Rotary Tournament - Match 3 (Semi Finals)

After a while we had a match on Sunday. I thought I had  over slept (couldnt sleep through the night managed to get a couple of hours from 4am) so rushed to the ground and found myself banging on the locked doors . Soon Naveen and Hari came to help and managed to wake up the watchman and the doors open. By the time I could park and walk  to the ground I was sweetly surprised to see most of CSS members reaching the ground. It was nice to see the team on the ground early, so early that we had to wait for the opponents for a few minutes. 

Mr. Captain playing his last match befor he takes off for a few months (travelling on business abroad) had a quick meeting and announced this and wanted to get this match finished quickly with  a win. He sent his lucky charm Mr. Yuvraj "Arvind" Singh for the toss. As usual he had the toss and decided to put Axis bank to bat first. 

The Final XI: Arvind, Gunjan, Karthik, Kiran, Natz, Prabhu, Ramesh (wk), Seshan, Veera, Vicky, Vishy 

Supported by: Satish, Naveen, Hari, Dinesh, Satish, Balaji

I was asked to chose the end from which I can start, I took the same I bowled from in the last match we played here. Mr. Captain while doing so said lets share the new ball, then I guess changed his mind and had Gunjan bowl from the other end. Good call, I would have done the same. 

For me, it was one of those days when you have the ball pretty much doing what you want it do. I enjoyed bowling and have started getting some numbers under the wickets column. Been fairly economical all through the year (2008) but not many wickets.  

Gunjan bowled a great first over and got a wicket. One of those dream starts you would want in a semi-finals of a tourney. My second over was interesting, a caught behind was turned down and fortunately I had the same batsman bowled a couple of balls later. 

First change was Vicky and he continued his good bowling form and very miser this time. Mr. Captain brought in Seshan and he bowled a brilliant 2 over spell. The best I have seen him bowl so far. 

It was nice to see CSS bowlers keeping the check and taking wickets at regular intervals. More importantly there was no mis fielding except for one which Kiran let the ball turn and run to the fence. I felt between 15th and 20th overs CSS was relaxed a bit which helped Axis to take the score beyond 100 and set a target of 109 for CSS.  

Ramesh (wk) has brought a long missing good keeping skills for the team. He was brilliant behind the wickets and more importantly was cheering all through the 20 overs which is new to CSS. Keep it up Ramesh, except for the one drop catch (for me ;)) you were spot on.

Bowling Figures:

Vishy - 1/12 in 4 overs (1 wide)

Gunjan - 2/29 in 4 overs (4 wides)

Vicky - 2/12 in 4 overs (2 wides)

Prabhu - 2/25 in 4 overs (2 wides)

Seshan - 0/7 in 2 overs (2 wides)

Natz - 1/19 in 2 overs (1 wide)

With the asking rate being low, Natz decided to have him and Kiran open with me at No. 3 and Arvind at 4 and Karthik at 5. 

Kiran lasted for a little over an over and was out caught behind with a faint nick while chasing a wide ball outside the off. This brought me in and joined Mr. Captain. The plan was simple, just stay there and see through the match. Natz and I  saw a couple of over go by with some singles. Then Natz started playing his trade mark shots, pulled a couple to the fence. He also got out for the same shot, mis-cued and got caught at mid-wicket. This brought in the in form Mr. Yuvray "Arvind" Singh. He didnt stay too long, was unlucky to get a leading edge and lobbing the ball back to the bowler. I felt very bad, as the previous ball I denied him of a very easy single. 

This brought Mr. Best-ever-batsman-slash-has-ever-produced on to the pitch. He was his usual self and started playing as if he is continuing from his innings a couple of months back at St. Bedes. It was great to watch him do the short-arm jab and hit for six at ease. 

I got out, playing across for no reason. This brought in Prabhu to join Karthik. Who both finished the match with about 2 and a half overs to spare. 

Batting Figures

Natz - 22(24) 

Kiran - 6(7)

Vishy - 18(27)

Arvind - 1 (5)

Karthik - 36(25) Not out

Prabhu - 15 (17) Not out

Karthik was declared "Man of the Match" for his brilliant 37 of just 25 balls. 

CSS with this victory are through the finals which will be played on 20th Sept. 

Natz we will certainly miss you for that match. 

Rotary Tournament - Match 2

With the first match going against us this match became crucial for CSS to stay in the tournament. Added to this with one of the team in our group opting out of the tournament all the teams were given a point each and the winners of this match goes to semi-finals directly. All of this was announced by the organizers before the toss which helped everyone to understand the criciticality and helped me not to talk much :)

CSS had to play CTS - Project A-Z in the second match. 

CSS Won the toss and decided to field first. This was a gamble I took especially after the batting failure in the first match this was a big decision. 

