2011: Match 11: Vs Knight Riders: Won: By 6 Wickets

Bombay Boys sealed their victory in their 11^th 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 5^th 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 4^th 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 7^th 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 16^th over without any further loss of wickets. Swaroop fell prey to a catch in the 16^th 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 1^st 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

2011: Match 10: Vs India XI: Won: By 31 Runs

Bombay Boys crushed India XI in their 10th match of the season at Hopkins on the 24th of July 2011 (This synopsis comes at the pace of snail mail in this age of e-mail). After winning the toss, Bombay Boys elected to bat first with Saurabh and KT walking in as the opening batsmen. 

"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 call diya!" - Yes Milind, you did ! But I'll be the first one to say - please DO NOT try that stunt again !

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 at Eagan. Being on top of their group, BB can now afford to experiment in this last match. We now are closer towards the true test - the knockouts which haven't been favourable to us for the past few years. Time to break the jinx. Time to bring the cup home. Go Bombay Boys !!!

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. 

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 16^th 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 9^th 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 14^th 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 14^th and 15^th 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 7^th over when they lost their 4^th 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 16^th over when the score read 78 and they lost their 6^th 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 !

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.

2011: Match 7: Vs Pinch Hitters: Won: By 7 Wickets

Bombay Boys sealed their 7^th victory of the season playing against the Pinch Hitters in an absolute firecracker of a match on Wednesday June 29^th  at the Eden Prairie, Flying Cloud Airport fields. Playing compressed 15^-over innings on a weekday wasn’t easy for both teams, but Bombay Boys managed to nail it proving to themselves that Oh Boy! Yes, we can chase huge scores just fine !

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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 this past weekend.

Scores as always have been uploaded to : www.cricketmn.com

For further details on Bombay Boys, http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com

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.blogspot.com

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 3^rd 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 15^th over to all out in the 20^th 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 19^th 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.

2011: Match 4: Vs Indian Knights: Won: By 1 Run

In their 4^th 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 3^rd 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 9^th 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 13^th 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 16^th 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 10^th over. Post break is when it all started going downhill. 17 runs in the 11^th over, 11 in the 12^th. To top it off, the Indian Knights team then pulled a cheap stunt at the end of the 12^th 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 2^nd 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.

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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 12^th 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.

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.

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

For a history on Bombay Boys: http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com

Cheers,
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.

Match 5 : Vs TroubleMakers : Ended in a Draw

Click on image(s) to view in detail.

Bombay Boys drew the match against TMK on Sunday 06/20, in what can be categorized as their first truly “exciting” match of the season, complete with a nail-biting finish. With a diversion from the usual trend, Bombay Boys lost the toss this time and acceded to bowl. The team was used to batting first and defending, chasing a set target would be a true challenge to gauge form. Bombay Boys was missing a couple of mainstream bowlers like Arun and Asif, as well as the only left-hand batsman of the team, Arvind. Ashish Prabhu (hereby referred to as AP2) and Nitesh made their season debuts with this match.

Nitin and Ketan started off their bowling spells with decent overs, keeping extras in control and bowling perfect line and length. TMK openers, in first 4 overs thus, were able to post only 15 runs. At a run rate of marginally less than 4 runs per over, the start looked decent enough. However, it seemed like a bad day for Chakra bowling the 5th over. With wides abundant and a huge 6 off the last ball of the over, the 5th over by itself added another 15 runs to the TMK scorecard. Ketan and Monty followed with their overs, somewhat stabilizing the batting outburst. TMK’s main striker Bharat, the guy to watch out for, was on a roll, with a 6 and some meaty 4s, playing strong when his wicket was beautifully taken by Monty, caught by Vikram. Bharat’s dismissal wasn’t taken too well by TMK, who appealed that Bharat was not out since it wasn’t a nick. Bharat for his part, stormed out of the field, pounding his bat against the terrain. BB was on a high, including Bhavin who was having a great time provoking TMK anyway. The very next wicket went in the 9th over, again taken by Monty, who seemed to be returning to his previous dependable form! Albeit having bowled slightly costly overs, the two important wickets were a huge moral boost. At the end of 10 overs, TMK stood at 64/2. Chakra resumed after halftime, this time with well controlled bowling, and amazingly, the remainder 3 overs of his only total up to 12 runs in all. AP2 also bowled some really good balls, 2 overs in all, giving only 11 runs, much to the relief of a lot of us, whose hearts were in our mouths. The real surprise package was Saurabh, who picked up 5 huge wickets in a single match, which has probably never before happened in the history of Bombay Boys. Saurabh also contributed in one of the two runouts, the other involving Vikram and Chakra. At the end of the innings, TMK stood at 111 having lost 9 wickets.

