Saturday Cricket Club Blog

A facile victory... finally!

2008-09-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

After a couple of hard fought wins, it was time Saturday CC upped their intensity and won a game comfortably to start off the 2nd round of TCA Open 2008. The match against Kasturi Pade presented this opportunity and Saturday CC made most of it.

Kasturi Pade won the toss and put Saturday CC in.

On a wet and heavy outfield it was not easy scoring runs. To add to that, KP bowlers bowled 2 consecutive maidens to start the proceedings. Naresh and Viral opened the innings for Sat CC. Naresh was dismissed on the very first ball he faced. Shiv joined Viral in the middle. Viral hit a cracking lofted off-driven boundary to break the shackles in the 3rd over and Saturday CC never looked back. Shiv, first with Viral and then with Hardik and Satish stitched very useful partnerships. Shiv finished with a man-of-the-match winning 31 runs. Hardik, Viral, Satish and Gyanesh pitched in with useful contributions.

In this tournament, Shiv has been like a rock. He is the one that holds our batting together playing calmly, taking what the bowler gives yet at the same time putting the bad balls away. And it looks like he is yet to peak which is a good sign for our batting. His innings today was mixed with those short jabs, drives and nudges to get some singles interspersed with some big pulls and cuts. It was a treat to watch him play today. Great job Shiv, keep it up.

We ended up scoring 5 to 10 runs fewer than what we should have – thanks to a spate of run-outs in the slog overs and some decent bowling by KP.

Saturday CC made 87 for 9 in 20 overs.

Ananta and Gyanesh opened the bowling for Saturday CC and both struck in their respective first overs. Ananta produced a miserly spell of 4-0-6-1 while Gyanesh who was superb too with his line as well as length, was unlucky not to pickup more wickets as Saturday CC fielders dropped quite a few catches off his bowling. After the first 8 overs, Jayanth, Mahesh and Abhay teamed together to get the rest of the KP wickets. Mahesh and Jayanth were especially deadly picking up 4 and 2 wickets respectively. What especially will be etched in memory is Mahesh’s superb slow ball that clean bowled a KP batsman as he swung through an hour too soon.

KP were bowled out for 52 in 18.4 overs.

A good easy win but the margin of victory could have been bigger if we had scored more at the death while batting and/or held all the catches that came our way. I think we ended up dropping 5 catches.

We next play against Friends CC and I consider this a “banana skin” game not only because of the opposition but also because of the ground (Starbird Park) which appears to be a low-scoring Gill Park type ground. We are very close to qualifying for the round of 16. But we need to make sure we do not slip in the next game.

Let’s go SatCC!

-Abhay

Kedar blitzkrieg leads to facile victory over Panthers

2008-04-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday CC went into the game against Panthers after 3 consecutive losses. Inconsistent batting and at times poor bowling and fielding had let the team down in those games. However, the team morale was high. The team was cheerful prior to the start of the game and the dugout chirpy.

Panthers won toss and inexplicably put us in perhaps not wanting to field in the second innings when it was going to get very hot. In the absence of Ananth, Kedar was asked to open with Nadeem. The ground looked high-scoring and 90+ was considered par for the course. However, it was a hot day and everyone urged everyone else to conserve their energies. Ashish and Shiv did a yeoman’s job by purchasing additional water and Gatorade.

As the match started, Kedar lofted one over mid-on on the last ball of the first over for a couple – signaling his intentions early. Nadeem gave him nice company getting the occasional 2’s and 3’s sometimes aided by some poor fielding by the Panthers. Score had progressed to 25 in 6 overs when Nadeem got out – caught backing up too far on a direct hit from short mid-off. He scored 12 off 19 deliveries. This start provided the platform for the rest of the batting.

Naresh joined Kedar and continued building up. Taking the occasional extra base hits until the 9^th over when it started raining 4s and 6s. Manohar had bowled a tidy line so far. But he gave Kedar one in the slot and was quickly put away over mid-wicket for a one-bounce 4. Anticipating Kedar’s intentions he dropped one short. But Kedar was more than up to the task – rocking back to pull him over deep backward square leg for a huge six. There was a fielder positioned there. But he was left watching the majestic trajectory of the ball sailing way over him. In the dugout we were – “dancing in the aisles” as some well known TV commentator would put it.

On the stroke of the break though Naresh was surprised with a ball that climbed on him, hit the handle of the bat on the way to short mid-wicket. It was sort of an action replay of the Rahul Dravid dismissal from the Kanpur test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E10zrJehm1s)

There were no Morkel’s or Steyn’s in the Panthers line-up however. And that uneven bounce turned out to be an aberration. Praveen joined Kedar after the break and quickly set about making the most of the opportunity. Next 2 overs fetched 16 runs with both Praveen and Kedar running hard between the wickets and in part aided by poor fielding by the Panthers. Praveen played a couple of nice lofted drives in the vacant mid-wicket area. There were a couple of dropped catches in this period. Kedar made Panthers realize those blunders by hitting Manish over widish mid-on for huge six. By now, Kedar was approaching his 50 and everyone in the dugout was counting his every run. A boundary off Raghav bought him closer. On the other end – Praveen got a rough dismissal when he was adjudged stumped off Manish. Mahesh was promoted up the order and he too looked good in the middle until he tried to hit them too hard. Kedar completed his 50 in great style late-cutting Ajay behind point. Shortly after completing his fifty Kedar departed caught by Viresh off Raghav. While getting his 50 he was involved in partnerships of 25, 27, 21 and 20 with Nadeem, Naresh, Praveen and Mahesh respectively. We were privileged to see a gem of an innings. It not only put Sat CC firmly on course to beating Panthers but also exorcised the demons in the heads of Sat CC batting line-up.

Jayanth hit a couple of crisp boundaries on the off (a backfoot cover drive/punch through cover and another lofted extra cover drive) and ran hard with Ashish to put the icing on the cake. Saturday CC finished with 124 for 7 (yours truly was out without facing a ball as he took on the mid-off fielder).

125 on this pitch was not totally out of reach. Praveen and Kedar opened the bowling for Saturday CC. Panthers seemed to be keen to get on with the game batting aggressively from the word go. A couple of lofted shots landed between Abhay and Viral (mid-on and mid-wicket). Praveen persisted with his good line though and got his just reward when Kedar took a sharp catch at long-off. Kedar followed up with a wicket of his own when he made Ajay pop one up for a simple catch for Ashish at point.

Panthers were 18 for 2 in 4 overs.

