari...championship ma..
luck joyiche..
shekhbhai....
Khudi ko kar buland itna, ke har takdeer se pehlay
Khuda bande se khud puche, bata teri raza kiya hai
aadaab!!!!!
Shekhs bhai ..
aap to pure gujju ho gaye ... ayee shabbash ... 'Shatru style'
I think if you do your due dilligence and do the basics right you should come out on the right side of the result. You drop catches, play dumb shots, bowl like crap, than definitely you need lot of luck to win games. I am not taking anything away from the "MOST" talented Pak team. I wish I could bowl as quick as Shahid and hit ball as far as Faiz/Imran/Irfan. We will have to play our best cricket (do basics right all the way) to win tomorrow.
Mehul
aadaam arze..!
isbaat pe..pesh he ek aur..
Mitta de apni hasti ko agar kuch martaba chaahata hein..
Ke daana khaak mein mil kar gul-e-gulzaar hota hein...
adaab..
wah wah!!! wah wah!!! kya baat hai...boleto... ekdam jhakaaaaassss
Satha seems to be in full form... great going man , good luck for tomorrow....
As Preetam said, the team that has an off day wins the semis and thats so true.....
Now Jaggi went Deep..way..Way DEEEEEEPPPP before he went out!!!!!
We had a guys back home who hate loosing so much that whenever we are playing a strong team he will go do his Sunday morning prayers on the wicket before he does anything..over 1/2 mile walk either way??....
Now me being the rebel I was will hang out at the Bar across the field till the Toss is about to spin and I cruise in with a little Devil in me... that mixture do give you a blood rush...Good VS Evil in the same vicinity..???
Shekhs...Mehul..why the No English conversation.. ya ll know we will like to know what you are saying about one another..hopefully Ex's.
Good luck to all the teams tomorrow and lets play cricket as cricket should be played.
Have fun win or loose and lets not see any irresponsible behaviors from our players as we have seen by a few over the last few weeks
Khudi ko kar buland itna, ke har takdeer se pehlay
Khuda bande se khud puche, bata teri raza kiya hai
aadaab!!!!!
Kudee ko kar bulund itna key pahad (mountain) per ja behtey, key kuda kud bundey sey puche abey utrey ga kessey.
God does not need you, you need God.
Aaaadaaab!
Adnan Baig
www.unitedcricket.org
Hey all,
Jaguars season came to an end today. IIT won against us by 50 runs. IIT batted first scored 260, courtesy 104 from LakshmiKumar, we batted well. The chase started pretty bad with a wicket in the 2nd over and arunout in the 3rd, again LakshmiKumar in action getting a direct throw from deep thridman on the batting end, IIT kept us in tight leash before Satyam opened up, again 2 balls before drinks satyam got out. At this stage we were needing 9 runs an over, but some brilliant batting from Shabri(36), Sikander(57) and Shahmeer(25) got the equation to 56 runs of 5 overs with 3 wickets remaining, but again LakshmiKumar took the ball took 2 wickets in 2 balls and finished with 3 in that over and ending our season. He is outright Man Of Match. Well played, and jaguars didnot go out with out a fight.
Thats our game, also heard that Eagles lost to AAA, im sure Preetam will throw more light on that game.
Good Luck to IIT and AAA, this should be a good final to watch.... Good Luck guys.....
Shekhs thanks for VSOP.....
Eagles lost to AAA in the semis
Eagles elected to bowl first and pinned AAA to 67/4 at the break. Then things went south for us. AAA ended up with 220 on board. AAA ran very well in the final 20 overs. Sloppy fielding/catching did us in.
In response, we were all out for 171, with Subbu scoring 79.
Good luck to AAA and IIT in the finals.
Well damn it I missed both of these great games due to 20/20 puck me.
Hard luck Rohit. 260 is a very difficult target to chase. Ebrahim or Masta can you please do a play by play for us.
Congrats to both IIT and AAA.
Can we get a new thread started please????
Quick update:
Div 2 finals - AAA vs IIT
Div 1 finals - Phoenix vs United
We managed to restrict Peoria to 187 due to excellent bowling from our MoM Prasanna who was ably supported by Arun, Shiva, Mitul, and Amish. We also took most of our catches with Naveen (our keeper) taking a couple of good ones and both Prasanna and Arun taking absolute phenomenal ones. We knew we had to give it our all and fight hard to restrict such a talented batting line up.
