Note: This collage only includes players who have played atleast one complete match in the 2011 season. Other members on the roster include Siddharth Santhanam, Muzafar Zaman, Saurabh Jawkar and Vikram Namjoshi.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
2011: Match 11: Vs Knight Riders: Won: By 6 Wickets
Bombay Boys sealed their victory in their 11th match of the season as they beat Knight Riderz after a 2 year hiatus and also succeeded in knocking them out of the battle for the cup.
BB elected to bowl after winning the toss, and it proved to be a wise choice when Ketan picked up the first of his 3 wickets, nabbing opener Sujith who was caught at long-off by Ajay in a “breathtaking” (ahem heart-stopping for everyone else) catch, for a golden duck. Abhishek gave BB another boost in the 5th over as opener Premson was clean bowled for 3 runs and both openers were back to the pavilion. One-down and two-down batsmen from the KR team succeeding in steading the batting innings somewhat and Knight Riders posted a decent 34 runs in the first 10 overs, but the batting lineup started collapsing dramatically towards the second half of their innings as BB came together as a team and played a perfectly controlled bowling innings coupled with precise fielding.
KR lost 8 wickets in the second half of the innings and were all out at the end of 18.2 overs, posting a total of 75 runs - mainly due to the spells of Ashish (3.2-0-10-3) and Ketan (4-0-8-3) who snared 3 wickets each, aided by Saurabh scoring 2 wickets, Chakra and Abhishek taking up the remaining 2.
Openers Ketan and Saurabh both failed to click in this match as KT was dismissed for 8 in the 4th over. Swaroop walked in at the 1-down position and played quick onesies and twosies balancing the pace of the match and setting a steady run rate well in control of the required run rate. When Saurabh was dismissed in the 7th over for 11 runs, Monty got in at the 2-down position but departed soon after in a bizzare fashion, going for the big shot on the very first ball which unfortunately went for a catch.
Swaroop and Paras played well-timed shots, in a sensible method that was the need of the hour, especially after the top order collapse. Both batsmen scored 24 runs each to their credit, of which Swaroop had 2 fours and Paras had 3. BB resumed from the score of 31 at the end of 7 overs when Monty and Saurabh fell and moved way into the 16th over without any further loss of wickets. Swaroop fell prey to a catch in the 16th over and he had to retreat. Chakra and Paras succeeded in chasing the rest of the equation and BB posted 79 runs at the end of 18.2 overs with Paras hitting a 4 as the winning runs.
The league matches have ended and KT defends his MVP title again this year ! BB has 2 batsmen in the batting top 10 and 2 bowlers in the bowling top 10. BB now moves on to the jinxed section of the tournament, the make-or-break knockouts and if we do not make it to the semis, the individual standings might really not carry much meaning.
BB can now boast of a well rounded team completely capable of going all the way to clinch the cup. Calm and steady batting from the middle order in addition to the already firm top order instills further confidence in our batting lineup and recent displays have confirmed that the BB batting can be a complete team effort as and when required. Bowling has improved considerably though we still contine to dole out extras. This match however showed total restraint as we only gave 13 extras in all. If one were to compare fielding attempts from the 1st couple of matches with the latest ones, it would only prove that fielding efforts have improved multifold.
We face Gujju-XI in the quarterfinals on Aug 13, 2011 .
Scores as always have been uploaded on www.cricketmn.com
For more on Bombay Boys, https://www.bombay-boys.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
2011: Match 10: Vs India XI: Won: By 31 Runs
Bombay Boys crushed India XI in their 10th match of the season at Hopkins the 24th of July 2011
"Veni, Vidi, Vici" - translated to "I came, I saw, I conquered" originally written by Julius Caeser in 47 BC, could have been very well be applied to Saurabh Gandhalikar in this tiny context. Even though Bombay Boys was off to a slow start, Saurabh and KT stood strong and steady with Saurabh clearly in the limelight hitting colossal sixes and fours building a gigantic score for himself, an unbelievable 79 off 67 balls, an individual score which could easily have been the final score of a full 11-player team. He is also the only player since the inception of Bombay Boys for whom the scoresheet space ran out and we had to use up a whole new batsman record to score his runs. Saurabh and KT built up a steady partnership playing quick singles and doubles and going for the big shots every once in a while. Bombay Boys maintained an impressive momentum right through the 10th over halftime break at which point their score stood at 62 runs for no loss - and remained wicketless right until the 16th over when KT's shot went for a clean catch and Bombay Boys lost its first wicket. The score at the end of this over was 96 runs. KT to his credit scored 17 off 34 balls. A decent score - awaiting more action in the upcoming matches. In the interim, the India XI captain managed to drop 2 catches - both of Saurabh - which proved to be mighty expensive for them as the vice-captain got life after life and Bombay Boys continued to make mincemeat of the bowlers. 1-down Paras scored 5 runs, 2-down Monty posted 15 off 9 balls and 3-down Abhishek completed the batting innings contributing 3 runs finally taking the Bombay Boys total to 130 runs at the end of 20 overs.
With the exception of Amol and Ananda who bowled good innings with statistics of 4-0-11-2 and 4-0-13-0 respectively; all the other bowlers ended up bowling atleast 6 runs per over; the most expensive one bowling 12 runs per over.