Gyanesh and Mahesh took the baton from Kedar and Praveen and bowled 6 overs of disciplined bowling. Gyanesh in particular bowled really well not conceding any runs even though the Panthers looked to attack. Sat CC fielding was improving as well and Naresh took a beauty off Mahesh diving full length to his right to pouch a full blooded pull near the square leg umpire. The batsman was stunned with that catch and would have considered himself unlucky. After all, how many times do you see such catches in the TCA. Buoyed by the wickets Sat CC bowlers had their tail up. At the break Panthers were 37 for 5. They needed 88 in 10 overs a task that was quickly getting out of their reach.

Ashish and Jayanth bowled some tidy overs and made sure the required run rate kept on climbing. Jayanth got the dangerous looking Raghav to spoon a catch to Shiv while Ashish got Yella who had started to use the long handle. Abhay conceded 9 off his first over but quickly regained his composure to concede 6 off his next two. After the 17^th over, Panthers gave up the idea of trying to win and instead were trying to get themselves a bonus point. Saturday CC had the opportunity to get another bonus point. But the team was not keen to make sure they got it. This may prove costly in our quest of reaching the quarter finals of the TCA league.

Panthers labored to 90 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs. Gyanesh (3-0-7-0), Mahesh (4-0-16-2), Kedar (2-0-8-1), Praveen (2-0-10-1) and Jayanth (3 wickets for 22) all bowled very well. The fielding was also good considering that it was not easy to field on the off side (especially at long off).

We all will remember this game for Kedar’s innings though. I have seen quite a few of them over the last few years and looking at the way Kedar batted this time I am sure we will see a few more this season.

Good work Sat CC. Now lets try to win the next two to keep ourselves in contention by winning the next two games.

P.S. A special note of thanks to Vivek who did a yeoman's job by bringing drinks to all the fielders throughout the Panthers innings. It was a very hot day and Vivek made sure that the team stayed hydrated and focussed on the job at hand. Great job Vivek! You have shown the way and it is for others to make this a Sat CC tradition.

Thrilling Win Against Kasturi Pade ...

2008-03-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

Excitement, Passion, Spirit that's what SatCC's cricket is all about. Accepting a defeat and relishing a nice victory are a part and parcel of this great game that we all enjoy. What happened on 15 Mar was a resounding testament of the same.

California weather is back and I can not admire it enough. Picturesque background of mountains, lush green outfield of the Gill Park, cloudless azure skies and the Sun, a nice brigade of good men who enjoy playing cricket and playing it hard, Saturday mornings, Oh, it can't get better than this. And what makes it more interesting is the way SatCC pours the unforgettable excitement to the mix. Isn't life lived king size with all of this?

It was a crucial game since SatCC had lost the season opener rather poorly and Kasturi Pade is a respected team in the TCA league. A match against Kasturi Pade (KP) is always a close encounter and some of you might remember how closely SatCC won the last encounter against them, last year. This year, it was almost a Deja Vu as you'll soon find out ...

Nadeem lost the toss and was put in to field by KP. The Gill Park pitch is more predictable than some other venues and has got support for both batsmen and bowlers. I now think that this park has transformed itself into the Dunford-I ground where scoring a high score is always a challenge and 65 in 20 can be defended easily, with a decent bowling attack. Here, KP batsmen started on a cautious note. Bowling with the "furry" ball is a challenge and Kedar and Satish felt that while bowling to a tidy line. Satish was especially very effective and he got two wickets in his first over, one being caught nicely by Abhay at mid-on and other dragging one onto his stumps. Ashish could get into rhythm, but since Nadeem had several choices today, Imran was brought into attack in the sixth over and Oh Boy! he bowled a heck of a line/length and pace. There is something unique about this bowler. Accuracy of line, tidy run-up, nice and clean action, ability to bowl quick balls in succession makes him as lethal as he is. He grabbed two in his first two overs and soon KP were 16 for 4. Jayanth too bowled a good line although he bowled at a lower pace and bounce than usually is the case. Nadeem and Ashish were as agile as ever, Ashish holding on to a difficult chance with a slide and Nadeem grabbing Nitin on a foolish run-off-a-misfield attempt. At the break, it was 24 for 4 and the first session was eventful for SatCC. Abhay made a candid remark saying we should concede another 24 runs in next 10 overs and everyone said it was up to him as he remains SatCC's number 11 (i.e. the bowler who bowls 11th over of the innings). Mahesh and Abhay bowled well and although they were effective, KP batsmen were able to pick up a few singles. Especially, Srikara played a good knock of 22(30). Imran came back and finished the tail off with some fantastic bowling (should I say reverse swing?) and quick pick-up and throw during the follow-through. The bowling analysis for Imran read
4-0-8-4. This is quite remarkable.

In spite all of this, I thought KP managed to get a good total of 60 in 19.3 overs.

To tell you the truth, it is tricky to chase this kind of score on Gill Park.

Nadeem and Ananth started rather cautiously. Ananth is known for playing his shots, the one that he hits straight over the bowler's head being one of them. He did hit one of those, but was caught rather nicely at mid-off while trying a similar one. That brought Viral to the crease and he looked confident right from the start. The majestic pull shots and elegant drives started flowing off his bat. The footwork looked perfect. On the other side, Nadeem had slowed down a bit and was really choked in the over he got out. Somehow, he was not picking the length of the deliveries today and after having played four dot balls, fell to the one just-out-side-the-off.

Kedar joined hands with Viral and the two had a good partnership of 19 runs for the third wicket. At the break SatCC were 24 for 2 which means, KP were successful in the third quarter of the match. 37 in 10 with 8 wickets in hand. Looks simple. But it rarely is.

Viral was the next one to go as both Kedar and Viral misjudged the second run which was there. "Running between the wickets is a delicate skill that top-order batsmen ought to master" -- someone has said. I think SatCC has to include this generally ignored but vital part of batsmanship in their practice sessions. That was a sad end to an otherwise impeccable innings. Viral played brilliantly for his 16 off 27. Some may think the Vintage Viral is back, but I think he was always there, falling cheaply when he did not score.

Ashish was a little uncomfortable and ended ballooning one to square-leg.

Kedar had to now consolidate the innings and score some runs as he was well set. But while running a run he fell and that unintentional thing made him lose his concentration. The next ball on middle and off was rather full and he played all over it. The result - a familiar falling-short on Kedar's part. I think everyone understands how hard it is -- what Gavaskar once said, "Don't leave it for the next batsman". After having scored 14 off 23, Kedar once again failed to score!