Nitesh and Ketan opened with Nitesh at the striker end. From the very start itself, both TMK and BB seemed charged. Low level swearing from the BB was met in turn by personal comments on the BB players that slowly escalated into a verbal dual. Both teams played with a vengeance. Nitesh got bowled in the 3rd over. In walked Saurabh and between the two and them, they scored some well-timed 4s and ran a good amount of singles/doubles. Saurabh, however, fell prey to a good ball from the TMK bowler Madhu (who had been ragged for quite a while, as he stood close to the BB team at the boundary line during his fielding stint). At the end of 10 overs, BB stood at 53/2. BB now needed 59 runs from the remaining 60 balls. Monty and KT as a duo, exhibited superior batting qualities during the second half, making every use of loose balls and running well-called singles/doubles. The partnership between the two had just set in, when Ketan got bowled again to Madhu. 80/3 in 15 overs. The “equation” now read – 32 runs required from 30 balls. Doable? Paras ensured that we stay in the game, by hitting 2 back-to-back 4s in the 15th over, which brought BB closer to achieving the target. BB needed 16 runs from 4 overs. Definitely doable. However, in the next couple of overs, Paras was not able to connect, causing concern among the BB squad, neither were the batsmen able to rotate the strike. With every missed ball, the target seemed to inch away from reach. Paras’s wicket then fell, as he got bowled to Shrikant in the 19th over. In walked the BB Shrikant and tried to revive the BB scoring. 7 balls 7. 6 balls 6. 5 balls 6. Nail-biting. 2 balls 3. The second last ball of the innings was hit by Monty and the batsmen succeeding in scoring a double and could have run back for the 3rd, but confusion reined as Monty thought it was a No-Ball, given by Satchit who was the leggie but over-ruled by the main umpire. The scores now stood at level. Unfortunately for BB, we were not able to convert the last ball to a run, resulting in a DRAW, which for TMK was a huge victory in itself.

4 runs, 2 from Paras and 2 from Monty were cancelled out by the umpire, claiming that the ball had not touched the bat. Should BB have appealed stronger? The no ball was a controversy. Would that have changed the face of the match? No offense to Shrikant, but Vikram was used to playing in nail-biting finishes like these, would he have been a better fit to the situation at hand? The umpire was supposed to have been from the SOC team, turns out he was from a different team, and surprisingly his name was not even in the roster. Should we have continued? There are innumerable questions that could have been raised, but at the end of the day, the truth of the matter is that the match ended in a draw. Could we have played better? Probably. Could we have done anything different? Probably. Did we miss out on our effort anywhere? NO. We’ll just do better next time.

Bombay Boys now proceeds to their next match against KnightRiderz on 06/26. Stay tuned.
PS : The questions/opinions raised are solely mine and do not reflect the thoughts of the BB team or any player.

Scores : http://www.cricketmn.com/

For further details on Bombay Boys : http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Deepa Duraisamy
One Team. One Dream.

Addendum :
All,

I just wanted to clarify that the question about Shrikant was not raised to undermine his playing or doubt his capability. Being a mere spectator, its not my place to do so. He scored a good 3 runs off 3 balls faced making it a perfect 100% strike rate, however this was still a question that I had in mind which I felt I could voice. Hopefully my email did not touch any raw nerves.

