Round 1 RMIT vs Royal Park Reds – By Nikunj

RMIT lost the toss and were sent in to bat by Royal Park Reds. On a hot day (29 degrees) like this one, it was exactly what i preferred.

RMIT Innings

RMIT got off to a flying start and were 28/0 in 3 overs as Neel struck one boundary after another. His wicket pegged us back a little and all the top order batsmen got a start each but failed to make it count. At 78/4 in 15th over, the match was well balanced. My decesion to hold VB (Vibhanshu Sharma) back to strenghten the middle order paid rich dividends as VB (89!!) played one of the best knocks i have seen in the last few years. He cut, pulled and drove with authority and held our innings together. Sad, he missed out on a well deserved hundred.  Igor (26)  played an important role in providing ample support at other end and it was their fifth wicket stand of 109 that put us in a great position. Ishaan (25 n..o) then came along and made full use of the platform to get some quick runs at the end taking RMIT to an imposing 246/8 in 35 overs.

Royal Park Reds Innings

Royal park reds got off to a mixed start getting to 35/0 at the end of 4 overs where Rishi bowled well at one end but we leaked runs at the other.. Rishi then got rid of their attacking opener and a few tight overs from him and Abhishek resulted in desperate measures from the opposition which gave RMIT run out opportunities that were gladly accepted, laeving the reds at 57/3 at the 10 over mark. From here on till the 20th over, their no.4 batsman was giving me quite a few headaches hitting the ball extremlely well and clearing the ropes at will. It made me get Neel hand the wicketkeeping duties to Eswaran and bowl !!. His variations in pace and length along with Mark Ashmore's tight line and length at the other end provided 3 quick qickets in a space of two overs and the reds went from 125/3 to 127/6. The heat had started to take effect and in a matter of few overs, cramps and injuries meant we were down from 11 to 8/9 men at various stages in the field. S Fredrickson (No 4 batsman for Royal park reds) took full toll of this and a few bad deliveries to fight well and scored 130! but RMIT kept getting regular wickets at the other end and restricted the oppositon to 199/9. Kudos to Rishi for bowling extremely well for the figures of 2/11 in 8 overs and to Neel and Asmore for getting those quick wickets in the middle.

Overall, everyone chipped in either with the bat/bowl/fielding and it was good to start this season on a winning note. Players and the captain (myself) should now look at fine tuning our games and strategies and get better with time.

Man of the match :       Vibhanshu Sharma (Keep your form going! Great Batting)

Match 2 – SOCIALS

We were given a walkover.

Match 3 – SUNSHINE

Changes:

Rishi –A

Neel and VB –B

Igor, Easwaran and Murtaza N/A

6 New players come in. The fact that we had 11 is still surprising.

We won the toss this time around. With 3 bowlers in the squad (having bowled 8 overs between them for 6 months) and rain predicted for the day, I opted to bat first. Viral (fill in) got a couple of boundaries to begin with, but from then on, it wasn’t quite our day. Their bowlers used the overcast conditions extremely well and we were 3 for 24 at the end of the 9^th over. Both Jatin (1) and Tanmay (1) were back in the Pavilion. Khorram (21) batted well for the next 4-5 overs before breaking his bat (in an attempt to clear the infield) and hitting it straight mid wicket who took a good catch. From then on, our batsmen got out almost every 2^nd over and we were in a dismal position of 7 for 62 at the end of 17 overs. Vicky and Gandhi then batted extremely well (in the context of the game) for the next 10 overs and we ended up with 93 all out in 27 overs.

As much as I told my bowlers, we could still win the game if we bowled and fielded well, at the back of my mind, I knew it would be extremely difficult (this team scored 230 & 260 in their first two games). Gandhi got an early breakthrough but that was it. We kept giving too many boundary balls away and their batsmen were never really under any sort of pressure. Vicky bowled a beauty to get their other opener caught behind, but it was too little too late. Sunshine stormed to an 8 wicket win in the 18^th over.

Man of the Match: Vicky Gulati

Match 4 – ASCOT VALE

Changes:

Tanmay, Vicky, Viral and Vishaal – N/A

4 more players come in. Abhisek Bhargave, Kshitij, Jacob and Amogh.

Ascot vale won the toss and batted first. They started off cautiously with 20 runs coming off the first 8 overs. Gandhi and Amogh bowled in good areas but we couldn’t get that early wicket. Kshitij and I then came on to bowl with the hope that they would attempt a few more shots against our lack of pace. Kshitij kept it reasonably tight (4 overs for 17) while I got a couple of wickets at the other end (2 for 26 after 6 overs) and we had their key player run out with a splendid save and throw from Khorram. At drinks, they were 67 for 3 in 19 overs. With not too many options, I bought on Gandhi and Amogh back in the hope of getting some quick wickets after drinks. Instead, their batsmen started scoring freely, hitting the ball all over the park. Tried a couple other bowling options for an over or two each and bowled myself, but no result, we all got hammered in that 8 over period. At the 27 overs mark, they were 117 for 3. We then had a couple of run outs and what would have been a 190-200 score was now reduced to 174.