Imran was the next batsman and SatCC were rather confident about his batting. But the disaster struck and to his surprise, he was bowled around the legs! It was quite unbelievable. Imran was so upset with him and was finding it too hard to get over the fact that he was out in a quite mediocre way.

Jayanth on the other hand (and end :)), was playing a steady innings under pressure. His innings reminded me of Sir Richard Hadlee. Hard hit straight drives, man I loved watching those. Satish played a cameo but a nasty attempt (to run a run that was not there) ran him out. I term this as a "Harakiri Run".

This landed SatCC in an ironically familiar situation. It has been happening rather too many times. 46 for 6 in 16 overs. 49 for 7 in 17 overs. 3 overs and 12 runs. 3 wickets in hand. Anyone familiar with cricket-with-cricket ball would argue that this is easily "gettable" equation. But therein lies the uncertainty of tennis ball cricket. Both Jayanth and Abhay played sensibly and that was the most remarkable part of SatCC run-chase. Nudging the ball, playing the straight drives and running well and hard got us to the culmination - 4 runs in the last over. 2 singles of the first two balls. Abhay waiting patiently for the bad ball. He got one. Short and on the middle. The next moment we saw that outside the mid-wicket boundary, which fetches only a couple on Gill Park :). That's it. A fantastic win. Mr. Cool's - Abhay and Jayanth winning it for SatCC.

Several things to remember and cherish and learn from this game of cricket.

League 2008 Schedule ...

2008-03-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here is the schedule in plain HTML:

We are in group A with few others: Catalysters, Spanglers, Kasturi Pade, Thunderbolts, Panthers, SJSU Knights, Murdock CC, SE 11

The schedule/result is/was as follows (Date, Opponent, Result, Points, Cumulative Points):

Sat 01 Mar, Thunderbolts, Loss, 0, 0
Sat 08 Mar, Kasturi Pade, Win, 16,16
15 Mar -- SCC Umpiring Weekend
Sat 22 Mar, SE 11, Loss, 0,16
Sat 29 Mar, Spanglers, 0, 16
Sat 05 Apr, SJSU Knights, 0, 16
Sat 12 Apr, Panthers, 16, 32
Sat 19 Apr, Murdock CC, --, --
Sat 26 Apr, Catalysters, --, --
03 May -- SCC Umpiring Weekend

The 2008 season starts ...

2008-02-29T19:46:00.001-08:00

All right. We are just back from the beautifully flood-lit Gill Park. It was a nice experience. We have some young and new players and they all look very promising. I am looking forward to a memorable season.

SCC take on Thunderbolts in the TCA league matches that start tomorrow. I can't wait!

2007 Knock-out starts ...

2007-06-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, the match no. 1 has been won by
SCC. Here is the team that did it.

Abhay was impeccable with his lethal deliveries. It's such a joy to see him bowl with that vintage look and feel!

Brief scores:

United CC - 30/10 in 14 overs.
Sat CC - 34/2 in 8 odd overs.

Nothing is as sweet as a win in a must-win situation ...

2007-05-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Folks, hold your breath. What you are going to read is a testimony of why people say Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. Before I take you through the amazing roller-coaster, I must narrate the constraints of the game. SCC were playing their last regular league game and it was a decider as far as their league endeavor was concerned, their regular players (and bowlers) were unavailable en masse as SJSU exams are nearing, there were few injuries here and there and they had already lost 2 games and in other 2, the points were split, the opponents (Kasturi Pade, KP) had not lost a single match and as such, things were getting tough.

Viral won the toss and elected to field first on a day with overcast conditions. Bowlers stuck to a tidy line and were rewarded for keeping the batsmen quiet. Ashish who opened the bowling with Kedar got into nice rhythm and bowled a great nice a bit outside the off. The discipline paid off and soon KP lost their first wicket by an accurate throw from Nadeem running the hustling batsman out. It was a great start. Ashish had conceded just 3 runs in his first two overs and bowled a batsman (played him on). Naresh was the first change and he too quickly got his line giving no room for batsmen to play. Divya was too eager to improve the run-rate and edged a rising delivery outside the off and Shiv one-handed a great catch.

This was a crucial stage. Actually, the 10th over saw a brilliant display of tactical spin bowling by Mayank and a great bit of captaincy by Viral. With his front-line bowlers missing, Viral made a nice move of introducing Mayank who made KP's woes worse. Unless you have a great eye and selection, it's not possible to hit Mayank cleanly.

At the end of first ten, KP were 19/3 and the first session belonged to SCC. That's the thing. Even if first 3 sessions in a 20-over game belong to a team and not the 4th, it loses the game. So, SCC players had to focus really hard. Abhay started off well with those speedy delivering angling across the right handed batsmen. It was so nice to watch those being bowled consistently, frustrating the batsmen as they left them. Soon KP were under pressure to get the score-board ticking and they lost their wickets at regular intervals. Vijay was the only danger man left somehow holding back against Mayank. But Mayank got the better of him when he ended the 16th over with a simple catch at deep mid-wicket. It was 39/7 in 16 overs. Last 4 overs too kept batsmen away from big hitting and since Abhay bowled a great line and length, they could finally reach a modest 51/10 in 20 overs.

This is a tricky score. It gives the bowlers something to defend and if the chasing team is too defensive, the situation can quickly get out of the hands. That's partially what was in store for SCC as the game commenced with Sun getting out of the cloud cover. Both Nadeem and Mayank looked good with their usual thrust on the front foot, on a pitch where mysteriously the ball keeps low and beats the batsmen. Nadeem was thus the first to fall and Viral soon followed on a similar delivery. Mayank missed a simple full toss and played it on the stumps. SCC were under pressure too with 15 for 3. Naresh and Kedar then had to steady the ship and played sensibly for a partnership of 16 runs and plugged further damage till the break.

The game was nicely poised. An onlooker who does not understand Cricket enough would have thought that it is favoring the SCC, with 7 wickets in hand and (only) 25 runs to get in 10 overs.

Distaster struck. Kedar skied one high which Vijay held well, Naresh was wrongly adjudged clean-bowled and Prasanna played one across getting yorked in the process and suddenly it was 31/6 from 31/3 in the same over! It seemed as if the usual story of losing the most crucial quarter of the entire match is going to repeat itself. This has been the hall mark of SCC matches this season. Too much of tension, sensation and excitement. I am loving it as long as they won those :).