The boys also bowled and fielded decently well with enough agression taking wickets at regular intervals. Nitin and KT shone at the very start as they took 3 wickets in the very first 3 overs of the bowling innings - 2 catches and a well co-ordinated runout - as both openers, usually strong batsmen were cleanly dismissed for measly single digit scores. AP2 took another well timed catch in the 6th over proving to be another setback for India XI. It looked promising for BB as the bowlers and fielders continued to keep their aggression on for the rest of the innings. At the end of 10 overs, India XI stood at 51 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. Not bad at all except for the number of wickets they had in hand.
The overs following the halftime break went by without much activity but a magnificient catch by Milind in the 14th over woke up the dormant audience on both sides of the game. This time clearly enunciating his call to take the catch so that there would be no confusion with Monty like the prior match, Milind ran headlong and dived an unbelievable distance grasping the ball but hitting the ground with his head and kinda ended up doing a cartwheel on his head. Stunned initially, it took a couple of seconds for the players and the supporters to recover as they ran towards him, where he sat clutching his head with one hand and the ball with the other - to make sure he was alright. The first words he spoke were "Is baar maine
The rest of the India XI batting line-up slowly crumbled and BB sealed their 8th victory bowling out their most vengeful opponents till date by 31 runs - remaining unbeatable so far in the league matches. Sourabh Jain had come expecting an India-Pak match and I am sure was mighty disappointed when it fizzled out and looked like the outcome of a peace treaty discussion with India XI and the BB players chatting amicably. Of the bowlers, Abhishek had a near perfect statistics of 3.4-1-11-3 and KT, Nitin, Ashish and Monty contributed to the rest of the 5 wickets (in addition to 2 runouts)
BB now faces their last league match of the season on Saturday, Aug 6th 2:00 PM Eagan Bombay
Scores as always have been uploaded on www.cricketmn.com
For more on Bombay Boys: http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Deepa.
One Team. One Dream.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
2011: Match 9: Vs Company: DRAWN
People with a history of recent surgery, heart trouble/high blood pressure, neck trouble, back trouble, or any other condition that may be aggravated by jumping or screaming should carefully heed all warning signs. If you are in doubt about your ability to safely experience a Bombay Boys match, please refrain from attending. We’ll be happy to brief you once the match is over.
Watching a cricket match being played by the Bombay Boys team is definitely not for the faint hearted and this was proved once again during the third such fast-paced match between Bombay Boys and Company. On the 16th of July 9:00 AM BB won the toss and elected to bat.
KT retained his #1 spot at the MVP standings as the BB’s 9th match against Company petered out to a draw at Lord's on Tuesday. He top-scored the innings with 28, Saurabh not too far behind at 26 as the duo played sensibly and put BB in a strong position; the score steadily building through the first 10 overs. The opening partnership took BB past 50 at the end of 10 overs. BB looked strong into the 14th over scoring 70 runs for no loss of wickets. Sensing a visibly relaxed innings, BB spectators stretched out under the new addition to the BB team – the beach umbrella (chuckle! How could I not mention this!). However, both batsmen were eventually dismissed in a fashion similar to the previous match scenario, in back to back overs. KT and Saurabh were both caught behind in the 14th and 15th over respectively. The run rate had slowed down a bit following the halftime break but BB seemed comfortably placed at this point. Paras came and went for 7 off 10 – that included a power packed six and Monty posted a solid 21 off 20 – one six and one four to his credit. BB was eyeing to overcome the slow run rate but fortune (and strong bowling skills of course) favoured the toiling bowling side as BB lost 4 quick wickets in the last 4 overs. Abhishek, Jitesh, Milind and Satchit brought up the end of the innings with BB posting a total of 104 runs at the end of 20 overs.
BB was ecstatic during their start of the bowling innings as they took 3 crucial wickets in the first 3 overs of the match dismissing opener Prakash for a duck with a direct hit from KT and Satchit (WK) taking some good catches. Of special note was the brilliant single-handed catch by Milind which was instrumental in tying down the Company score. 1-down batsman Pranit was dimissed for a measly single and 2-down Pavan for 4 runs. Company struggled to find a footing and inched along till the 7th over when they lost their 4th wicket. As the “star player” walked back frustrated, he threw his bat over the fence prompting the Company team to yell foul and “Poor Umpiring” and “Umpire down down” at which stage the umpire become super serious and started declaring every other seemingly normal ball as a No-Ball or a Wide and I am not biased as I say this.
However, in walked their 4-down Ashok and changed the name of the game as he took the lead and along with the other batsman Bashyam starting accumulating runs providing Company the much needed breakthrough frustrating the BB bowlers. At the end of 10 overs the score stood at 40 runs after the loss of 5 wickets. Company needed 65 from 60 to secure a win.
Company steadied and continued without any further loss of wickets till the 16th over when the score read 78 and they lost their 6th wicket and Ashok walked back. Skipper Girish who then walked in and Bashyam labored to achieve the target. 20 off 18 required. Crucial wicket taking moments in the succeeding overs instilled confidence in BB yet it was not over yet. Overflowing extras did not help either. 11 in 12 balls. A solid run out by Pramod and Satchit ensured one more loss of wicket for Company. The opposition was losing wickets by the dozen but still stayed put. 6 runs in 6 balls. Incredible tension. And a wicket ! 3 in 2. Déjà vu all over again. At the end, the last ball of the over ended with Company scoring 2 runs and the match ended in a stalemate.