Our batting started off with a bang. Prateek hit the 2nd ball he faced for a 6 over mid wicket. It gave him and the other batsmen a lot of confidence and at the end of 17 overs; we slipped to 81 for 5. Prateek, Jatin, Khorram and I, we all hit a couple boundaries each and got out to bad shots. Still needing about 90 to win, Nitin and Ishaan took rearguard action and tried to stay there till the end and take it from there. They put a critical 30 run partnership, but just as we were getting back in the game, Ishan was caught behind. Score was 112 for 6 after 23 overs. We needed 60 to get in 12 overs with 4 wickets in hand. But we didn’t have the batting power to do it consistently. Nitin batted very sensibly at one end but he just didn’t have enough support. They bowled maiden after maiden from the other end. Nitin finally tried to go for it with a rash shot and held out for a well made 30 and we were bowled out for 144 in 30 overs. To date, I feel my mistake costed us that match. If only I had sent Gandhi in at 8, the result would have been different. But then, these Ifs don’t have a place in life.

Man of the Match: Nitin Shah .Not only did he bat well, but kept wickets too. For someone who had never kept before, he did extremely well. Great Job!

Match 5 – St ALBANS

Match abandoned due to rain.

Match 6 – MARIBRYONG PARK

Changes

Kshitij, Jacob and Ishaan – B

Abbi and Khorram – N/A

Roy, Hardik, Shameera Tejas come in (for once, I’m not complaining!!!)

They won the toss and decided to bat first (with 8 players present, they probably didn’t have a choice). Hardik and Roy started the proceedings and were hit for a couple of six each in their 1^st over. As expected, they came back strongly to get 2 quick wickets. After 4 overs, Maribryong were 17 for 2.  From then on, it was a case of being hit for a 4/6 or getting a wicket really. They just kept coming hard at us and we kept picking wickets. Hardik, Roy, Gandhi and Shameera all bowled well. For once, when the ball skied up near mid off (me), I took the catch. I would have run a lap of the ground if it was their last wicket..heheh.  They went to 108 for 7 after 17 overs. Tejas then bowled a couple of good overs and got their 8^th and 9^th wicket for not that many. At 2:30 in the afternoon, our beloved Amogh (who is supposed to open the bowling!) turns up to the ground. What I told him next is best not written in this report. Nitin (keeper) was keen on getting to bowl, with nothing to loose, I asked Roy to keep and to Nitin’s credit, he bowled the last man quickly, with their final score being 130 in 23 overs.

We didn’t have the best of start, with Prateek trying his slog pull in the first over and getting caught at mid wicket for 0. But from then on, it was absolute pleasure umpiring, as I had the best view of Nitin and Roy’s batting. They kept trying a boncer or a full ball and while Nitin cut through the gully and point gap and over the slips, Roy pulled well and played through the mid off-mid on gap ferociously. At 12 overs, we were 89 for 1! Roy then got bowled to one that kept low. I sent in Igor and Vishaal (fill in) to bat, we were in a great position and I could afford to do that. They both got out cheaply. I then made 19 before being caught by the bowler and we went to 117 for 5. Hardik went in next, but he scored 5 before pulling up a muscle. Tejas and Gandhi then ensured we got our 15-20 runs needed without any hiccups. We win by 5 wickets with 13 overs to spare.

Man of the Match: Roy (he bowled good but batted even better)

We were then stripped of our points for this round due to my error in filling the team sheet. I filled it the night before to avoid the hassle on match day, but Khorram lost a close relative in Bombay’s shootings and Rob wasn’t available (not that I was told of that!), I had Vishal, a friend of mine fill in and forced Tejas to spend time on the ground instead of at home. But I made a massive mistake in not correcting that in the team sheet. Because Tejas bowled and Vishal batted, it was obvious for then when entering the scores.  If we fell short of getting to the finals for those 6 points, I would have devastated.

Match 7 – SOCIALS

Changes

Roy, Hardik - A

Prateek and Shameera – N/A

DJ, Manish and a couple of my work mates come in.