Ashish and Shiv labored and took the score to 38 when Ashish was stumped in a situation that should have been ruled in his favor. Abhay then followed and Boy! he looked determined. His temperament looked solid. Shiv on the other hand was playing well and these two demonstrated how a chase should be performed under pressure with 3 wickets in hand. Although there are places where SCC batsmen should improve their skills to steal scoring opportunities because that matters against good teams, it goes without saying that it is not easy to keep your cool in extremely demanding situations. That's what Abhay did. He released the pressure well, ran well between the wickets and this neat innings culminated in a great boundary running down-the-track. That tied the game as the equation changed from 8 in 3 overs to 1 in 2 overs, with 3 wickets in hand. That's when Shiv got out cheaply and Neeraj ran himself out with all players inside the circle. Man, I can't believe it. 51/7 to 51/9? No, not another tie. All prayed. The finish had to be nail-biting. But then again, Abhay was standstill and hit one out to long-off and won it for SCC.

Kudos to Abhay. 10 runs not-out and 4-1-5-2 -- what a performance!

Hopefully, this should see SCC through to Quarter Finals. That should be rewarding. Lot to be learned still though.

One thing I learned that it is futile to critique anyone's batting and batting is easier said than done even on subcontinental pitches!

Winning Start to 2nd Round of Open 2006

2006-09-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday CC made a good start today to the Second Round of TCA Open 2006 tournament. There are going to be 3 matches in this round and we will probably need to win all 3 to advance to the next round. Today was a fine way to begin that quest.

SatCC was facing Dunford Devils today at Gill Park, a ground where we have suffered two embarassing defeats during League games in the last 2 years. So there was added pressure to perform well. The pitch looked dusty with heavy grass in the outfield. It looked as if scoring would be difficult on this ground. With that in mind, Dunford Devils won the toss and put SatCC into bat.

In the absence of Nadeem, Shiv opened the innings with Viral. However, he was soon back in the hut Run Out for 1 with the team score on 5. It definitely was not an ideal start to the innings, but we have to be ready to play through such hiccups, and that is exactly what Viral and Naresh did. Both took their time to get their eye in, not taking any undue risks, but still moving the scorecard at a decent clip. After 5 overs, SatCC had made 18. Soon Viral found his groove and started playing some powerful pulls, hooks and flicks. He regularly cleared the baseball fence on his Leg side to collect 2s with minumum risk. The opposing bowlers kept bowling to his strength and it was easy pickings for Viral. Naresh did the smart thing by picking up singles at every opportunity and rotating the strike. At the break the score had reached 44. The two batsmen managed 27 runs in 5 overs before the break.

After the break, Viral continued in the same vein and the score had moved to 57 when Viral was done in by a very fast and well directed Yorker. But before he got out, he had added 36 chanceless runs. His 36 contained 12 doubles. An amazing innings. Naresh and Viral put on 52 runs for the second wicket. Naresh soon was run out for a well made 16 with the score on 64 in the 15th over. Mayank and Madan played out a couple of overs not taking risks and the score reached 70 after 16 overs.

The last 4 overs saw plenty of fireworks from the two batsmen. The running between the wickets was frantic, and 1s were converted regularly into 2s. Mayank hit two wonderful boundaries in the Midwicket region. Madan survived a dropped catch and hit a Six after a long time. The innings finally closed on 109 as 39 runs were plundered in the last 4 overs. The two had a partnership of 45 runs in 32 deliveries. Mayank made a brilliant 27 in just 23 deliveries, while Madan contributed 19 to the cause.

With such a big total to chase, the task was never going to be easy for Dunford Devils. And Abhay made the task doubly difficult for them in the First over. Of the very First delivery, Abhay got Sriram cleaned up behind his legs as the ball hit the root of the leg Stump. Of the third delivery, a surprisingly fast but low full toss, the next batsmen hit all around it and was clean bowled to leave Dunford Devils tottering at 2 wickets for 0 runs.

With such a start, the task kept becoming increasingly difficult. Shantanu bowled a tight spell and frustrated the next batsman into a rash shot to give Madan an easy catch. Gyanesh joined in the fun and picked up 2 wickets. Naresh plucked a thunderous drive at short mid-off of his bowling, while Hardik held onto a nice catch at covers. Dunford Devils batsmen then swung their bats to collect a couple of fours and a Six but the final result was never in doubt.

Naresh made a diving stop and effected a run out. Shiv affected a smart stumping of Mayank's bowling. Abhay and Shiv had 2 more runouts and then Mayank finished off things as Shantanu held on to an easy catch at square leg. Dunford Devils innings closed on 72 giving SatCC an easy 37 run victory.

While the bowling was not upto the mark today, the victory was all but sealed by our top order batsmen. Viral, Naresh and Mayank played impressive innings to help build a big total, while Madan chipped in with a cameo, albeit a lucky one.

Viral was named Man of the Match. He is really setting the tone for us every match and is putting us in a position to win almost every time. Now with Naresh and Mayank also finding form, the top order looks good. We will have to tighten up our bowling a bit and make sure that the rest of us are also able to make useful contributions with the bat.

In the end, a very convincing win. And we need to keep up the efforts and performances.

Cheers
Madan

Another Convincing Victory

2006-09-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

After the gut wrenching loss to StarsCC a couple of weeks ago, a lot of soul searching was done that week. The entire team was disappointed with that performance. The result was a record attendance of 14 people for the next practice session, on a Long Weekend no less. The practice session was quite intensive as there seemed an added edge to every body's efforts that day. This boded well for our Final Match of the First Round.

SatCC was facing Bay Tigers, the team that handed them an embarassing defeat in the Finals of the TCA Open tournament last week. Although the defeat still rankles, that was then... this is now.

Our team has changed quite a bit from then. A lot of our stalwarts from past seasons have moved on and we have had to add quite a few new faces this year. This team is still getting to know each other better, but the new guys have quickly started to gel in and also impress all with their performances. So this game was really not about revenge, it was about us trying to beat a good team and gain some momentum for the next rounds.

SatCC won the toss and elected to field. Abhay and Shantanu started the proceedings and were bang on from the second ball on (the first was a No Ball). Both of them bowled a tight line and tied up the batsmen. The infield was alert and runs were dried up. The result was a wild heave from the opening batsman and an easy catch for Viral of Abhay's bowling. By the time Shantanu finished his spell, Bay Tigers had managed only 18 in 8 overs. Even their best batsmen, Avinash was not able to move the score card fast enough. The good work done by these 2 was more than ably supported by the rest of the bowlers.At the break the score was 20 for 1.