Thanks,
Deepa.

Match 4 : Vs Indian Colts : Won by 21 Runs

Click on image(s) to view in detail.

The Bombay Boys winning streak continues with yet another victory, this time against the Indian Colts. As has become the norm, Bombay Boys won the toss this time too and elected to bat. A precursory review of the pitch came back negative for batting as the ball refused to bounce. Bombay Boys definitely couldn’t hope for many extras.

Venu replaced Arvind this match, opening at the non-striker end, aiding skipper Ketan at the striker end. Two consecutive 4s by KT in the very first over set the ball rolling for the Bombay Boys batting scorecard, also building up expectations of a huge target for the Indian colts. Venu got bowled to a good ball from Jatin of Indian Colts in the 5th over. Monty stepped in at the 1-down position and here began the solid 80-run partnership between the duo. KT and Monty continued to steadily garner runs, exhibiting a good running between the wickets, going for 4s and 6s on loose balls and overall, putting on a commendable show. High energy cereal bars and Gatorade from Costco kept them going, I have been told. Special thanks to Venu and Madhu, who were in charge of refreshments and to Arun/Paras who had introduced the bars the first time round. The duo stayed put way past halftime, right till the penultimate over, when both of them fell prey again to Jatin, KT's shot caught by Pawas and Monty for his part, caught and bowled by Jatin. KT finished his innings with a superb 53 off 57 balls, only the 2nd player in the history of Bombay Boys to hit a half century after Neeraj Sinha (Season 2006). Monty also finished with a 'Beautiful' (vocabulary credit - Jitesh) 42 off 44 balls, falling short of a half century by just 8 runs. Talking from a 4s and 6s point of view, KT had 5 neat 4s and 1 huge 6, Monty finished with 3 lovely 4s. The scoreboard at this point read 108. Srikant, Paras, Vikram and Saurabh finished off the last two overs with some quick running between the wickets taking the total score to 121, of which 13 were extras, setting a target of 122 to win.

The bowling innings started with Nitin and Asif, who made a comeback with this match this season. Indian Colts, even though having lost every match of this season that they played, refused to back down and took to aggressive playing right from the very first ball. Openers Harish and Pawas ensured that even if they end up losing this one as well, they will not do so without a fight. A steady contribution by both of them, led to a 67-run partnership, with 4s galore. The score at halftime read 50 with no loss of wickets. This was a dangerous situation to be in. Bombay Boys bowling innings missed the inherent aggression and superb mind sledging display of the previous match. To add to it, the previously unhelpful pitch seemed to have changed form as balls bounced off it in abundance, transforming into no-balls easily. As the BB skipper had mentioned during the initial preplay huddle, Bombay Boys had lost only 1 league match in the entire 2008 season, that was to Indian Colts. We sure as hell didn’t need a replay of that. But at this point, looking at the score and the attitude of the Indian Colts, the match could go either way. The only sliver of hope came in the 12th over when Pawas was caught by Asif amidst sharp intakes of breath by the onlookers, as the ball bounced off Asif's hands and he managed to take the bounced catch again while in the running mode. The very next wicket went in the same over by Srikhant, this one taken by the BB wicket-keeper Vikram in a similar enthralling fashion, followed by nonstop rooting and cheering. The 2 cut-to-cut wickets put some pressure on the Indian Colts and boosted the morale of the Bombay Boys who upped their aggression factor, having gone down due to dropped/missed catches by Satchit, Saurabh, Vikram, Monty that could have cost the team dearly. Comments coming from the direct source, Monty's bowling also needs work, pace adjustment and focus on line (length being perfect) required since wides were abundant. Other well taken catches by Vikram (who took a total of 4 catches this match), Saurabh, Ajay P (brilliant, well-timed catch, Chichi - under a lot of pressure to perform well in his 1st match this season) and Ketan ensured that history didn’t repeat itself in this case. Indian Colts ended their 20 over innings with a total of 100, of which 24 were extras. Translated to 4 complete overs. That is A LOT.