BB needs a serious check on extras. We ended up giving 29 extras – that’s almost 5 whole overs. Even with the alleged poor umpiring which might have accounted for 6 at most, that is still a lot.
BB has been consistently reaching the top 4 in the group for the past few years, what remains to be seen is how we perform in the knockouts. BB retain their league group #1 position and now move on to their next much-awaited match against India-XI on July 24, 2011 9:00 AM . Watch at your own risk !
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
2011: Match 8: Vs Bhailog: Won: By 4 Wickets
Captain Ashish’s charmed luck continues as Bombay Boys defeated Bhailog – in a thrilling 4-wicket win with just 4 balls to go in their 8th game of the season. Bhailog won the toss and elected to bat first but with the EP fields bathed in sunshine, the players took some time to establish the expected tempo. However the players and the extended team went ballistic as KT clinched the first wicket of the tournament in the very first ball of the over dismissing the Bhailog opener Abhijit for a big fat duck.
Runs at the top of the order from the Bhailog opener Anil and 1-down Venkat Ramana put Bhailog on course to reach a staggering score. Incessant sledging by the Bombay Boys and responses in kind and beyond by the Bhailog did little to dampen the aggression between the teams as swear words, actions and A-rated dialogues all came into the picture.
At the end of 10 overs, Bhailog stood at 48 runs with the loss of only the one wicket. Their partnership saw Bhailog reach 52-1 before the departure of Anil, the first of the 4 victims, as Bhailog tumbled from 52-1 to 61-5 with AP2 securing 2 of those and Pramod the other 2 wickets respectively. Middle order batsman Rohit stuck to the crease as he started creating havoc raining 6s. Bhailog was eventually bowled all-out for 103 at the end of 20 overs with the last FOW on the very last ball of the innings.
On the positive side, of the 10 wickets, 8 were well-timed precise catches taken by Abhishek, Swaroop, Monty and KT – Swaroop taking the bulk of those – 5 catches. Data and stats from this match (in isolation) would show the fielding ability of Bombay Boys to have improved tremendously. KT who clinched 4 wickets this match, has secured his #1 position in the MVP standings.
Starting their batting innings, BB lost a quick wicket early in their dig with only 2 runs on the scoreboard, with Saurabh being given an out to an alleged ball bouncing off his chest. Saurabh’s dismissal brought Swaroop to the crease and together with opener KT, they steadied the BB ship with a 20-run partnership but Swaroop was out in the 7th over and it was not looking good for the BB at this point. The BB innings got tied down by some excellent bowling by the Bhailog players and progress was slow as the scorecard inched along over by over. At halftime, the BB score stood at 32 runs. To win, BB needed 72 from 60 balls. Certainly doable.
The fall of two quick wickets of Monty and KT over back-to-back balls (Monty - last ball of the 13th over and KT – first ball of the 14th over) brought Bhailog straight back into the contest and for a short period of time it did appear that BB might crumble under the pressure. But Paras and Milind had other thoughts as together they scripted an epic knock to pull Bombay Boys out of the bushes.
Their 28 run partnership put BB right back on course and saw BB reach 5-84 before the departure of Milind, in the 17th over. Needless to say another nail biting match, this time, with the added complexities of sledging and way-too-much aggressiveness both inside and outside the fields. Tension was rampant and a single spark could ignite the electric charge in the air.
Abhishek stepped in and between him and Paras, they managed to reduce the gap, however, there was still a ways to go. 20 runs needed in 18 balls. 16 in 12 needed. BB lost Paras in the 19th over and in stepped HappyDent who also came out as HappiestDent White having hit a brilliant sixer on a no-ball. 5 needed in 6 balls. Abhishek and Jitesh, though new at the crease, made the transition absolutely seamless as they hit shot after shot and also managed to run quick singles – at times risky but then very much needed. Abhishek finally sealed the victory with a 4 off his bat in the 2nd ball of the last over as the crowd went over the edge.
Bhavin met his first true opponent as Ms. Lady Bhailog walked over to give him a piece of his mind and also threatened to send an email to the board if he doesn’t mend his ways. Well, as an outsider not part of the playing team, an email to the board might hardly carry – considering that Bhavin’s not part of the roster anyway. It was an interesting conversation in its own way except that it went way beyond conversations as person after person got embroiled in the argument and at the end of the match, as KT rightly said, we ended up spending all our post-match energy trying to solve the problem rather than celebrate our well-earned victory. If this continues, BB might slowly be on its way to be known as the team winning on sledging tactics rather than fair play and that wouldn’t be right.
On the positive side, BB’s batting middle order clicked right when it needed to and this victory was through-and-through a complete team effort, giving my previous match summary observation a fitting reply. Well, none of the 4 options of the poll on bombay-boys.blogspot.com came true, but after such a victory, what more can one ask for.
Scores as always have been uploaded on http://www.cricketmn.com
For more on the Bombay Boys: http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
BB stays at the top of their group and now moves on to their 9th match – against Company on Saturday, July 16th 2011 9:00 AM at Eden Prairie.