While batting, Ravidhar bowled lights out and we really had to "survive" against him. Kiran bowled well too as did the others, but we kept our heads, batted sensibly, and got to the target in the 42nd overs with 5 wickets in hand. Solid contributions from all our batsman was key to chasing down the target in a pressure game against a very very good team.
We are quite excited about making our first Div 1 finals. United is the team to beat and are definitely the favourites. We are looking forward to a hard fought game.
blogs dead. I donot have anything to read now :(. Is everyone dead?
Hahahaa Shabari.....give everyone a day's rest ....
Satha and Shekhs are having a hangover .... two days rest ;).....
Anybody throw some detail on the Div 1 semis....
Congrats to Phoenix and United to making into the finals. They both truly deserve it. I'm sure the finals are going to be a thrilling and too bad I won't be able to witness the season finale.
Good luck to AAA and IIT and I bet its going to be another cracker. Congrats to Luxmi on his splendid century. You ROCK man.
I'm a bit tipsy from Sat night but able to hold my head straight. It was a pleasure to see all you guys over the weekend and I had a great time being there and WP.
Shekhs, thanks for the VSOP - that keep me warm from the Windy City winds.
On a different note, I think at least in Div 1, the league should use 4-piece balls for the games. I believe the higher divisions game sahould be playe wit 4-piece balls instead of 2-piece balls. The 4-piece balls generate less swing than a 2-piece ball. This makes the fast bowlers to work hard at it. In Toronto, we used the 4-piece balls fro Div 1, Premier and Elite. Platypus (Test) or Kokuburra (Googly) balls cost about CAN $40 a piece. I'm sure the cost is pretty high compared to the balls we use in MWCC but the balls last for a longer period and the wear and tear of the balls are minimal. I think since we play quality cricket in the MWCC league, why not play with higher standards that are available?
Any takers on this topic?
Satha
Concur 100% on this dude. We should definitely try to play atleast the playoffs with some quality balls. That is only 50 odd balls at total cost of not more that $2000 dollars.
Also, is the finals 50 overs or 45 overs. I for one think it should be same as the whole season. Why change? Adi, what say you?
Satha, I agree with you completely. Not just because it will be easier to play Ravindhar ;-) but we should go for better quality balls. It is something we have all been saying for some time.
Mehul, good question. I am not sure either and was going to ask what the plan was. I'd rather face less overs of you than more!!! :-)
Satha,
Once again, we felt that the game was played in the right spirit and competitively. We thoroughly enjoyed playing you guys both times. I think both times it was a hard fought game and quite competitive. I hope there were no untoward incidents from our end for you guys. Again, please extend my apologies to the team about the mix-up regarding lunch.
Peoria is a very good team and I'm sure you guys will come back even stronger next year. You guys have had a wonderful season - first time in Div 1 (as Peoria) and you've made it to the semis by knocking of the number 1 seed.
Take care of your eye, and stay in touch.
Santana...I'm glad I could help out...
I agree..
The playoffs should be played with quality balls...
This is something we can recommend ...
Finals would be a 50 over game..
If it was upto us(Challengers..), we would've made it 30..or even 20..
Here goes the ball thing again...
The moved to a little better quality this year but we are still far..far..away in comparison to other top leagues..
I agree with you all that quality needs to replace quantity for all games not just playoffs and I hope we can somehow financially be able to spend at least $20 US per..ball...
MGT should have an early AGM...Know where we stand finacially and determine if any how much more it will cost per team to upgrade the balls to decent quality.
Satha,, Hard luck to you and them Peoria boys... You guys have done great as a first year team in Div 1..this is something you all should be proud of as it's been a nightmare on the recent DIV 2 promo to Div 1.
Madhu, I hope all is well with you and the Family..
Satha you mentioned 2 piece balls..Am i missing something here cause I thought all MCC balls were two piece??.
Mehul, I hope the leave it at 45 cause there is not enough sunlight to play 50 overs.. the sun is gone by 6pm????
two piece??.... Meant 4 piece
Adi,
Or should I say don't want to give you guys more overs to chase a target.
Great job Peoria..in making the semis, the first year itself..
The team that amazes me the most...and I'm surprised..noone's even talking about them - Phoenix..
As their name stands..they did rise up from the previous year ashes...nobody (including myslef) game them an outside chance of even making the playoffs (beginning of the season)..