Bowling and fielding sections needs to step up. Bombay Boys now stands at 4/4, facing their next opponents in the form of TroubleMakers, who have been doing pretty good this season. Gear up people, the race has just begun to get interesting !

Scores : www.cricketmn.com
For further details on Bombay Boys, http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com

Cheers,
Deepa Duraisamy.
One Dream. One Team.

Match 3 : Vs Victors : Won by 18 Runs

Click on image(s) to view in detail.

Bombay Boys maintained their impressive momentum with their third win in the MTBT, as Victors were outmuscled by an 18 run defeat that was more emphatic than the final margin suggested. After winning the toss for the third consecutive time and electing to bat, the skipper put forth the team’s target as 125. However, once the team started their batting innings and the way the initial few wickets stumbled, achieving this target seemed bleak.

Arvind was the first to go in the 7th over, but his 38 run strong partnership with KT, of which Arvind had contributed a resounding six, was a good start for the batting innings of BB. Saurabh walked in at his 1-down position, made some quick singles and had barely faced 2 overs, when his wicket was taken by Pranit. The score at halftime was 54/2. KT till now had managed to stand strong and had continued to contribute mostly with quick singles and doubles, however he fell prey to Pranit as well in the 12th over. Monty had been 2-down after Saurabh returned to the pavilion but was caught-and-bowled by Pranit shortly after he had made an entry. Monty’s wicket was being discussed within the team, as a questionable decision by the umpire, Monty stating vehemently that the ball bounced off the ground before being caught. Umpire’s decision being final, Monty returned, having added a meagre 6 runs to the score, which now read 62/4 at the end of 12 overs. Next in the batting line-up, almost in step, were Paras and Vikram, who exhibited some quick running between the wickets. However, Vikram was quickly dismissed through a catch. With Vikram’s dismissal, Srikhant entered, but encountered a similar caught-and-bowled by Pranit yet again, having added a couple of the runs to the BB kitty. Paras also met the same fate as Monty, only worse. Touted as a catch by the wicketkeeper with the big gloves, this time the umpire’s decision was criticized by the entire BB team, having come close on the heels of the earlier questionable decision. Arun’s entry upped the BB score somewhat, with his well placed shots, including one sixer and one four, eliciting cheers from BB and loud shouts from the angry not-so-young man, the Victors skipper Prabhu. Chakra and Venu put in their team contributions, supporting Arun and letting him stay at the striker end. The last ball of the innings, was hit by Arun for a beautiful sixer, making the score a 3 digit number. The target for the Victors now stood at 102.

As per BB batsmen opinions, Pranit was considered to be a strictly-OK bowler. Unfortunately for Bombay Boys, however, Pranit took 5 wickets and 3 catches in this one match, probably making the inning his cricket career’s best.

The just average score, coupled with frustration at the “neutral” umpire created an unparalleled aggression among the BB team which surfaced in the bowling innings. From the very first over onwards, BB bowled and fielded with a vengeance. Every possible and not-probable catch was heavily appealed for, fielding was tight and upbeat, sledging was rampant, both on and off the field.

Nitin and Chakra started out as the opening bowlers and ensured a low batting output, controlling extras. KT took over for the 5th over, but unfortunately, ended up getting hit for a 4, a 2 and multiple singles, giving Victors 10 runs for the over. Chakra retired hurt during this over, hurting his prior ligament injury, in an attempt to field a ball at the point position. Jitesh, this time ready with shoes and all, sub’ed for Chakra. Arun bowled next, showing complete control, followed by Monty, with a mix of some really good balls and some sad extras, and Arvind who also finished his 4 overs with good statistics.