Runs at the top of the order from the Bhailog opener Anil and 1-down Venkat Ramana put Bhailog on course to reach a staggering score. Incessant sledging by the Bombay Boys and responses in kind and beyond by the Bhailog did little to dampen the aggression between the teams as swear words, actions and A-rated dialogues all came into the picture.
At the end of 10 overs, Bhailog stood at 48 runs with the loss of only the one wicket. Their partnership saw Bhailog reach 52-1 before the departure of Anil, the first of the 4 victims, as Bhailog tumbled from 52-1 to 61-5 with AP2 securing 2 of those and Pramod the other 2 wickets respectively. Middle order batsman Rohit stuck to the crease as he started creating havoc raining 6s. Bhailog was eventually bowled all-out for 103 at the end of 20 overs with the last FOW on the very last ball of the innings.
On the positive side, of the 10 wickets, 8 were well-timed precise catches taken by Abhishek, Swaroop, Monty and KT – Swaroop taking the bulk of those – 5 catches. Data and stats from this match (in isolation) would show the fielding ability of Bombay Boys to have improved tremendously. KT who clinched 4 wickets this match, has secured his #1 position in the MVP standings.
Starting their batting innings, BB lost a quick wicket early in their dig with only 2 runs on the scoreboard, with Saurabh being given an out to an alleged ball bouncing off his chest. Saurabh’s dismissal brought Swaroop to the crease and together with opener KT, they steadied the BB ship with a 20-run partnership but Swaroop was out in the 7th over and it was not looking good for the BB at this point. The BB innings got tied down by some excellent bowling by the Bhailog players and progress was slow as the scorecard inched along over by over. At halftime, the BB score stood at 32 runs. To win, BB needed 72 from 60 balls. Certainly doable.
The fall of two quick wickets of Monty and KT over back-to-back balls (Monty - last ball of the 13th over and KT – first ball of the 14th over) brought Bhailog straight back into the contest and for a short period of time it did appear that BB might crumble under the pressure. But Paras and Milind had other thoughts as together they scripted an epic knock to pull Bombay Boys out of the bushes.
Their 28 run partnership put BB right back on course and saw BB reach 5-84 before the departure of Milind, in the 17th over. Needless to say another nail biting match, this time, with the added complexities of sledging and way-too-much aggressiveness both inside and outside the fields. Tension was rampant and a single spark could ignite the electric charge in the air.
Abhishek stepped in and between him and Paras, they managed to reduce the gap, however, there was still a ways to go. 20 runs needed in 18 balls. 16 in 12 needed. BB lost Paras in the 19th over and in stepped HappyDent who also came out as HappiestDent White having hit a brilliant sixer on a no-ball. 5 needed in 6 balls. Abhishek and Jitesh, though new at the crease, made the transition absolutely seamless as they hit shot after shot and also managed to run quick singles – at times risky but then very much needed. Abhishek finally sealed the victory with a 4 off his bat in the 2nd ball of the last over as the crowd went over the edge.
Bhavin met his first true opponent as Ms. Lady Bhailog walked over to give him a piece of his mind and also threatened to send an email to the board if he doesn’t mend his ways. Well, as an outsider not part of the playing team, an email to the board might hardly carry – considering that Bhavin’s not part of the roster anyway. It was an interesting conversation in its own way except that it went way beyond conversations as person after person got embroiled in the argument and at the end of the match, as KT rightly said, we ended up spending all our post-match energy trying to solve the problem rather than celebrate our well-earned victory. If this continues, BB might slowly be on its way to be known as the team winning on sledging tactics rather than fair play and that wouldn’t be right.
On the positive side, BB’s batting middle order clicked right when it needed to and this victory was through-and-through a complete team effort, giving my previous match summary observation a fitting reply. Well, none of the 4 options of the poll on bombay-boys.blogspot.com came true, but after such a victory, what more can one ask for.
Scores as always have been uploaded on http://www.cricketmn.com
For more on the Bombay Boys: http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
BB stays at the top of their group and now moves on to their 9th match – against Company on Saturday, July 16th 2011 9:00 AM at Eden Prairie.
Friday, July 1, 2011
2011: Match 7: Vs Pinch Hitters: Won: By 7 Wickets
Bombay Boys sealed their 7th victory of the season playing against the Pinch Hitters in an absolute firecracker of a match on Wednesday June 29th at the Eden Prairie Flying Cloud Airport
After winning the toss and electing to field, Bombay Boys started their bowling innings with a seemingly glaring absence of their 2 mainstream bowlers – Chakra and Abhishek. However, new players for the season, Pramod and Milind seemed absolutely gung-ho and in form for their part.
Going from 20 overs to 15 overs was like moving from the 50 over ODIs to the T20 matches. Gutsy shots, risky singles, well timed fours, thunderous sixes were all expected along with the increased probability of catches as batsmen went in for the kill. Pinch Hitters started their batting innings with a good amount of agression and despite losing a couple of wickets in the initial overs, kept going strong. The run rate trend was a steady climb as the team continued to amass 6+ runs in every over, primarily owing to contributions from the Nikhil and Nikhil duo who hung in there and went in to perfectly time and hit loose balls. Aided by Nitin, the “Ni-teen” combination seemed confident of securing their victory.
