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Match Report – B Grade Round 1 By Rajat Singh
RMIT vs Royal Park Reds at Fairbairn 9. Toss Won by Royal Park Reds and they elected to bowl first.
The toss was won by Royal Park reds captains and he put RMIT in to bat. From the start of the 1st over the conditions were helpful to the bowlers, the Royal Park Reds bowlers stuck to their line and length and kept things simple. They were rewarded with some early wickets and RMIT middle order was forced to do a repair job. The openers fell cheaply and the top order collapsed to bad shot selection. All the Royal park main bowlers shared wickets and reduced RMIT to a low total of 76. All the RMIT batsman apart from Neel Sariya could not match the discipline showed by visiting team bowlers and got out cheaply. Neel had a fruitful partnership with Hardik which lead to some stability.
Royal Park Reds had 40 overs to get to 77 and started their batting confidently. The bowling was tight and fielding was sharp. There were a couple of dropped chances that lead to a decent opening partnership. While the opening bowlers stuck to their task lead by the experienced Hardik, the openers played sensibly and picked the bad balls to score. At one stage the batting team was cruising ahead to wrap up the match before the drinks break. However a change in bowling saw Neel and Kshitij being introduced and both responded by picking up wickets in their 1st over itself. RMIT tightened up the fielding and the bowlers responded by taking 7 quick wickets. Royal park Reds who at 1 stage were cruising to the small total of 77 were given a scare. However at the end RMIT fell 30-40 runs short. Neel ended up with 5 wickets and Kshitij chipped in with a couple of wickets. Never mind boys, there is bit of work we need to do before the next game. There are lots we can take from this game and i am sure we all will not make the same mistakes again. Captains Man of the Match : Neel Sariya (Great all round performance,Keep it going) ***************************************************************************************************** Match Report – B Grade Round 2 by Rajat Singh Barkley Street Uniting Church Cricket club vs RMIT at Robert Barrett Reserve Toss Won by Barkley Street Uniting Church Cricket Outcome – Barkley Street Uniting Church Cricket to bat first. The toss was won by Barkley Street Uniting Church Cricket captain and he elected to bat. RMIT got a quick wicket early but Barkley Street Uniting top order consolidated the lead with some good batting. RMIT bowlers were struggling to find line and length. At the break Barkley Street Uniting had amassed 87 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. After the break RMIT got a break because of the run-out of the established number 3 batsman. That provided a chance for RMIT to get back into the game, and the bowlers responded admirably. Lead by Kshitiz Singh (4 wickets), Hardik Mehta (3 wickets). RMIT restricted Barkley Street Uniting to 138 in 39.2 overs. RMIT started the run chase badly and lost the opening wicket in the 2nd over. The top order lead by Nikunj Sahani (43 runs) consolidated the innings with some cautious batting and a couple of watchful partnerships were drawn. However some tight and steady bowling from the home team restricted RMIT to 49/3 after 20 over's. The introduction of spin and increasing scoring rate meant the RMIT batsman took some risks to look for quick runs. However it didn't go as planned and RMIT middle order collapsed under the pressure. At the end RMIT lost some quick wickets and were bowled out for 126 in 38.3 overs. Man of the match - Kshitiz Singh for restricting Barkley Street Uniting Church to 138 after a good start and taking 4 crucial wickets. WELL DONE! ******************************************************************************** Match Report for Round 3 – RMIT VS Abber's at Fairbairn Park #9. Toss won by RMIT – RMIT elected to bat. RMIT won the toss on a hot day and decided to bat first. The start was good and cautious as the openers responded well to the new ball and put on 20 in the first 10 overs. However there were consistent partnerships at the top order that lead to a good start of 82/3. However these good starts by the top 4 were not converted to big scores which lead to a mini collapse and RMIT was reduced to 112 for 8 by Abbers. The Abbers bowlers stuck to the line and length suffocated the batsman for runs. However seeing down the barrel, RMIT batsman lead by Tejas responded and the tail wagged. Tejas with his fine array of defensive and attacking strokes put on 82 runs with Fardin and Kshitij. Tejas's cool and composed innings of 43 propelled RMIT to 194. Looking at the day's play it seemed that the inability of the top 3 to convert starts into big scores and failure to create partnerships consistently costed the chance to score 240+. All the RMIT batsman threw away the wickets to a disciplined bowling attack.