If BB continued their aggressive play, then they had an excellent shot at victory. The Victor’s keeper Prabhu stood strong, till the 14th over, slowly and steadily adding runs, through support of his other batsmen. The revival post 10-overs was thrilling enough, but the fielding performance, especially the wicket-keeping was exactly as required. A couple of the other Victors batsmen like Shiva, Ram and Akshay did play their part as they determinedly kept going with singles. The rest of the Victors team, mostly Tamilian, attempted to incite the cheering team with their choicest epithets. However, a good team play by the boys swiped the grin off their faces, as they also eventually gave up on their players and joined the BB squad in cheering the BB players !!!!!!!!!!! Victors finished at 84 at the end of 20 overs.

From the sidelines, Chichi (Ajay P) was in his best spirits, dealing out Rajinikanth slogans and punchlines in Tamil, also singing a dance number only to have the Victor’s wicketkeeper join in and dance at the non-striker end. Chichi was also joined by Bhavin who unbashedly yelled out adult one-liners, regardless of the audience.

In the past, there have been matches where everything has failed and the newsdesk has done some thorough, maybe immature, bashing. This however, is not one of those days. Even though the match was “interesting”, I strongly feel that the team played to the best of its abilities. It just wasn’t that great a day. Well, at the end of day, BB won its 3rd match and now moves on to the 4th league match against Indian Colts on 6/6 (No match during the long weekend). We have started encountering tougher teams and will continue to.

Chakra : We wish you a speedy recovery.
Arun : Great job so far, best of luck with your half-marathon, we’ll miss you !
A request to the senior players : If you have any excerpts from the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 seasons, please do forward them for compilation.

Scores : www.cricketmn.com
For further details on Bombay Boys, http://bombay-boys.blogspot.com

Thanks,
Bombay Boys Newsdesk.
One Team, One Dream.

Match 2 : Vs Cricstars : Won by 31 Runs

Click on image(s) to view in detail.

As a member of the opponent team Cricstars remarked “The best seats in the house seem to be taken !”, rightly so, the cheering squad and the reserved player section had already marked their territory with summer chairs, food (read : energy supplements) and the likes, all set in anticipation to be a part of the Bombay Boys second match Vs Cricstars.

Arvind and Ketan opened as usual, after BB won the toss and elected to bat. Witnessed some good hard hitting shots from both Arvind and Ketan and the partnership was just starting to look good when Arvind got bowled out in the 4th over by Sirag, one of the apparently good bowlers from Cricstars. Arvind’s score stands at 18 runs scored off 15 balls, which also included 3 well placed fours and good running singles, leading us to believe that if his current form continues, we can hope to see two additional supporters pretty soon. Ketan for his part scored 29 runs off 38 balls, playing some well timed shots, including 2 fours and one strong sixer ! The team looked strong at 51 runs in 8 overs when the BB captain’s wicket was taken by the Cricstar’s captain Deepak. Saurabh stepped in at the 1-down position and it was interesting to watch him bat. Inside sources had mentioned and I quote “Wo mast technical khelta hain" (read : technique) and Saurabh for his part delivered good on his expectations. At halftime, the BB score read 63/2. Comfortable deal so far.

The second half of the innings saw some good batting skills from players like Monty, Paras, Vikram, Arun and Chakra and sixers rained as well. Monty and Paras had 2 each to their credit and Arun had one outstanding (literally !) sixer on the offside, having come determinedly off his bat and timed perfectly. Tactful utilization of loose balls and due contributions from most of the batting segment put Bombay Boys at a final score of 129 at the end of 20 overs with a loss of 6 wickets.