When they were consistently the # 1 team for a few weeks..I thought - oh maybe...they'll make the playoffs..
But I'm sure, noone expected them to make the Finals...
Way to go Phoenix..!
Great job Adi in leading them..
The way they have been batting in the playoffs...United better watchout...
do give United the edge in this matchup..but..will not count Phoenix out..they are indeed living up to their name..
Hats off fellas!
If it was upto us(Challengers..), we would've made it 30..or even 20..
Finally we got some one admitting that age is starting to become a factor/problem in our league..
I say if we don't change our format to accomodate family and age we could see just a few teams left in MCC or best we could see (30/30 premier and Div 2)..???? Dive 1 And Div 2 will be left with only a few teams...
Adi, Hope you recover from da partying over the week end...You guys have proven a lot of us wrong so far,,why not keep proving us wrong until the end..??.
No hard feeling Mehul...I feel Adi's bunch will win this game in a very close battle. They are coming in as the underdog so it will be up to you all to prove them wrong...
Guys I think I know who Tango/BH/Confucious is???.
oh no..Rup..who that????
Shekhs,
Thanks for the shout-out. It has been a team effort all the way and the entire team deserves credit for it.
United is definitely the team to beat though and go into this game as favourites. They've got the Number 1 batsman of Div 1 this year, they've got Kiran, Amit, Mateen, Dr. Naveed, and the list goes on, and they've got a certain gentleman named Mehul who can turn the game with bat or ball!!
They also have plenty of finals experience - 3 Div 1 finals and 1 ALNT finals! I'm sure all that experience alone should make them the favourites and be a huge bonus for them.
They are a very very good team.
Touche Mehul. Nicely played.
Got any tips for the underdogs???
Rup,
Thanks for the vote of confidence. You may be one of the few... ;-). No worries though - it should be a fun game. Yeah, I have recovered from the weekend. Looks like the weather should be in the 70s this coming weekend, so a good day for a game of cricket.
Hope to see you at the ground my friend.
ps. Do tell, who are these 3 goliaths of blogging? Will call you later in case you want to keep their secret from getting out.
Rup, I just looked at your comment and realized that you are saying they are all one person!!! Whoa... now I am intrigued.
Rup...i thought you are umpiring our game?? You have picked the winner already?????
Adi,
Tips are done bro. No more email exchanges, no more strategy sharing. Time to play DUMB :)...
I would think with two "perfect" games, you guys should be fav to win this thing. We at UCC have lot of respect for Phoenix. We are not going to take anything easy and will try our best to play basic cricket.
Rup...i thought you are umpiring our game?? You have picked the winner already?????
================================
I said "I feel they will win" Mehul and not "they will win". I know this can be interpreted in differnet ways United can rest asure that by no means I implied foul means for a victory
My integrity and trust has been held to a very high standard by MCC and don't intend to throw down the drain.
Yep I am very close to bust this champion blogger but then again i feel if I do we will dearly miss his genuine bloggers view and confucious terms.
I jus pulin ya leg rup. We would have you as our umpire any day. All of us know that you are a good cricketer and would do your best everytime.
I am surprised no one is talking about 3030 or even div 2 that much... cmon guys lets hear some predictions!
Mehul,
I was wondering why all my emails to you were bouncing back with the message - "You are Phoenix - get lost!" ;-)
Now now, you know there is no such thing as a"perfect" game. And I would argue that you guys have been playing "perfect" games for quite some time now. You are still the favourites - just ask anyone in the league.
Looks like there is a major "respect" fest going on between us. Chalo, now we will have to sever all lines of communication and just play the game!!!
Just tell me how do we compare to all the finals experience you guys have?
I would like to forget all the past finals. This is what counts. In the past we have done really bad in second halves (you must have already by now looked that up in ur high tech team analysis). We are confident of not screwing it up completely. That is all I can say.
IIT vs AAA should be interesting. Both have been in Div 1 previously. IIT is my pick.
My analysis tells me that you guys are a very well balanced team. You have excellent firepower with bat and ball and have been the team to beat this year - period! I expect nothing but a superlative effort from you guys.
Div 2 is going to be a tough game to call. Both are excellent teams.
I thought the 30/30 finals was done!! Who won?? Didn't the semis take place 3 weeks ago?
IIT is gonna WIN it all this time. Its their year and they are looking very hungy due to past losses in finals..Go IIT!
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