The Final XI: Arvind, Gunjan, JP, Paul, Prabhu,  Ramesh, Shyam, Vishnu, Veera, Vicky, Vishy.

Supported by: Kiran, Seshan, Dinesh, Hari, Naveen (the long haired guy) & Satish.

To cut the long story short, we didnt support the bowlers. There were 3 catches dropped, all of them almost identical for the same batsman at the same location by the same fielder. Not just that, with the ground being a little bigger than the one we played in the morning, and with a left and right hand batsman the team took a while to get to terms with. 

CTS scored 176 in their 20 overs. 

Ashwin  - 65(58), Murali 33(14), Arun 48(42)

Vishy - 0/23 in 4 with 1 wide

Vicky - 2/38 in 4 with 6 wides

Gunjan - 0/16 in 2 with 2 wides

Vishnu - 1/44 in 4 with 0 wides

Prabhu - 0/31 in 4 with 1 wide

Paul - 1/24 in 2 with 3 wides

The team was upbeat about chasing and everyone realised what had happened in the field was not the best effort and wanted to get the match in. 

With so much to chase I had just one option go for it from the first ball. Had asked Vicky to open the innings with Gunjan. Vicky couldnt have responded any better. He was hitting the ball with such ease fours and sixes were the only scores and so much was his confidence he denied singles to the other "opening batsman" for him to keep strike. 

It was brilliant to wach him play. He scored 66 of just 37 balls. With this I walked in hoping to stay there and keep the score ticking. But could only manage that for 12 balls. While I was there Gunjan carried along what he started with Vicky and retired at 25 (32). This brought in the inform "Yuvraj" Arvind "Singh". It was his day, he was at ease and the "Angry Beast" was on song. 

With the fall of my wicket I had asked Prabhu to join Mr. YA Singh. He and Arvind were running hard and hitting harder to get the scores. Mr. Singh was totally exhausted and wanted a runner (he didnt field the last 2 overs of our bowling as well). When JP was all set to do the running for Mr. Singh, Prabhu took a blow on his face and had to use JP's services for running and Arvind had to live with his own legs. 

The last 2 overs were the best of the match, with 29 runs to win. Murali the strike bowler bowled the 19th over and Arvind & JP ran and took 10 runs. The running was the best and thanks JP your stay there as the legs for Prabhu was a significant contribution. With 19 to score in the last over Arvind started off with a 6 off the first ball and a single. Prabhu smashed 3 fours it came down to 1 run off the last ball. The dugout was already excited as a tie would have taken us to the semis. 

With all the fielders in close to cut the single, prabhu smashed one through mid-off  for a four ensuring CSS's place in Semis straight in. 

It was a very close match and an exciting victory for CSS. The match was so good that the organisers and players from the adjeacent ground was watching this match. One of the organiser mentioned that this was the best match they had seen in the to

urney so far. It indeed was. 

Personally for me it was great to watch one of the best chases I have seen. 176 was a good score in 20-20 and Arvind and Prabhu made us look proud and saved one of the best innings of Vicky in the start. Vicky earned a very well deserved "Man of the Match". 

Congratulations CSS. 

The Semis will be on 14th Sept.

Scores : 

Vicky - 66(37), Gunjan 25 (32) retd., Arvind 35*(21), Prabhu 32*(17)

Extras - 11.

Here is the paper cutting of the 

scores published on Deccan Chronicle - Dated 9th Sept, Page 39.

Rotary Tournament - Match 1

With more than a month break the CSS team had a double-header (not the right usage) this weekend. CSS had to play back to back matches as it chose to do a selection for more youngsters to its team the week earlier. 

It was great to see a lot of new faces and the team at the ground on time, well just about ;) on a very cloudy morning. 

Mr. Captain was out on business travel so it was all to his best men to manage. For the records I was introduced to the organizers and the oponents as captain. 

The first match was against RSJ Consultants. The team selection was a bit of a problem with many folks coming for the first time and "what they could do" is known only to Veera and Arvind. We decided to give chance to 2 of them so Gunjan and Yuvraj did their debut for CSS both choses for their bowling. 

The final XI - Arvind, Gunjan, Kiran, Paul, Prabhu, Satish, Veera, Vicky, Vishnu, Vishy & Yuvraj.

Supported by - Seshan, JP, Ramesh, Shyam, Dinesh, Hari & "Long haired guy" sorry dont remember his name. If I have left anyone it is unintentional, never had so many names to this CSS cricket team :)

I lost the toss and RSJ chose to bat on a very wet situation. It was drizzling when we started to bowl. 

The team was very active on the field and restricted RSJ to 136 in 20 overs. Gunjan did a great debut with 3/19 and Arvind was great on the field saving a few boundaries and took 2 good catches. It was raining pretty much throughout he innings, and we had a 15 minute break in between when it was heavy.