Cricstars had lost one match and won one in this season so far with decent doable scores both matches, so it was an open match so far with this one went. The bowling innings of BB got off to a casual start as Ketan got pounded in the first over itself, including a sixer on a no ball. Nitin for his part tried to stabilize the opening overs delivering perfect line and length. The 3rd over, again bowled by Ketan, was very much controlled and added only two runs to the Cricstar’s scoreboard. Unfortunately, as Monty’s overs followed, the saga of full toss balls and wides continued. Every full toss and no ball was aptly converted to an advantage by the opponenents and the downpour of fours and sixes seemed to loom threateningly.
If there was any consolation, it was the fact that, despite the definitely-needs-work bowling, the wicket taking streak did wonders for BB. Perfect take-your-time catches by Arun, Saurabh, Monty and “bowled” wickets taken by Arun, Monty, Chakra and KT more than made up for the fulltoss fiasco. So, on one side though the wicket taking showed complete team contribution, on the other side so did the worrisome bowling and dropped catches. Paras, Monty and Chakra all dropped catches. The BB team did ensure that Cricstars was bundled out for a measly 98 at the end of 18.2 overs.

Post match : So far, we are good as far as batting goes. Team effort through and through. Bowling sadly is another story. Looking at this match in perspective, the dropped catches and loose bowling did not affect this match’s result but with the right opponent could turn the match around. BB won the match sure, but we need to use this match to learn from our mistakes.

Note : There also needs to be ready, a 12th player complete with shoes (chuckle !) in case of any emergencies pulling off a playing member. A special “Thank you” to Dishant whose extension promises to provide tremendous support to BB as he tried to keep the team going with his remarks ! Thank you also to the cheering squad and the rotating reserve section, who’ll always be there.

From the Bombay Boys Newsdesk,
One Team, One Dream.

Match 1 : Vs Desi Devils : Won by 38 Runs

Click on image(s) to view in detail.

Bombay Boys Vs Desi Devils
MTBT Season 7 : 2010 : Match 1
Saturday May 08, 2010. 9:00 AM CST. University Ground.

Chilly winds blasting at speeds of 15 mph. Cold weather temping 46F. Predictions of rain and sleet. No respite in sight. Bombay Boys couldn’t have had a worse forecast as a start to the season.

Rocking jerseys. Team unity personified. 11 players inside. 9 outside. Adrenaline pumping. Bombay Boys couldn’t have asked for a more enthusiastic team either !

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Bombay Boys got off to a decent start with openers Arvind and KT making quick singles. However, BB experienced a very early FOW when Arvind’s shot went for a neat catch in the second over itself. Jitesh, unfortunately was in and out pretty quickly, followed by the skipper, who tho’ off to a good batting start making 11 runs off 13 balls, was the next to go in the 5th over. The score at the end of 5 overs read 25/3. Monty and Paras stepped in almost consecutively to build an impressive 86 run partnership which included 3 resounding sixes by Paras and 1 power-packed one by Monty. The duo kept up a good pace through the overs right till the 18th over with the fall of Monty’s wicket. Saurabh and Paras finally wrapped up the last 2 overs; with Saurabh getting run out on the very last ball. At the end of 20 overs , having lost 6 wickets, Bombay Boys had set a pretty decent target of 126 runs.

The second innings of the match commenced with KT and Nitin bowling the first 4 overs. 3 commendable sixes by the Desi Devil’s opener Naresh, 2 of them on 2 consecutive balls hit to Nitin and 1 to KT, coupled with Naresh’s crazy-looking head jerks raised questions, concerns, eyebrows and laughs everywhere. When KT and Jitesh both angled themselves to take a catch, off Naresh’s shot – a very important one, the cheering squad members held their breath. Finally KT took the catch, possibly the most important one of the Desi Devils team, not that we ever doubted Jitesh. Good calling and coordination gentlemen !

Sudhir and Sarath of the Desi Devils tried to keep the match going, pitching in from their end. A few runs here, a few there. At halftime, Desi Devils almost stood neck-to-neck with Bombay Boys at 61 runs off 10 overs with an advantage of a wicket. But all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again ! The team kept losing batsmen as BB exhibited a superior bowling performance during the second half of the match. Excellent bowling statistics by Arun, Chakra and KT, decent bowling overs by Nitin, Monty and Arvind coupled with efficient fielding displays by Jitesh and KT (having taken 4 catches himself) ensured that the opponents were bundled out for a meagre 87 with 1 ball to spare !