Socials won the toss and sent us in to bat. Our openers started off brilliantly considering they had some quality bowlers (the same that played 20-20 against our A’s). Jatin played some wonderful shots for his 28 and we were 48/0 in 8 overs. We then went through a mini collapse with Jatin getting over ambitious with a pull, DJ repeating the same shot to get the same result and Nitin being bowled by a quicker delivery from a spinner. We now go down to 60/3 in 15 overs. Playing with just 10 and two of them being my work mates (who I had there just to keep at third man/fine leg to save a few runs), Tejas and I knuckled down for the next 10 overs. Their fielders weren’t the most athletic and Tejas made me run for my life. We added 40 in the next 10 overs to take it 100/3 in 25. Just when it was time for us to get a move on, I got out. Here comes Manish, I’d never seen him bat before. DJ says, this is his first season with leather ball. He absolutely smacked the hell out of their best bowler, hitting him for 3 consecutive fours and all good cricket shots. He got out and Gandhi did the same to other bowlers. Tejas made a well constructed 34 and we finished with 155/7 at 35 overs against what was the best bowling line up we have faced in the tournament (I am writing these reports just before the semi final).  To us, it was a score which we had the bowling to defend.

Their opening batsmen took on the bowlers’ right from ball one, hitting through boundaries through extra cover and between third man and point. Amogh and Gandhi had their opening spells of (20 runs in 4 overs) and (24 runs in 5 overs). Tejas and DJ were going at almost 10 an over. To bowlers’ credit, there were quite a few edges going either side of third man or deep point for fours. For the first time, playing with 10 fielders was costing us big time. Every time I’d put a fielder somewhere, the ball would go to the place he left! Manish bowled a couple of overs, but nothing changed. At the end of 14 overs, they were 90 for no loss. I bowled fairly well against Ascot vale, but with Roy, Hardik and Shameera playing the last match, guess I didn’t need to worry. As much as I talk at training, I don’t quite have too much belief in my bowling and don’t bring myself on unless we don’t have enough bowlers. With 60 needed of more than 20 overs with 10 wickets intact, there wasn’t much to loose from our part. I probably bowled the best spell of my life (am sure my team would agree on that, I’m still deciding the batting order for the semi’s guys!) and by the time I bowled my 6^th over, my figures were 3 for 16 and they were 125/5. Just like the Ascot vale match, my 7^th over went for plenty and it was all over, they needed 15 more with 7 overs to go and 5 wickets in hand. The guy that DJ and myself did smack our A team for 50 odd in 20-20, so in the hindsight, we weren’t that bad, but on that day, they played better cricket than us.

Man of the Match: Nikunj Sahani. Yes, for once I felt, I led from the front, did something worthwhile.

Match 8 – PASCO VALE

Changes

Tejas- B

DJ- N/A

Khorram, Anand and Parth come in.

Pasco Vale won the toss and decided to bat first. They got off to a fairly sedate start with 15 for no loss after 6 overs. Just when I was about to make the first bowling change, Gandhi requested one more over. Last time that had happened was in the first match, when after bowling 4 overs for 12, he asked for the 5^th over and went for 18!

I still don’t know why I allowed him to continue, but I did. Luckily, he picked up a wicket with the first ball and then went on to bowl the best I had seen him, picking up wicket every over. They were down to 3/38 after 12 overs. I had by now bought Nitin on to bowl (since we finally had a proper keeper in Anand) and he took 2 quick wickets to further reduce them to 5/67 in 18 overs. Here I come to bowl and the next 10 overs were as eventful as ever. The first 2 overs were typical, 0-9, then I get hit for a 4 and a 6 and pick up a wicket with the 3^rd ball. Bowl 3 dot balls to the new batsman and am excited as usual. Only for that to happen every 2^nd over I bowl! They say you need to have a batsman literally plumb to be given out a leg before, but here I bowled a batsman, still didn’t get the wicket. He walked off half way, only to be called back by the umpire saying NO-Ball!! So much bulls**t for all the talk of playing fair !! I lost it at that moment and was extremely angry. I did let my team down that day, I should have controlled myself a lot better. I would probably have walked off at that point. But I wanted to beat them, the best way to answer back. That guy who was initially bowed ended up making 44 and they made a good total of 170 in 32 overs (all out).

Anand and I went in to open. He played a beautiful cover drive and just as I though he is back in form, he got out trying to pull. Jatin and I then played well to get the score to 59 for 1 after 13 overs (strangely enough, I was doing all the scoring at that stage!!). Just when I felt I was settled in, I get out. Run out. Thank goodness it wasn’t Jatin who got out. Khorram came in next. From then on, it was just a batting master class. Both Jatin and Khorram played some wonderful shots, Jatin was good with his drives through the off and on sides and his square cuts, while Khorram was brilliant with his pulls and straight drives (hits to be precise). There was one over where their bowler bowled a short ball that Khorram left and spoke a few words. The next four balls disappeared past his head for fours with tremendous power (the bowler’s lucky to still be alive). It reminded me of Abhijat (played for us in the early years).  Jatin made a superb 60 before holding out while Khorram finished the match unbeaten on 47. We chased down 171 with 6 wickets in hand and 8 overs to spare. A comprehensive win for us.

Man of the Match: Jatin Shah