Bombay Boys bowlers for their part worked extra hard at securing wickets but in the process also ended up bowling expensive extras. Despite this, Pramod for this part, was instrumental in damage control as he took 2 wickets superbly bowling out the batsmen as the cheering team yelled their heart out. (Special appearance by Shilpa and Saachi). Passionate fielding also went in tow with the bowling as we witnessed a brilliant catch by HappyDent Whtie and a superb run-out by KT and Nitin. Pramod and Vijay took some well-timed catches soo. At the end of 15 overs, having lost 8 wickets, Pinch Hitters had set a tough but achievable target of 93 to win.
The second innings of the match commenced with KT and Swaroop opening up the BB batting innings playing for a RRR: 6+ per over. However, BB experienced a very early FOW as Swaroop’s shot went for a neat catch in the second over itself. Jitesh too, unfortunately, was in and out in a jiffy. It wasn’t looking good for BB at the end of 5 overs – 18 runs in their kitty at the loss of 2 wickets. The revival by Paras and KT was thrilling enough as Paras hit a couple of hard power-packed sixes, sending the crowd roaring and upping the BB score in a very short period of time. But the batting partnership performance between KT and Monty was exceptional and a complete treat to watch.
Despite their best contributions, the BB score stood at 58 at the end of 11 overs. 35 required off 24 balls. The last 4 overs triggered off multiple nail-biting moments as the equation seemed like a mirage. Doable but something that could just as easily slip away as sand. 28 in 18. 14 in 12 as the players and the spectators all held their breath. The Pinch Hitters were at their fielding best. A couple of mad hits in the air as BB also tried their best to hit every ball. Ultimately, Pinch Hitter’s score of 92 for 8 proved woefully inadequate in the wake of a dominating batting display from Players of the Match (if I may say) Monty who finished with an unbeaten, 31 off 25 balls, and KT, in his 3rd consecutive notout 27 off 36 balls. Monty proved his mettle yet again with 3 astounding sixes and a clean four – perfectly timing shots on loose balls and scoring singles as and when they could.
Just the previous match had been termed “boring”. This match however, was anything but. Complete with a nail biting finish, the match was splattered with just enough edge-of-the-seat excitement to keep one’s attention always on the field.
Bombay Boys has now succeeded at a high-speed chase and are confident that they can repeat the magic if required. From the sidelines, excitement was rife as the crowd went into an animal frenzy during major shots by the BB batsmen – what with someone even jumping on the fence at one point in time (chuckle). This probably was also the first match in years when I “ran” into the field at the end of the match. No victory dance or Cadbury’s ad mind you ! (contrary to what Chichi might have been saying !).
We have started encountering tougher teams and will continue to. Lets not forget the extras which might prove costly and gutsy as this may sound, we need to have an overall stronger batting line-up. KT notout for the 3rd consecutive time is both a very positive thing and concerning at the same time (coz it only means that the non-striker end kept changing). Hang on to your seats folks, this was just the trailer, the real movie now begins ! BB bid Adieu to Vijay as he played his last match of the season and moved back to India
Scores as always have been uploaded to : www.cricketmn.com
For further details on Bombay Boys, http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
Monday, June 20, 2011
2011: Match 6: Vs Twin City Twisters: Won: By 6 Wickets
Twin City Twisters. No twists and turns in any way. A Decent team. Quiet players. No controversies. No sledging. No cheering. No supporters outside the playing 11. Decent leg umpiring. No extravagant appeals. They were all out at 65 runs in 18.4 overs. Great bowling statistics by KT (3.4-1-6-3)and Mahantesh (3-0-12-3) well aided by the skipper.
Check: 18 extras awarded (3 whole overs !) and several dropped catches!
Favour returned in kind by the Bombay Boys. Decent leg umpiring. No controversies. No sledging (well Sourabh and Ajay tried a bit but no one from TCT responded, finally the two made peace with the fact and proceeded to sledge Jitesh Chavan of the Bombay Boys team itself – this comment sponsored by HappyDent White!!) . Chased 66 runs in 17.4 overs. Top scorers - KT who scored 26 and Mahantesh 21. Current overall MVP and Batting statistics topped by KT.
An easy win. I wont take the risk of asking for more excitement, we have enough of it in other matches, a match here and there like this is a good breather.
A very insipid match. Really, nothing more to it.
Scores as always have been uploaded to www.cricketmn.com
More details on Bombay Boys: http://bombay-boys.
Monday, June 13, 2011
2011: Match 5: Vs G-XI: Won: By 22 Runs
Bombay Boys were embroiled in yet another controversy this weekend, this time in their emphatic win against a seasoned long timer G-XI at the Hopkins Grounds. Read on for more details.
Bombay Boys posted 119 runs against their opponents in the first innings of the match; due credit to a fabulous innings played by KT, probably the first ever in the history of Bombay Boys to have played an unbeaten 20 overs; a terrific knock of 47 in 47 balls just shy of a half century. KT has 3 intelligent fours and 1 rock solid 6 to his credit. He was aided in part by Monty scoring 29 off 34 balls, who also enjoyed sending the ball rolling to the boundary every now and then, with one 4 and 3 hard sixes. Bombay Boys also uncovered a surprise scorer in the form of Abhishek Taralekar who turned out to be just as good with the bat – scoring 17 runs off 19 balls. To their credit, opener Swaroop and batting one-down Jitesh made decent useful contributions and pitched in taking the total to a decent 100+ score. All in all, great strike rates and a a strong batting display despite a couple of misses. Good friendly sledging the first half of the match, so much so, that to an outsider, it wouldnt have been evident whether a person calling out the comments to a fielder was encouraging him or simply pulling his leg regardless of which team he belonged to.