Congratulations on the first win of the season boys ! The team now advances to their next match with Cricstars on 05/16 at Cedar Lake.

Cheers,
Bombay Boys Newsdesk.

Quarterfinals : Vs Howitzers : Won

Author Credit : Rajib Das

Bombay Boys launched their knock out campaign in an emphatic manner, routing minnows(I called so to commensurate their name, originally they are very spirited team) Howitzers by 34 runs in their quarter final match in University Ground on super Sunday.

Electing to bat, BB rattled up a decent 91 for eight, riding on marvelous knock of 31 runs by Vikram Namjoshi , practicing well ahead of clash against arch-rivals Geeks on next Saturday.They then bundled out the opponents for a paltry 57 in 14 overs to register their one of the best victory margin, the highest being 87-run win against Pinch Hitters in last match.BB started the match from the point where they had left off in last match. Feeling the same hit in mind they were just about to engulf the opponent right from the beginning.

Fierce speed star Arun Kadam (4/23) weaved the bowling magic, firing with guile as he forced three players in just only seven runs in three overs by foxing batsmen with his intriguing line and length apart from his outstanding fielding.Mr Extra(31) and Ranga(9) were the main contributors in their(Howitzer) side's dismal run-chase. Beginning from their innings they were loosing wickets on almost each over collapsing down to 27 for 9 in 10 overs. Courtesy to BB’s torment focus at the end they managed to cross 50 runs in cemetery.

Right-arm paceman Ketan drew the first blood in his very first over, trapping Ramji for a mere single, to begin the rot and in next over to pick Ram, the most value able wicket of Howitzers. Mr VC Asif was also jubilant with his bowling arms after failing in batting this time; He dethroned two opponent in quick succession. In short Howitzers batsmen lacked confidence in negotiating BBs bowling attack. Poor running added to the woes of Howitzers as lack of understanding resulted in excellent run out of Guru by Monty in direct throw.

Arvind closed Howitzers hope with last wicket clean bowled Lefty Ranga when wacky whispering was about to commence in cheering team after 30 runs partnership stand.Earlier, Vikram notched up his second 30 in this ground and Ketan on 10 and Arun on 8. Namjoshi spearheaded the batting blitz with his scintillating knock with many couples and a huge six towards end of the innings helps BB reach defendable total of 91 runs in 20 over match.

Howitzers pacers Anant, Neela and Saravana who had done an admirable job against opponents in their group match were also shinning in this match. Among them Anant was the most economic bowler conceded only 9 runs in 4 overs and bagged two wickets.Saravana took maximum 3 wickets for the team costing 16 runs in 4 overs. Neela(23/1) was bit expensive but he reimbursed the fact by grabbing three exuberant catch in the field.

This was a convincing victory for BB showing their strength and nature as usual in the field. Just two more matches are behind to lift the cup and repeat 2005 history. Like other days cheering stand(Deepa, Sunaina, scorer Bhavin Bhai, Vikas Bhai – Kancha Specialist, Nitin, Nitesh) has the same contribution as before to achieve this sweet victory. I always mention their name at the end, does not mean that they are mere spectators. Contrary they are the people, we player for, to give smile in their face, to crave for cup, to share few happy moments out of our busy IT life. We always keep them in mind with strong bondage with the team and say…


“Three cheers for Bombay Boys..Hip Hip…….Congratulations Everyone…..”

Cheers
Author

PS: Unfortunately there was no photo session this time as Photographer was busy analyzing Share market !

Match 6 : Vs Indian Colts : Lost

Watching the Bombay Boys play and writing for them has always been a treat. And much as I have tried to put off writing about the hopeless debacle that ensued on Saturday, June 28th, it was either this or an entry in my diary, so I might as well say it out loud.

Disclaimer : The reminder of the email is intended to be unbiased yet not intended to offend anyone.