When we started to bat it had stopped raining but the field and the mat was very very wet. My simple suggestion was to stay there and use the first 5-7 overs when the ball is hard and not soaked. Yes thats how it was when we bowled and that probably helped us in a way to keep the boundaries away from RSJ batters.

I had asked Kiran and Veera to open with me as 3 and Arvind at 4 and vishnu at 5. At this point I pretty much thought this would do. But what was instore was different. 

Veera came back in the first over. I stayed in for just a few balls, kiran followed soon. The bowling was decent and the field was packed with young guys which gave few options for us to score. We were just 40 after 10 overs and the first boundary came in the 10th over of an inner edge from Arvind. Who played a brilliant innings with absolutely no flaws. He was all alone and it was sad to see him fight alone with no partner staying with him. He made an excellent 60 with 2 amazing sixes. In all we had just 2 sixes and 2 fours till Prabhu walked in as number 9. 

CSS managed to get the score above 100 and lost the match. All we wanted was one batsman to stay with Arvind to make it but we lost the match in the first 10 overs. I should mention their bowling was spot on especially a small kid who bowled excellent legspin and controlled the innings in his 4 overs with 3 wickets. He was declared the man of the match.

Scores: 

RSJ - 137/9 in 20 Overs (Gunjan 3/19)

CSS - 105/9 in 20 Overs (Arvind 60, Prabhu 20)

It wasnt  great start after the break and for a day with 2 matches back to back. But helped to decide on the team for the second match as Prabhu and Gunjan were seen for the first time in action.

2008 BlueSky Tournament Match - 8

CSS Won a close match .. details later..

With this victory CSS has topped the table with 7 victories from 8 matches and lifted the trophy. The prize distribution will happen on the annual day of BlueSky. 

2008 BlueSky Tournament Match - 7

CSS Won against ABN Amro

2008 BlueSky Tournament Match - 6

With just 3 more matches in the tournament, including this one, CSS team either has given up or have their tail straight up. It shows in the behavior and body language. For the last couple of matches the team has not been turning up in time. This match was the worst, at 12.30pm for a 1pm match there was none except me and Dinesh on the ground. At the time of the toss we had just 5 folks on the ground, ready to play and the rest were literally crawling in one by one. Natz had to do his usual, which was missing for a couple of weeks, for the team to get ready. The best (worst) was reserved for the last, Mr. Best-batsman-slash-has-ever-produced, was on the ground with no whites and shoes.

Anyways, this week Mr. Captain had no choices but to go himself for the toss. CSS lost the toss and was put to set a target for AGM limited.

Surprisingly when the team was ready to get on the field there was more than needed folks in the team. Bunch of new faces came to the ground, whoever called them should have informed them about being there on time as well.

Vishy started the bowling and had the first break through in the last ball of the first over. In the meanwhile Mr. Captain spotted "Man of the final" on the ground and negotiated with the umpires and brought him on the playing eleven. This made one of the debutant to go back into the dug out.

"Saroja" Balaji was given the new ball, dont remember when I saw him bowl last. It took a few deliveries for him to get the ball bounce before the batsman. Managed to bowl 3 overs for 16 runs. Was replaced by "Panther", started his over giving away a boundary. Then was as-he-would-like-to-call his usual self. Picked up 4 wickets. Completed with a figures of 14/4 in 5 overs. Impressive.

In the meanwhile on the other end, the "Man of the Final" was his fiery best. Literally unplayable and pretty much ran through the AGM batting line. He finished with an amazing spell of 4 overs with 3/14.

Vishy completed his 5 overs with 16/1. Natz rolled his arm for one ball and took the last wicket.

The highlight on the innings was CSS fielding, there were about 6 direct hits and 1 by "Mr. Best-batsman-slash-has-ever-produced" getting a wicket.

AGM was bundled for 71 in 16 overs.

Vishy and Natz opened the batting for CSS. Vishy started the innings with a good square-cut for 4 on the first ball. Runs kept flowing pretty easily and the score was 40 in sixth over, Vishy did a mishit back to the bowler. Guess this disturbed Natz who followed suit immediately. Vicky went in and came back with a first ball bowled. Suddenly from 40 for no loss, the score was 40 for 3 in 7 overs. The team back in the dugout did not anticipate this as none was padded up, Kiran had to rush in with his pants just above his knees. Could have been 40/4 with Arvind scooping one with this "Angry Beast" and AGM folks couldnt hold on to it, at covers. This made Arvind realise and started playing with his head low. Anyways, with just 30 more runs to score for a victory Arvind and Kiran brought the score close to the target. Kiran was in some hurry and got stumped with 5 runs to score for a win. "Man of the final" got his chance to bat as well, which was not expected, completed the formalities with a hit to the fence.