Hardik and Mayank tightened the noose further after the break and the opposition batsmen tried to hit their way out of trouble, but to no avail. Wickets kept tumbling and soon the Bay Tigers innings had folded for 42. Shantanu effected a couple of run outs to help the team cause.

Hardik was the most impressive bowler and ended up with 3 wickets. Mayank and Madan also bowled useful spells. The two deliveries of the innings were 2 Yorkers that rattled the timber. One was bowled by Hardik, the other by Abhay.

43 was always going to be an easy target and SatCC eased to victory in 13 overs. Viral looked in wonderful touch and ended up scoring 20. Some of his pulls and flicks were real beauties. He has shown good form this tournament and we need him to keep up the good work at the top of the order.

The victory was tempered a bit by an unfortunate incident during the game and there was not much celebrating. Sanjeev Kumar Das, one of the Bay Tigers team member, suffered from chest pains during our innings and had to be rushed to the hospital. Some of our team members rushed Sanjeev to the hospital (Kedar B, Karthik and Vishal) even as the game was progressing. It was learnt later that this was just in the nick of time. Sanjeev did suffer from a heart attack but we have been informed by Bay Tigers that he is out of danger right now and doing well. All of us here wish him a very speedy recovery and return to good health very soon. And Kudos to our own 911 team (Kedar B, Karthik and Vishal). Awesome Guys!!! You make us proud.

Some words about the opposition team. Bay Tigers is comprised of very good cricketers who have proved themselves by winning the Open tournament last year. But their whole demeanour, the way they carry themselves, their friendly attitude with the opposition team is quite exemplary. The fact that their minds must have been on their ailing teammate during the game will most surely have affected their concentration and performance, but there was no mention of that as an excuse, and they were very gracious in defeat.

Avinash (their captain) send a Thanks to our team members who were very supportive of Sanjeev and also congratulations on our win. Quite the champion, I dare say.

And so we move on to the next round. And here's hoping our performance yesterday is a sign of things to come.

Cheers
Madan

Saturday CC romps to 2nd win at TCA Open 2006

2006-08-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday CC were playing their second match in this TCA Open 2006 this morning against Discers. There was a lot of cloud cover as players assembled at John Horner for the game. Wasim was back for this game while Shiv missed out with a viral infection. However the opposition suffered today from a heavy Viral Infection themselves. Sounds crazy???? Read on!

Before the game began, one look at the ground and our Captain knew that this would be a high scoring affair. The John Horner ground presented scoring opportunities in all directions as well as a fast and somewhat uneven outfield.

Discers won the toss and elected to Field first. Their decision seemed to be vindicated as Nadeem was bowled in the second over of a Fast incutter. With last match's Highest scorer back in the hut, others would have to pick up the slack today. Naresh was in next. The score was moving along steadily when Naresh threw away his wicket of a juicy Full Toss. The Score was 16 when Kedar M joined the Not Out opener in the 6th over. What followed was a display of wonderful batsmanship.

The two batsmen began finding the gaps easily for singles and doubles, and the occasional 3s. The score had moved to 33 in 9 overs when Kedar M unleashed the first of his 3 boundaries. Both batsmen took the team to 40 without further damage at the break. As is the usual practice, guys were discussing potential scores and all felt that 100 seemed like a reachable target.

After the break, the tempo suddenly changed as Kedar started decimating the bowling attack and along with that the confidence of the Discers players. Boundaries started flowing from all directions as Kedar had a Pull Boundary, a Wonderful upper cut over covers and a straight boundary. The pair also collected a boundary of an overthrow as the fielding team wilted under the pressure. 25 runs came of the 1st 3 overs after the break when Kedar tried to hit one boundary too many and holed out at Long Off. He scored a wonderful 26 runs. All the shots he hit were clean hits and went exactly where they were intented to go. All of us outside the boundary line were in awe of his hitting. At that time, his partner was still there on 22 of 28 deliveries with one boundary of a misfield and a 5 , courtesy of the overthrow mentioned earlier. Nothing spectacular, really.

But any doubts that the overall score might suffer because of Kedar M's wicket were laid to rest by this Man. First, in the company of Madan, and then in the company of Kedar B, he went about collecting runs at a fast clip adding 2 wonderful boundaries of his own. He scored 22 runs in 15 deliveries after Kedar M's wicket and ended up carrying his bat as he was unbeaten on 44. Name of this batsman ??? VIRAL.

His awesome batting display saw SatCC score 115 runs in 20 overs. Madan and Kedar B chipped in with 11 and 9 runs respectively at a Run-a-ball. Viral effectively batted Discers out of this game as he mixed nudges and taps with text book drives and some pulls and swipes in the midwicket region.

With such a huge score to chase, the opposition required a quick start. But they had probably not accounted for the accurate and stingy bowling of Wasim and Shantanu. While neither of them got a wicket, they put the brakes on the scoring and by the time they were done with their spells, Discers had managed a meagre 24 of 8 overs, with Abhay getting a wicket in the 1 over he bowled during this time. This was just the type of bowling efforts we needed from from our opening pair. The 2 batsmen at crease tried to up the tempo a bit as Discers went into the 10 over break at 35/1. Scoring 80 of 10 overs was never going to be easy against SatCC with their quality bowling, which is, more often than not, backed up by some very good fielding.

Wasim started the wicket procession with a diving stop at Short Mid on to run out one of the batsmen. With Discers getting desperate, every one of our bowlers chipped in with a decent effort. With victory almost certain, our captain was able to utilize the bowling services of a lot of people in the last 10 overs. Kedar B, bowling after a long lay off, was a bit rusty but chipped in with 3 wickets. He was helped in particular by one special Gyanesh beauty, who took a stunning catch at short mid-on. Kedar B himself took 2 very good out field catches.

Gyanesh had a couple of wickets himself and Karthik finished things off by toppling the last batsman's stumps as Discers were all out for 82. And ohh yeah, Viral had a hand to play in the field as well. He effected a run out off a direct hit from the point region, with only one stump in his line of vision. The overall fielding effort was great with Gyanesh and Kedar B very effective and sure-handed in the bumpy uneven outfield.

This was a great win that had 2 great batting performances, a couple of brilliant individual fielding efforts and decent bowling from every one on our side. I guess there cannot be many complaints after such a dominating performance. But I, not always the voice of reason or logic or common sense on this team, cant help but point out to the 18 wides bowled by us. That aside, everything clicked today.