On a warm morning, with temperatures in the late 70s, the boundaries on both on and off sides were relatively short and the outfield was fast if somewhat lumpy in places. It was apparent that any shot piercing the inner ring of fielders was likely to go for four, and that the fielding would be important. Unfortunately, this was a day when the Bombay Boys were not at their best in that respect, with just-nicked drives from the G-XI batsmen seeming to rush to the boundary. Dropped catches at critical moments did not help either. G-XI were 9/1 during the 3rd over and continued without loss of any further wickets till they reached 67. Not good. 4s and 6s were equal if not more rampant in this innings. Bombay Boys definitely were more aggressive in their bowling attack than the previous match and intentional or not, one could see the marked difference before and after the 10 over break. However, the highlight, in a funny sense, of the match was when Sumit from G-XI was dimissed for a well timed catch taken by Abhishek during Jitesh’s over – the very basis for the controversy. The leggie ruled it a no-ball and the neutral umpire overruled the same. Sumit “fumed” – and that is an understatement - all around the pitch and back at his side of the pavilion shouting “I am the main player, how can you give me out !” and the captain and a couple of other players too resorting to name calling and foul language. Rightly said, If that were the case, Sachin whould never be out ! Complaints and back talking with the umpire went on for a few; while G-XI talked about they knowing that “something is going on between the umpire and Bombay Boys”. Finally, the match resumed and a couple of consecutive wickets also brought forth the same kind of resigned attitude from the G-XI team.
So, Jitesh took the wicket of the “main player” of the match and like someone said “Bombay Boys ka umpiring karte karte ek aur umpire ka career barbaad”. Whether Sumit could have changed the match around is something that we would never know, but that is where it all started going downhill for G-XI. The team went from 73/3 in the 15th over to all out in the 20th over with one ball to spare.
All in all, a pleasant and enjoyable game played in the right spirit. 5 matches down 6 more to go. We now start to face the tougher teams of the group and we need to make sure that our wins against the newbies do not make us complacent. We still got a ways to go. The cheering stand this match had more spectators than the last couple of matches with Sourabh and Bhavin making both the match and the sideline comments way more interesting.
Our next match will be against the Twin City Twisters on Sunday June 19th at 9:00 AM , Roseville
Scores as always have been uploaded on www.cricketmn.com
For more on Bombay Boys : http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
One Team. One Dream.
Cheers,
Deepa.
Monday, June 6, 2011
2011: Match 4: Vs Indian Knights: Won: By 1 Run
In their 4th match of the season, Bombay Boys won against the Indian Knights by a sheer single run in a nail biting finish of a match. (After their 3rd match against Desi Devils was washed out and hence drawn). Bombay Boys openers Saurabh (VC) and KT opened beautifully going strong right to their 54-run partnership, with brilliant strike rates (Saurabh - 24 off 24 balls and KT – 39 off 38 balls), raking in some big ones as well at the right moments. Both openers have 3 4s and 1 sixer to their credit.
Skipper’s plan B went into action once the partnership crossed 45/0 in 7 overs and in walked Paras at the 1-down position instead of the original batting line-up, when Saurabh got run out (?) in the 9th over. Unfortunately, Paras’ flick got caught behind and he had to walk back to the pavilion. Swaroop who walked in at #4 set up a quick easy-on-the-eyes running between the wickets along with KT scoring fast singles and doubles until the 13th over when KT got run-out. Monty walked in at the 3-down position and along with Swaroop took the score from 77 to 112, again the both of them maintaining near perfect run rates. The 16th over saw the departure of Swaroop after yet another run-out and “Boom Boom” Pahuja (as Chichi has recently christened him) and Monty breezed through the rest of the innings, both of them getting out in the last over after putting up a formidable total of 147 on the scoreboard.
Indian Knights opened their batting innings in a slow yet steady fashion inching their way along to 45 at the end of 10 overs after the loss of one wicket in the 10th over. Post break is when it all started going downhill. 17 runs in the 11th over, 11 in the 12th. To top it off, the Indian Knights team then pulled a cheap stunt at the end of the 12th over when opener Pankaj literally pranced out of the field quoting a “Retired Hurt” enabling their star batsman Vamshi to walk in and do his magic. Vamshi, the batting points #1 of the tournament so far, has (including this match) made 140 runs in 4 matches. It wasn’t a surprise then that his team banked on him to pull them out of the swamp, but to use a “Retired Hurt” was a tad too much. At no expense should this have been tolerated by Bombay Boys. Agreed, that Pankaj might have then tried a hit wicket “suicide” shot, but it would have atleast cost them a ball. Vamshi, to give the guy due credit, succeeded in taking the score from 73 to 142, scoring 42 huge runs off just 19 balls, majorly at Monty’s expense, who in his attempt to get Vamshi’s wicket got mercilessly hammered. In the history of Bombay Boys, their second best score till date, seemed woefully inadequate as the team struggled to bowl and field and valianty defend a great score.