Batting card - Vishy - 21, Natz - 17, Arvind - 11 (NO), Vicky - 0, Kiran - 10, Prachu - 4 (NO)

CSS just took 10.3 overs to complete the match in less than 2 hrs.

BlueSky Stats

Match 1 against Applied Materials
Result:Win by 48 runs
Venue:AM Jain

Match 2 against Sri Krishna Sweets
Result:Win by 102 runs
Venue:CLRI

Match 3 against Cambridge Solutions
Result:Win by 9 wickets
Venue:CLRI

Match 4 against Bailey Technologies
Result:Lost by 7 Runs
Venue:St. Bedes

Match 5 against Singam Puli 11
Result:Win by 160 Runs
Venue: Don Bosco, Perambur

Match 6 against AGM Limited
Result:Win by 6 Wickets
Venue: CLRI

2008 BlueSky Tournament Match - 5

CSS team is still on the high, the 6 run defeat the previous week did not bother them much. Guess it went a little overboard as there was very little co-ordination/communication with the team members on the plan to get to the ground. Incidentally there was a plan (apparently) to meet at Pink house and go together, eventually everyone drove pretty much in their own vehicle. Its not just this, some were woken up only past 7 for a 8 o clock match. Watch out folks !!! With the amount of hype on this team we need to be ........

Anyways, everyone reached a little past 8, at Don Bosco - Perambur. It was nice to be on the ground after a couple of weeks.

Mr. Captain decided to go himself for the toss and not send any of his lucky charms, guess the decision was impromptu post the telecon the luckies had with him during the journey to the ground. CSS lost the toss and "Singam Puli 11" (yes you read it correct) decided to bowl. There was a cheeky smile on Mr. Captain and came back only to get padded up along with Kiran. "Mr. Best-ever-Batsman-Slash-has-ever-produced" padded up for No. 3.

CSS being high, didnt have the usual meeting nor did everyone bother to sit together like usual. While there were lot of chatting and mocking going on at the dug out, Nats and Kiran started their task of making decent target. Nats did another Sehwag, quick 21 and scooped one got caught. That was probably the only ball the "Singams and Pulies" could hold on, till then. Bad luck Nats.

Kiran was joined by "Mr. Best-ever-Batsman-Slash-has-ever-produced". Kiran had made up his mind not to do anything flashy. He played one of the best knocks I have seen, extremely copy book style shots. "Mr. Best-ever-Batsman-Slash-has-ever-produced" couldn't do much in the middle, got out in very similar to Nats for 18. Vishy walked in and did not trouble the scorers. He was padded up longer than he was in the middle.

Vishnu, coming back to the team after a long time, joined kiran and played some good shots and made a decent 46.

"Singam Puli 11" were certainly not what they claim on the ground but was smart to make a proposal/decision with the umpires and Nats at the toss to have a 2 hr time instead of 30 overs.

They could bowl only 27 overs in 2hrs and CSS completed their innings with the scores at 231/7.

Now we got back to some stuff we usually do, team meeting. This time it was simple and "clean" .... "No complacency folks, lets get it done".

Vishy started the bowling attack. With a decent score, and a new ball with good seam decided to attack, 3 slips and a gully. This provoked the openers and they slogged a couple of hits to the fence.

Then came the "Panther". Same attacking field. This is the details of the first over from Panther.
". W W wd W . . " well.. none could believe their eyes. "Panther" was literally hunting the "Singam Puli 11" sounds weird right? but there were a few who were witnessing this. Anyways, between Vishy and Vicky "the Panther" they ran through and finished the match in 14 overs. Vishnu and Veera rolled their arms as well. Vicky finished with the figures of 6/29 in 5.3 overs. Vishy - 3/17 in 6 overs. Well it took a score of matches to get this dream match, it eventually did.

Look at the picture and you can see the relief/excitement/"Job done"/"I am a bowler too"/"Panther holding his dream ball" all these in one.

For the records, while the team members post the match were involved in a discussion on tournaments to enroll to play better cricket, Mr Panther succeeded an argument with the umpires and got the ball that he bowled with ... ... well ... as they say ... result is what it counts .. and especially in cricket the score books will read Vicky 6/29... his career best figures. Congratulations Vicky!!

Anyways .. it was a victory for CSS and thats what counts.... and the standings in the tournament.....

BlueSky Stats

Match 1 against Applied Materials
Result:Win by 48 runs
Venue:AM Jain

Match 2 against Sri Krishna Sweets
Result:Win by 102 runs
Venue:CLRI

Match 3 against Cambridge Solutions
Result:Win by 9 wickets
Venue:CLRI

Match 4 against Bailey Technologies
Result:Lost by 7 Runs
Venue:St. Bedes

Match 5 against Singam Puli 11
Result:Win by 160 Runs
Venue: Don Bosco, Perambur


Till we meet next time.