Now the key is to come up with similar performances while cutting down a whole lot on the Extras.

The virus that infected the Discers, Viral was an easy choice for Man of the Match Honors.

Cheers
Madan

Pictures from Match against Koogu

2006-08-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

I was trying to upload these pictures :(

Here are the guys getting ready
for the Open Tournament 2006.

Winning start to TCA Open 2006

2006-08-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday CC began their quest to win the TCA Open 2006 tournament on Saturday 12th Aug 2006 against Koogu 11. Saturday CC has performed admirably in the Open tournament the last 4 years.

While our form has been largely indifferent this year, this is a team of proud individuals who have set high standards for themselves and for the team. Winning the tournament is the only way that we will consider our season a success. Given these goals, it was extremely important to begin the tournament on a winning note. Saturday CC did just that, thanks to a supreme batting effort from Nadeem.

Koogu 11 won the toss and put SatCC into bat. Viral and Nadeem opened for SatCC. Both of them started carefully, getting their eye in and not taking any undue risks. They did a very good job of moving the score card with some wonderful running between the wickets. However Viral lost his wicket with the score on 31. Abhay was sent in next but he got out without troubling the scorers. Kedar M who went in next was looking solid and SatCC reached the 10 over break with the Score at 36 for 2.

Instructions for the two batsman were to accelerate without loosing wickets. Kedar M and Nadeem stepped up the tempo with some very good shots. Nadeem was looking very solid. He used the Offside field intelligently picking up gaps regularly with taps, cuts and drives. Both were looking solid when Kedar M backed up too far and was run out unnecessarily with the score on 53. Madan walked in next and continued the run scoring with Nadeem. The two ran hard and converted 1s into 2s and 2s to 3s on few occasions. The score had moved nicely to 75 when Nadeem lost his wicket trying to throw his bat. The score had reached 75 in the 17th over when Nadeem got out. But by then, he had done a wonderful job of holding the innings together. He scored 39 important runs. After his wicket, SatCC lost their way trying to up the ante and were all out for 83. The last 5 overs only fetched 21 runs while 7 wickets fell down. Had it not been for Nadeem's vigil, the innings could have folded even sooner.

83 was about 10-12 runs short of what we wanted, and the onus was now on the bowlers to make sure that Nadeem's innings would not be a lost cause.

Shantanu ensured that would not happen with a wonderful bowling performance. He got SatCC bowling attack to a wonderful start with a wicket in his very first over. Some alert fielding by Karthik at Fine Leg resulted in another wicket and Koogu 11 was pegged back immediately. The score had moved to 18 when Kedar M got Koogu 11 captain Gane Sugali caught behind by Shiv. Shantanu realized the importance of keeping the upper hand SatCC had gained and tightened the screws further with 2 quick wickets to have the opposition reeling.

Gyanesh came to the party and got a wicket with his first ball as he shattered the middle stump of another clueless batsman. Some fielding magic from Kedar Bapat and another wicket for Gyanesh had Koogu reeling at 24 for 8 wickets.

There were some late innings fireworks from the remaining Koogu batsmen but the final result was never in doubt. Koogu 11 innings folded for 52 after 14 overs. Shantanu returned superb figures of 3 wickets for 6 runs in 4 overs, while Gyanesh was equally impressive with 2 for 4 in 2 overs. The overall fielding effort was also very good and it was a convincing victory in the end.

Nadeem was rightfully named Man of the Match for his 39. This is a good start to the tournament for the team. The shortcomings that were apparent will be discussed, dissected and overcome in the due course of time. I will not go into the problem areas in detail here. But there's a long way to go in this tournament and it will require continuous improvement in all aspects of the game for us to go far in tournament.

Here's hoping that this start is a sign of times and will lead to even better results as we move on in the tournament.

Cheers
Madan

A Win is a Win

2006-07-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today, July 22nd 2006 is the hottest day in Bay Area. Several records for high temperature have been broken. A win couldn't have come at a better time.

Yes, SCC continues to remain Panthers' nemesis. This time, it was so even without the man who's behind those unbelievable comeback wins -- Abhay. We were playing with a balanced team though and little did we know what it means to play at 103 degrees F.

Match started with a cool first wicket partnership of 23 runs with Parag and Viral who both played sensibly. Parag was the first to fall on 23 and then Viral soon fell on 27. Both of them played well. Nadeem, one of the captains :) steadied the ship along with Taroon and we were 39/2 in 12 overs. It was beginning to heat and SCC batsmen too decided to pound on the loose deliveries. The charge was led mostly by Nadeem at this time. But soon both of them fell and it was Kedar M and Shantanu at the crease and they led the team into 70's when Shantanu was beaten by a slow off-spin to get clean bowled and Kedar M was beaten by a slower one to balloon one into the gulley. What then ensued was a great combination of stroke-play by Shiv and Gyanesh who hit well and ran well between the wickets. Shiv made a composed 21 and Gyanesh made sensible 12. It was 106/7 in 25 overs. We played the full quota of 25 overs. 67 runs were scored in last 13 overs.

There were a number of good things to be said about this kind of batting. The best was 5 batsmen scoring in double figures! This is what we need.

107 was not an easy task for Panthers. Not only did they need to keep the wickets, but also had to maintain a run-rate of around 4. Wasim drew the first blood when an opener skied one to deep mid-on. Shantanu struck back with a beautiful around the leg fooling of the other opener. Great ball indeed. Raghav Rao and Yalla played sensibly and there was no success for tiring SCC bowlers till over number 14. Both these batsmen got lives. But wickets kept on falling at regular intervals and soon it was 14 off 12 with 3 wickets in hand. Shantanu was agile at short mid-on and quickly grabbed one and had non-striker out of the crease by a yard or so for a run-out. Immediately following that Hardik made a sensational deep mid-off catch looking directly into the Sun. That was Raghav's catch and that looked like would turn the match to SCC side. That's when Kedar M was unable to contain himself and started bowling rather too many wides/no balls. This is yet another thing that he's still to learn. He ended up giving 10 runs although 2 wickets were claimed. It was Shantanu's turn to bowl with only 3 runs to spare.

Final over. 4 runs to win. 1 wicket in hand. Man, it does not become more interesting than that.