But ultimately the revival by Abhishek and KT was thrilling enough. With 9 runs from 2 overs remaining, Abhishek bowled perfect line and length to ensure that there were no extras and no room for mistakes, also taking a wicket parallely. The last over was handed to KT as the supporters watched every play with bated breath.
It started with 6 runs needed off 6 balls and finally came down to 3 runs in 1 ball. The final “run-out” done by AP2/Swaroop happened towards the end of the 2nd run – leading to a huge controversy of whether it was a run-out or not. Not – defining the match as a Draw, and Run-out defining it as a win in favour of Bombay Boys. The leg umpire from the Indian Knight’s team is still not sure and says the benefit of doubt should go to the batsman, the neutral umpire has overruled his decision, calling it a run-out and hence, declaring it a win for the Bombay Boys.
The Indian Knights team has cried “foul”, called the neutral umpire “biased” and decided to take their complaint to the board asking for a decision. Considering that the neutral umpire is sticking to his decision, in all probability, the decision will not be reversed. However, the board’s decision is yet to be announced.
One major question that needs to be addressed is: What really does a Retired Hurt mean without any injuries? Since when has lack of stamina or tiredness meant a "Retired hurt"? Letting an opponent railroad us like that is going to prove expensive beyond words.
That being said, Bombay Boys needs to hugely work on their fielding skills. (4s due to inaccurate fielding, fumbles, dropped catches). Defending a 147 score should not have come down to this. Period.
Scores as always have been uploaded on http://www.cricketmn.com
For a history of Bombay Boys in the MTBC tournament: http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.
Monday, May 23, 2011
2011: Match 3: Vs Desi Devils : DRAWN (Due to Rains)
No synopsis written due to the match having ended in a washout midway through the match and the points being equally divided between the two teams.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
2011: Match 2: Vs Churchill Cheetahs: Won: By 7 Wickets
Churchill Cheetahs, a first timer in the MTBC tournament, beat India XI, one of the tough contenders in this tournament, in their first match of the season. But CCH could not carry the intensity from their opening onslaught into their second match, especially one against the Bombay Boys.
After losing the toss to CCH and having to field, BB still seemed to have got off to a good start. The first 10 overs showed tons of promise and a very quick successive FOW made interesting an otherwise very bland match between the two teams. Catches were abundant, runouts precise. Excellent stats from right arm bowlers Nitin 4-0-8-2 and Abhishek 3-0-6-3 ensured that the CCH run scorecard stayed within achievable limits. In all, BB only awarded 10 extras which was pretty neat. A special note about Nitin who had his mind set of taking out the CCH alleged all-rounder KLN, which he did – by taking a well-timed catch and having KLN return to the pavilion on a duck ! An all round bowling-fielding team effort resulted in CCH getting bundled out for a measly 55 at the end of 15 overs. That there were 5 ducks in the CCH batting lineup is another notable statistic indeed !
BB opened their batting innings with Swaroop and Ketan. After losing their left-handed opener Arvind to a work-related transfer, BB now seems to have a found a dependable opener in Swaroop, even though this innings might not give him much to boast about unfortunately. Vijay stepped in when Swaroop was caught behind in the 3rd over and KT and Vijay inched their way to build a 28 run partnership of the required 56. Considering that there were 2 maiden overs and an additional 3rd one where there were no runs made off the bat and even though and the average batting strike rate was quite low, for the BB batsmen it was a slow and steady yet positive battle. After KT was runout in the 12th over, Monty and Paras worked together to finish up the reminder, with Monty hitting a strong four on the legside on a no-ball wrapping it up finally. Bombay Boys won the match by 7 wickets at the end of 14 overs.
We now face Desi Devils on May 22 2011 9:00AM at the University Van Cleve field. BB is now slowly getting into the phase where throughout the season, it will be on and off, missing a few of its seasoned players and the next generation of batsmen/bowlers will now get more opportunities to showcase their talent. It will be interesting to see how that shapes up.
For a history of Bombay Boys in the MTBC tournament: http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
2011: Match 1 : Vs V3BD : Won by 30 runs
Close on the heels of India clinching the title in the World Cup 2011 tournament, the new captain Ashish Prabhu, hereby referred to as AP2, and his boys were off to a good start in the 2011 MTBC tournament with Bombay Boys winning against V3Boys Dalakties a.k.a V3BD in their very first match of the season.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, openers Saurabh and KT were off to an initial good start when Saurabh fell prey to probably avoidable call-confusion running between the wickets. In stepped Jitesh and the duo then played it steady, taking quick singles and doubles and making the best of the loose balls for about 6 overs taking the total to 41 runs off 9 overs. One over before break time, Monty stepped in when KT’s shot went for a catch and he had to walk back to pavilion.