194 was a defendable total and a few quick wickets would set up the match quite nicely. RMIT bowled the following Saturday and started off perfectly with Tejas picking up the 1st wicket in the 7th over. However this good start was spoiled by some really poor ground fielding. There were at least 5 dropped chances throughout the day which lead to the Abbers reaching the target with comfortable ease. Tejas followed up his historic batting innings with a spell of 19 marathon overs on a trot in which he snared 4 for 39. Other RMIT bowlers also failed to support tejas and all struggled to put the balls on the pitch. This fact supported by 19 wides and 24 No balls. The number of extras was the highest scores for Abbers at 49. Had the slips and close in fielders held top the 5 drop chances the completion of the match would have been different. Abbers eventually finished at 200/8. In the end the failure of the fielder to hold onto the 5 chances costed RMIT the games. Catches win Matches and gotta hold on those…a very good effort was Tejas who took 4 for 64 in 24 overs and got RMIT so close to a possible victory. Man of the Match – Tejas for single handedly pulling RMIT of the hole and getting it close to a unlikely victory. ********************************************************************* Match Report for Round 4 – Maribyrnong Park VS RMIT Toss won by MP – MP elected to bat. MP won the toss and decided to bat first. RMIT bowlers started off well and hit the line and length from ball 1. The runs were tight and a slight breeze made the ball swing. MP were soon in trouble and both Tejas and Kshitij picked up a couple of wickets each. MP had no answers for the nagging line and length and were reduced to 33 for 4. However after such a good start the fielders spilt 3 catches which lead to the MP recovering with a 60 run partnership. However the introduction of Neil resulted him picking up 2 quick wickets and 110 for 3. From this point however the bowlers and fielders dropped off their intensity levels and some cleaning hitting from the MP lower order took the score to 226. Again the main batsman who scored 58 was dropped thrice and was given a decent diet of full tosses and short balls. MP eventually declared for 226/9 in 60 overs. MP then put RMIT in for 12 overs to bat. These 12 overs would be hard to face and the swinging ball would be the key. RMIT didn't start of well and 2 wickets at the end of day's play. A hard day where the momentum changed continuously. RMIT were 15/2 at the end of day's play and a hard fight lay ahead. The next day started off with both the overnight batsman Neil and Rob started confidently and seeing off the new swinging ball and scoring runs equally briskly. However a flick of Neil was caught brilliantly by the fielder and that lead to an opening for MP. This was followed by a blistering spell of swing bowling by the MP captain A. William who troubled every RMIT batsman. The left arm bowler bowled 25 over out of the total 61.3 total MP over's and returned with the outstanding figures of 7 for 22. All the RMIT batsman could not face the swing. Ishaan was the only batsman who provided stubborn resistance with an unbeaten 35. Due to Ishaan herculean effort RMIT was able to play for 49 overs in the day and hence saved the outright points. An outstanding catch by the MP fielder caught Neil and started the slide. While the missed oppurtunities earlier in the game costed RMIT the game as the MP batsman blasted off to 226. Catches win matches and sticky fingers of the RMIT fielders costed the 2 match in a row. Man of the Match – Ishaan for a solid and splendid innings that consumed a lot of time and didn't let MP put RMIT again to bat. ************************************************************************************ Round 5 : Match against Moonee valley Report by Rohan Singh RMIT B grade lost quite a few players for this game including captain Rajat Singh. Vacant captains position was eagerly taken up by Rohan Singh. Toss : Won by Moonee valley and they sent us to bat. Day 1 ----- Rob and Rishi opened the innings very watchfully for the first 5 overs. And then Rishi started to play his strokes with some handsome drives in off side, which would have been 4 on any other ground. Rob on the other hand was playing with his characteristic defense and watched the new ball off, finally falling in the 18th over. VB went in next and was looking good in defense but was out from a good outswinger by there key bowler Gardiner. Then I went in and joined rishi in the middle. And i knicked my first ball to the first slip which was dropped. Phew! one less duck!. Meanwhile rishi was playing brilliantly and reached his half century and the total of the team of 57 of which he had 52. Though he fell soon afterwards. Then i was joined by Neel. Who started a bit nervously but found his groove soon enough. We both batted out till lunch. And after lunch i started to hit a few boundaries and soon neel started to hit few as well. And in order to keep the tempo up neel fell with a leading edge. I was joined by Raaj on the other end. We played few quite overs and i realised that i needed to up the tempo and hit few big ones and got bowled going for one too many. Raaj was joined by Vishaal, who hit few good shots through midwicket for four. Raaj on the other hand hit a good six of a pull shot and soon afterwards got out. Vishaal was then joined by Tejas who also chipped in with few boundaries but got run out, with his bat getting stuck on the ground just before the crease. Mark then joined vishaal on the crease and played well to hit few boundaries and running sensibly between the wickets. Vishaal soon fell and next went in Fardin and he started of with few boundaries