Shantanu had been holding to a great line and length. Viresh Amin got one on the off and middle and he just ballooned it in air. The off-side had a slippery slope -- it was Shantanu''s catch. He called for it. Again, looking into the Sun, keeping the eye on the ball, he held that catch and won the match for SCC. What a play! I have no idea how he held that catch. Awesome.

In the end, it was battle of nerves. People were so tired that hardly anyone moved. Dehydration was felt by many. It could have gone either way. And I am sure the loss was very disheartening for the Panthers.

This is a great win with all SCC men being the "Men of the Match"!
Let's carry this momentum into the Open Tournament.

Federer, the king of grass!

2006-07-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well, this is not a post about Cricket. I am sure though you'll pardon my little digression for I wanted to write about Roger Federer's win at the Wimbledon this year.

Few things have motivated me more than a Men's Singles Tennis match at any of the Grand Slam destinations. Also, the history of this great game is studded with timeless rivalries that are the hallmark of the game itself. We grew up with the backdrop of rivalry of Borg and McEnroe and then it was McEnroe-Connors, Becker-Edberg, Becker-Lendl, Sampras-Agassi and just when we were looking for a game-enriching rivalry, Federer and Nadal rekindled it.

Sunday's Men's Singles Final match @ Wimbledon 2006 was a terrific display of high class tennis as Federer aptly put it. And it was a treat to watch. Although Federer won it in 4 sets (6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3) it was far from a lop-sided game. Both of them played their best tennis and in the end, the better (just a shade) player won it.

Tennis is an amazing sport.

Art of Cricket by Don Bradman ...

2006-05-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

It will be rather unwise for me to review this book. Nevertheless, I can't stop admiring it. If and when time and ability permits me, I'd dare review the book. But for now, I have just recorded two sample chapters from the book to give you an idea of the lucid and elegant thoughts expressed by one of the greatest cricketers (and cricketing brains) of all time:

After hearing the last recording again, I felt ashamed that I do not have a record (that's made by myself, not by Vishal or TCA) that I maintain myself. Well, it is never too late ...

B as in Believe ...

2006-05-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I know it is over for SCC as far as ISTS Knockout 2006 is concerned and they did have an unceremonious exit from the tournament. It means something in terms of what should be done next and how the most consistent team in TCA can get back on track.

Something that I wanted to underline was nothing comes for free. This is especially true in terms of time. A thing that we designate as our passion quickly turns into our religion and starts taking toll on us. But it is hardly felt that way for we love the thing we spend time on.

I have a few thoughts regarding this and I am going to write them down for everyone's perusal. Although there is a local flavor to it, any true fan of the game of Cricket would agree with these ideas expressed below ...

'B' as in "Believe": I read a banner somewhere that said, "If Boston RedSox can do it, damn it, we can too". With all due respects to the great Boston baseball organization, I feel that is true for anyone who wants to be a winner. You've got to believe. SCC has probably been the only team that beat the champions comprehensively. It has also been beaten by some mediocre teams to touch bases with the reality, but one has to look at what is possible.
Stick to the Basics: Every magnus opus starts with a resounding following of the Basics. There is no easy way out. I'd say following basics are paid attention to:

Search for a Ground: It is important that we have comparable playing conditions during practice sessions and matches. There is more than meets the eye here because one of the most important problems SCC has is the lack of putting bad deliveries away. Away means out of the boundary line, notwithstanding the aerial route. If the Soccer team and cricket team shares the playground, a shot just beyond short mid-wicket is awarded four runs, but that's hardly true in match situations. This also brings in the point of a discipline that is needed. We do measure 64 yards for the pitch, but we should also measure the distance to boundary line and have a boundary line. It might also help to consider actually reserving a ground and put these worries to rest forever.
Minimum 13: This goes hand in hand with the above. Unless we have at least a baker's dozen present for the practice session, it is hard to achieve what above dictates. Whereas this is easier said than done, unfortunately there is no choice.
Interest in Practising: The Alan Drill is simply irreplaceable. We need to beef it up with the run-out drill. But if practice sessions are not as dearly attented to as the matches themselves, it is hard to imagine where the honing of skills will come from. It goes without saying that some basic problems with our cricketing styles are impossible to overcome, but practice does make us perfect.
Innovate Practice Sessions: This is more of a task of the SCC think tank. Acquiring different skills needs different kind of practice sessions. Maybe more of one-on-one kind. For example, if a bowler has hard time deciding the exact run-up, pitching the ball at a desired spot then we have to adjust the practice session accordingly. Alternatively, if a ball is pitched on middle and on at a drivable length, batsman should consistently be able to hit it to the appropriate region the on side.

Improve Temperament: This is by far the hardest. What's possible at practice sessions is not possible during matches. I am not sure how one could improve upon this. Maybe all should read Don Bradman's Art of Cricket?
Define the Primary Roles: It is often necessary that a player satisfies the role that is demanded by the circumstance. But planning is needed. We plan the stuff and then work the plan. All players must know what their primary responsibilities are. This translates partially to the approximate number in the batting lineup where a particular batsman will bat. Whereas we have to make adjustments to that lineup on a given day, it is important that we don't inflict unstability by making changes to batting lineup or bowling order.
Replacement of the Blood?: No mission that fulfills the promises of longevity can rely on the same set of people. So, we must be in search for new players and make the team more and more formidable. Like or not, we are amateurs. We have other life. A balance is needed and that means more bodies that have similarly thinking minds are a necessity.

Thoughts/comments?

Bottom line: SCC is here to stay. One or two defeats are not a setback. Let's live the verse "Cricket is our Passion".

A fumble here and a fumble there

2006-04-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

Facile victory in the end against Jaguars. It should serve as a wake up call for our bowling attack. With the exception of Shankar and Ahmed none of us really bowled well. Fielding mistakes did not help in boosting the bowlers confidence as well. In all there were 4 dropped catches and countless fumbles.

After playing the game for so long, we can call ourselves seasoned veterans. But we tend to do forget the basics sometimes. You are your best judge. Think about what you can improve upon and if you are not sure seek someone's opinion. There are plenty of offensive/defensive gurus in our team.

On the positive side:

Shiv stepped up and played great. Play each ball as it comes, Shiv. No pressure on you. You know we have a solid middle order in case things don't go too well in the beginning.
The effort on the field was not missing. Shankar, Mayank and Naresh made spectacular efforts in trying to make difficult catches count. Kedar covered the leg side fence brilliantly and he and Madan showed that they can still throw accurately from the deep.
Finally, Viral continues to play well. He has vastly improved his game this year (the cracking lofted extra cover drive was a treat to watch).