At the end of 10 overs, the Bombay Boys scorecard read 47 runs. The second half of the innings slowed down the run counter as wickets fell in quick succession starting with Jitesh’s wicket in the 12th over. This was one of 4 wickets taken by the V3BD bowler CVS against the Bombay Boys. In the 14th over Monty joined KT in the pavilion as well when the umpire ruled him caught behind despite protests that the bat did not touch the ball. The batting lineup started to disintegrate with Bombay Boys losing 2 more wickets in the 15th over and 1 in the 16th over. However, Vijay Pahuja stood in steady for a while and played some well timed shots helping take the Bombay Boys total to a 100+ score aided by a couple of runs by Chakra, Satchit and Nitin each. Bombay Boys completed their 20 over innings at 105 all out with Nitin being run out on the last ball.
V3BD started their batting innings playing patiently and steadily. Needless to say, BB bowlers maintained momentum and kept up tight fielding as they tried their level best to secure wickets. Nitin got hit to a couple of strong sixes/fours as he bowled full tosses. Abhishek had a better day as he took the wicket of Satish and Siva, the V3BD openers who were just beginning to settle in after having hit a couple of sixes and fours. But it was the captain AP2 who took centerstage in the bowling attack taking home a 4-wicket haul, aided by Monty and KT taking 2 wickets and 1 wicket respectively. The V3BD batting line-up resembled a crumbling pack of cards with the BB bowlers doing their job well and most of the fielders doing an excellent job and taking precise big-mistake-if-dropped catches like Chakra, Vijay and KT. A quick runout of the last man standing, performed by KT and Abhishek sealed the BB victory winning by 30 runs.
I should not forget to thank and appreciate brilliant sledging efforts by Jitesh, minor profanity by Bhavin – responded in kind by the V3BDs and major cheering by the rest of the supporting team. The Bombay Boys team owner, Venu Nambiar (Siddharth Mallya), goes home a happy man today. Deepika Padukone was missed.
Takeaways from the match:
1. Get the rules straight with the umpires and make sure people stick to it. If a bounce on a tree does not count to a catch, it should not count to a 6 either. Mutual understandings are fine, but we have been burnt by those 1-2 runs before.
2. Need to improve on catches. Captain needs to lead by example. Dropped catches wont work. We got by today but with a mighty opponent, it will prove to be very expensive.
3. All in all, we had 4 wickets due to runouts. Tolerable? Definitely not.
Bombay Boys now move on to face Churchill Cheetahs on May 15 2011 at 9:00AM at the same venue.
Scores as always have been uploaded on http://www.cricketmn.com
Cheers,
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, openers Saurabh and KT were off to an initial good start when Saurabh fell prey to probably avoidable call-confusion running between the wickets. In stepped Jitesh and the duo then played it steady, taking quick singles and doubles and making the best of the loose balls for about 6 overs taking the total to 41 runs off 9 overs. One over before break time, Monty stepped in when KT’s shot went for a catch and he had to walk back to pavilion.
At the end of 10 overs, the Bombay Boys scorecard read 47 runs. The second half of the innings slowed down the run counter as wickets fell in quick succession starting with Jitesh’s wicket in the 12th over. This was one of 4 wickets taken by the V3BD bowler CVS against the Bombay Boys. In the 14th over Monty joined KT in the pavilion as well when the umpire ruled him caught behind despite protests that the bat did not touch the ball. The batting lineup started to disintegrate with Bombay Boys losing 2 more wickets in the 15th over and 1 in the 16th over. However, Vijay Pahuja stood in steady for a while and played some well timed shots helping take the Bombay Boys total to a 100+ score aided by a couple of runs by Chakra, Satchit and Nitin each. Bombay Boys completed their 20 over innings at 105 all out with Nitin being run out on the last ball.
V3BD started their batting innings playing patiently and steadily. Needless to say, BB bowlers maintained momentum and kept up tight fielding as they tried their level best to secure wickets. Nitin got hit to a couple of strong sixes/fours as he bowled full tosses. Abhishek had a better day as he took the wicket of Satish and Siva, the V3BD openers who were just beginning to settle in after having hit a couple of sixes and fours. But it was the captain AP2 who took centerstage in the bowling attack taking home a 4-wicket haul, aided by Monty and KT taking 2 wickets and 1 wicket respectively. The V3BD batting line-up resembled a crumbling pack of cards with the BB bowlers doing their job well and most of the fielders doing an excellent job and taking precise big-mistake-if-dropped catches like Chakra, Vijay and KT. A quick runout of the last man standing, performed by KT and Abhishek sealed the BB victory winning by 30 runs.
I should not forget to thank and appreciate brilliant sledging efforts by Jitesh, minor profanity by Bhavin – responded in kind by the V3BDs and major cheering by the rest of the supporting team. The Bombay Boys team owner, Venu Nambiar (Siddharth Mallya), goes home a happy man today. Deepika Padukone was missed.
Takeaways from the match:
1. Get the rules straight with the umpires and make sure people stick to it. If a bounce on a tree does not count to a catch, it should not count to a 6 either. Mutual understandings are fine, but we have been burnt by those 1-2 runs before.
2. Need to improve on catches. Captain needs to lead by example. Dropped catches wont work. We got by today but with a mighty opponent, it will prove to be very expensive.
3. All in all, we had 4 wickets due to runouts. Tolerable? Definitely not.
Bombay Boys now move on to face Churchill Cheetahs on May 15 2011 at 9:00AM at the same venue.
Scores as always have been uploaded on http://www.cricketmn.com
For a history on Bombay Boys: http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.
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