Looking at this match in the perspective, I would say there were a host of events that went bad causing the team strategy, if any, to fail. The idea of experimenting with the batting order for one looks to be a bad idea now; maybe one wouldn’t be saying this had Bombay Boys won. But they didn’t and its safe to say that we cannot afford this again. 4 ducks in the team. Kind of hard to digest. Only 2 double digit scores. The second one barely making it in at 10. The skipper Chakra and Dada gave a somewhat admirable stand, considering the circumstances, pulling in 10 and 8 respectively. KT and DevAnand giving in their share of 7 and 8 as well. The Wall, Satchit, barely edged up 3 runs. Needless to say; the others Asif, Arvind, Monty and Arun walked back to the pavilion the same as they had gone in to play. The series of ‘bowled’s one can understand; but the catches? Well, if the team knew they were losing wickets I wonder what prompted each of them to keep flicking their bats? At the end of the batting innings; the Bombay Boys wicketkeeper Vikram is clearly the one who pulled them
through with the batting innings; making a good very sensibly played 34 taking the team to a very well defendable score of 92 when at times it looked like even 60 was a good enough score.

Now the real test began. It was upto the bowlers and the overall fielding to fall into place. The initial 10 overs were a pleasure to watch. The top order of the Indian Colts was bundled out for a measly 27 at the end of the first 10 overs. The Indian Colts had to make 66 in 10 overs. The Bombay Boys were all set for a victory. Well then, what failed? Misfields, totally unecessary extras, short balls, full-tosses, missed really-important catches. The next 10 overs had all the mistakes one should learn from to get better in the game. Colts had lost atleast 4-5 wickets in the first 10 wickets yet they won the match fair and square with 3 wickets to spare. OK, the Bombay Boys performed badly; but we have to admit; they made an awesome comeback too and played to win. I applaud the 3 hugely hit sixers from IC to each of our mainstream bowlers. Even though I thought then that a couple of runs would have made the difference, thinking back, now I beg to differ. Where they made 93, they could also have made 100. What we needed was a good score maybe 120+ and each of you know we could have done it.

Its bad enough to lose a match but losing to a team who has lost every other match; never won a single one before and wins straight against the Titans, well that doesn’t sit too well. Were the boys too complacent? Probably yes. Indian Colts was percieved to be a poor team and did the boys think this was too easy? Probably yes again. (Saturday’s opponents don’t look so tough?? Reality check needed here !!) Another mistake to be learnt from. Its important that we end the losing sequence with just this one. Thanks to Naren and Nitesh (and probably even Feroz) we have the entire match caught on tape (shortly to be uploaded on KM .. LOL .. Just kidding Arvind), and what better take-away but to analyze and ensure that every match henceforth is played with a vengeance.

As Monty and Arun rightly remarked; its high time that BB has the Australian attitude : Never to lose. If it’s a poor team; lets beat them even more aggressively. That’s what makes them the trend setters. Its important that BB takes this defeat in stride, positively and make up for it the next matches. This loss has cost us dearly shifting our positions within the group as well as overall. Right now; the only thing to hope for is that this doesn’t play a part to any downslides. To make it to the top, BB is going to have to play it tougher with stronger teams like Indian Knights and Indian XI.

As you can see, this week’s score came in pretty late compared to the usual SLA of 2 hour; as well as 4 totally unrelated pics of nature seem to be in KT’s Orkut album which says Match 6 : Bombay Boys Vs Indian Colts (PS : I do find that a little humorous and empathize with the players). Most of the BB team has been down in the dumps since the catastrophe; Stop whining and get over it guys. Move on; learn from it and make sure you play so well that people don’t remember this one anymore. Most of us in IT have a short memory anyways.

Am sure Harshad had a good time umpiring; the poor person got stuck in a tight spot because of the neutral umpire not making it, some say the umpiring costs did cover his Farmer's Market expenses though and Vijay needs to come for a match which the BB wins to prove that he’s not the unlucky omen.

Over and out,
Deepa.