providing us with much needed runs but soon fell afterwards. Both mark and fardin played well to cross 200. Vicky went in the last over and was stumped as he tried to heave one to the mid wicket boundary. All in all a very good effort from all as the pitch was very slow and there bowlers were bowling very well. We also batted out full 75 overs and didnt throw our wicket away, which is great to see. If we bat this way then we can make 250+ score day in day out. DAY - 2 --------- With heavy rains it seemed like that the game would be a wash out. Though upon reaching the ground it was a different story with the opposition wanting to play. Ground was in good condition and so we went in. I and Tejas started the bowling with high winds and wet ground. In the opening few overs there opener got few inside edges and was lucky to be not bowled. Then a bit of rain delayed us again, we went in again with there opener hitting me for a well pulled six, in my second over. I took myself off straight away and got fardin from my end. On the other end tejas was bowling well to keep scoring in check. Fardin was bowling with good control and pace and got their opener in his second over. Then i threw the ball to vicky and he got the first down batsman bowled with a great swinging yorker. From then on their batsman played defensively and survived thanks to our lack of catching ability, they batted till lunch and finishing at the score of 2-69 in 30 overs. After lunch neel got the other opener in his first over. Mark started from the other end and got some good seam movement with two catch drops, he could have had 3 wickets in that spell. It was great to have ashmore back in action. But i needed wickets, so a variation was needed and i threw the ball to raaj who replaced mark. He also bowled well and had a stumping chance missed. I bowled from the other end taking neel off and got a wicket. Raaj bowled few tidy overs and was changed with Tejas who got a wicket from his first over in his new spell. Tejas bowled very well through out. I replaced myself with neel and he again chipped in with two quick wickets and a run out. I got vicky from the other end for the last over looking for last two wickets but that wasnt to be. Game was called off at 6:30 with the oppositions score at 8-186. All in all it was a great performance from 10 players who played there heart out to win this game. We just need to work on our fielding and i am sure we can be the best of the lot in the competition. Captains Man of the Match: Neel Saraiya (Batted well and bowled with great skill even though the ball was wet and hard to grip. Taking 3 wickets. Well Done!) **************************************************************************** Round 6 - RMIT CC Vs West Coburg CC by Rohan Singh Toss Won by RMIT CC and elected to Bowl. With a chance of winning the match whisk us by so close in last match against moonee valley, whole team was a bit dissapointed by not getting the points though we outplayed them in all departments. So this match was going to be a testament to all the players of how will they fair here. DAY 1: As I won the toss, I had no hesitation to bowl first. KD and me started off the bowling. In my first over i had a chance dropped off. But straight after wards in the next over KD got the opener LBW (50/50 chance going our way). We both started off well keeping the scoring in check and by 10th over opposition was 1/14. Peter and fardin were introduced into the attack. As pete hadnt played for around 4-5 years i didnt know what to expect, and to surprise all he bowled brilliantly into the wind with great control and some pace (Ask wicketkeeper Vishaal!). On the other side fardin was bowling some great outswingers and missing the bat regularly. But it was pete who got the second wicket with a great bouncer being knicked and taken by nick. They both bowled very well with the score at 20th over being 2/27. Raaj was then soon introduced into the attack and started off with a maiden. On the other end KD started his second spell and got two wickets in quick successsion, bowling with good space and swing to bowl the batsmen out.Great stuff to watch! And by 35th over they were 4/51. I got pete for his second spell and soon he got the captain snicking just before lunch. After lunch i bowled from one end and got one to go through the defense of the batsman. Fardin started his second spell and again beated the bat regularly. Though at this time we lost a bit of initiative by dropping few chances that came our way. With the 7th wicket partnership of 50 runs. At this point i got pete for another spell and be bowled the batsman after being hit for a 4. It was great to watch the bif fella gnarl after bowling the batsman out. As it was nearing the end of the day and ball was a bit old i got alkesh on for few overs and the change worked with alkesh getting a wicket. Soon ashish got to roll his shoulder as well and he got one too. With Raaj finishing off the with the last wicket. Opposition all out for 183. It was a great effort from all. Well done Guys! We bowled as a unit and now we just need to field like one. :) At the end of the day we needed to bat 4 overs with alkesh and abbi opening. Alkesh was playing very well punishing any bad ball coming his way. But got bowled out to a jaffer with 3 bowls to bowl for the day. At this point ashish went in and batted the last 3 balls off. We finished the day with 1/19. I was a bit dissapointed in loosing alkesh as he is a class player and i knew we had hard work ahead next week. DAY 2: Ashish and Abbi started the day cautiously. As we knew we had whole day to play and bat 75 overs. Getting the wouldnt be a problem if we dont loose the wickets. But soon after settling in, ashish got bowled by a good inswinger. KD (The Batsman) came in to bat. He started off very confidently and played with great composure and taking very little risks. Soon the bad balls started to go to the boundaries and abbi too opening his arms to hit a few. Both played brilliantly with good scoring rate and putting a 50 run partnership in no time. At this time a good change of pace got KD pushing at it and looping a catch to cover. Nick went in next. Abbi followed KD out soon after getting bowled to the left arm spin. I went in next and played some shots to get those close in fielders spread out a bit. But soon on the other end Nick fell fishing outside the off stump. Then came Vinie on the pitch, feeling the pressure and understandably a bit nervous. But he showed none of that from his strokes. Going forward confidently and defending. And soon his nerves settled with few shots coming and going for boundaries. At this time i fell to the left arm spin spooning a catch to the midwicket of inside edge. Vishaal went in next. They both played very well till lunch. And straight after lunch came operation "unleash vishaal", hitting the bowler for 4 fours in a row. Anything that was dished to him was dispatched for four. But soon after that vishaal nicked one to the keeper with us needing 26 runs to win. Raaj went in next and hit few good shots along the ground and on the other end Vinnie was hitting anything loose to the boundaries. It was great to watch the composure this guy showed. With us needing 8 runs vinnie got out, playing his first risky shot but he played very well for his 43. We all were feeling the pressure with just 2 wickets and 8 runs to go. Fardin went in next but Raaj had other ideas, he hit two fours consecutively to finish the game for us. And giving B a well earned WIN! Everyone who played the game, chipped in when needed. It was a good performance from all. We just need to keep our concentration levels up to grab every oppurtunity that comes our way. Success is a habit, Our performance has shown that we can make it a habbit. So lets work hard for it and make successs our habbit. Captains Man of the Match: Vinodh Sham (Vinnie! Played very well for your 43, could have been a 50. Think you are saving that for the next match :). Honourable mention to KD for his composed and positive performance with Bat and Raaj played brilliantly under pressure.) ***************************************************************************************************** RMIT Vs Haig Amateurs - Round 7 by Rohan Singh As first week got washed out therefore this week the game was a one day game. I won the toss and sent the opposition to bat. Me and satish opened the bowling with control for the first few overs. In my 4th over the openers started to loose patience and had few swings which connected and resulted in two fours. Satish on the other end was bowling well. So i replaced myself with fardin. His first over went okay though he wasnt able to get the control that he wanted. In his second over though he bowled few short deliveries and they were duly dispatched for fours. On the other end satish was changed with mark ashmore, who as usual bowled with great control. I changed fardin after his two overs, i came in to bowl few overs. Main aim being to control the run flow. Which over the last few overs had been pretty alarming. Me and Mark bowled well enough to get the run rate down. Just before Their score in 13 overs was 74 and by 20th they had reached 88. It was a pretty good effort to stem the flow of runs. Though still we were waiting for our first wicket. After the drinks break mark on his Mcgrath like lenght got hit for few sixes as the batsman advanced down the track and heaved through the midwicket. On the other end Raaj was bowling his regular ripping leg breaks and checked the run flow. Ameet came into attack to replace Mark and got the first wicket for us on his first ball with fardin taking a fumbling catch. Soon Raaj got two quick wickets. Though after that it was pretty much a one way street for opposition. Ameet was replaced by Tejas, who bowled very well with an immaculate line and lenght through off. Though we didnt get any more wickets and the score was 223 to chase. We started our chase with Abbi and alkesh. Abbi hogged the strike for first three overs but kept the scoreboard ticking with few good boundaries. Alkesh got off nervously though he got into the stride of things soon enough. Abbi got bowled with an inside edge and in came ashish. Both alkesh and ashish were running very well between the wickets. Though alkesh was next to go with a catch of leading edge. That sent satish in. But soon enough ashish got out and ameet went in. Satish was playing well but got run out. And then i went in. Both me and ameet took it to the bowlers and the runs started to flow very easily. At drinks our score was 70 but we had lost 4 wickets. Soon enough after drinks i got out caught at square leg boundary and vishaal went in. He hit the first ball he faced for a six, what a start. On the other end ameet was playing really well. Though an incident occured in the 29th over of the match where the opposition appealed for caught behind and the umpire refused. At this they started hurling abuses on us even after when the umpire was changed and i went in to umpire. At this moment i asked the captain if he would be using this language till the end of the game his answer wasnt forthcoming, so i declared the innings @ 128/5 in 29 overs. The game was probably in their favour though we were playing to enjoy cricket not to be abused at. Captains Man of the match: Raaj for good performance with the ball taking 3 wickets. Keep on bowling those ripping deliveries. | 