Lets build up the momentum and the rest will fall in place.

Ode to a Star ...

2006-04-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it. The last post on our blog is dated 12/18/2005 -- that is more than 4 months ago.

I thought I had some time to write. I chose to write about undoubtedly the most popular SCC member -- Madan Joshi, MJ, HoshI, Arjun of SCC as Ahmed termed it once.

There is another reason why I chose to write about it. The number of players that are turning up for the Practice Sessions is waning this season. So, when I went to the usual venue at around 7.45 AM after a wake-up call from the ever-ready Abhay, there were only 7 players who finally showed up by 8.30 AM. When I reached the ground the first question I ask Abhay is, "Madya Kuthey (Where is Madan?)" We had a good Practice Session.

I come home. Deepa asks me, "How many people were there?"

"Seven, Madya was not there", said I.

She was surprised as she knows him as a regular member of the squad. Apart from being a regular figure on the field since the inception of the Club, his stellar achievements have made him the most talked about player in the history of TCA, dare I say.

He has been a student of the game (Now that's a routine statement, but I really mean it). He built his reputation slowly but steadily since 2001. The initial years were definitely explosive and not valuing his precious wicket. Be it TD or Chirag or someone else, each and every one of them have been ruthlessly treated by his towering lofted shots. So many times have we relied on his shoulders to carry the burden of the mess we created in our batsmanship.

Sports critics of the TCA will write about his uncanny ability to dominate and at the same time meekly throwing wicket, at length. But the two of the best qualities I like in this pal of ours are as follows:

The frenzy with which he bats. The same frenzy you see when a world class surfer boards his surf amidst giant waves, when a maverick plays the tricks, when and how a true drunkard sips his wine. These forces can not be controlled by the so called thoughts of sanity of mortals. You could not tell a frenzied person to not pursue the passion. That person so drenched in such unfathomable joy of the moment that the calming words of team-mates fall on deaf ears. I have rarely seen such oblivion. Of course, when the wicket falls, the reality prevails, the head is held in palms of two hands -- but that hardly matters. The moment is lived in thorough richness. That's why I say -- Let him be himself. It is hard to tame a tiger.

The other unique thing is about bringing life to the game. The cheering while on field, comments full of wits, impeccable observations about the opposing batsmen, reasoning behind field placing, candid remarks about little mistakes of fellow team-mates that they thought went unnoticed :) and so on.

Hats off to a great star of SCC.

Alan's Farewell Game in Pictures

2005-12-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

Saturday CC played against 11 Prodigies. Alan led Saturday CC. He won the toss and elected to bat. Here is the Saturday CC captain.

Shankar and Mayank steadied the ship after the loss of early wickets. Here they come back to the dug-out at the 10 over break. Saturday CC was 26 for 4 at the break.

Here the team poses on a very overcast day

Alan explains the strategy to the team and everyone listens in rapt attention.

The Manager tries to double-check the scorecard as the Captain explains some key strategies

All smiles after the customary wise-cracks in the huddle

Pras and Wasim were making a comeback after a long time

Shankar played a good hand negotiating some accurate bowling from 11 Prodigies

As dark clouds loomed, Saturday CC batting stuttered and sputtered

Mayank was making his debut for Saturday CC. He played some great shots. Here he is flicking Karthik.

Madan hit a couple of lusty blows. Here he pulls one over the high baseball fence (not in picture)

Here Mayank plays one on the off side

There was a special visitor to say good-bye to Alan. Young Apporv braved the rain alongwith Deepa.

Apoorv wants to know what exactly is going on

The official captain of Saturday CC presenting Alan with pictures of the team as a memento.

The Rise and Fall of SCC

2005-10-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

2002 - TCA Open Semi-Finalists (Lost to Acers)
2003 - TCA Open Semi-Finalists (Lost to Acers)
2004 - TCA Open Finalists (Lost to Panthers)
2005 - TCA Open Finalists (Lost to Bay Tigers)

SCC is a team of individuals who have a great passion for cricket. A team built around passion, discipline, determination, motivation and character. These folks have done lot of sacrifices over the last 4 years to build a formidable, respectable team that knows only one thing "FIGHT & Never give up". SCC's rise in TCA annals is a talk among all teams that play in the TCA and every SCC member is proud of that. There are teams in TCA that have achieved similar success but no team in TCA commands the same respect as SCC.
After a heartening loss to Panthers in 2004 Open Finals, SCC was determined to lay their hands on the "Blue Trophy" in 2005. Each year SCC has the privilege of getting to know new players and have made vital additions to their roster. Year 2006 saw two new faces in the team, Viral and Ahmed. Viral a stylish left hander who earned the opening slot this year. His batting has been a joy to watch. Ahmed was the other find of the season, right arm medium pace bowler. Ahmed has played in leather bowl leagues and he too quickly established himself as a strike bowler. The rise of SCC was not just in ranks but was also in the new players that joined.
Athletes always dream of a second chance. SCC got a third one in 2005 Semis by getting to play against Acers. With great determination and focus SCC overcame this challenge in great fashion. They defeated Acers by 25 runs thus ending their woes. SCC has risen by leaps and bounds in the past two years and along the way they have defeated top caliber teams in TCA. There have been nail biting finishes and SCC has always stood up. In the course of past two years SCC has defeated teams like Catalysters, Megastars, Yorkers, Islanders, San Ramon CC to name a few. Beating the Acers in the semis was a dream come true, a dream that every member has lived since they lost to them in 2003 semis. The rise of SCC was inevitable. Kudos!!!
Having just lived their dream SCC went into the finals of 2005 Open to realize another dream. There was no lack of motivation, determination or hunger to win. The finals were held in San Leandro, Pacific field 2. Having narrowly won their second round match against SRCC on the same field SCC camp knew what to expect from the pitch. SCC cheering camp was upbeat from the beginning of the match just as the players. TCA’s expansion in Bay Area has been tremendous and every year they seem to keep getting better. This year’s chief guest was the mayor of San Leandro city (Sheila Young). The ceremonial pitch was thrown by her and after all the hype and fan fare the match was underway.
Having won a tremendous game in semis, SCC opting to bat first lost their 9 batsmen with just 25 runs on board. The last pair of Ranjeet and Ahmed salvaged some pride by putting by 9 runs for the last wicket. 35 runs were never going to be enough against any team and fall of SCC was prolonged till the 12th over. The fellowship of the trophy that SCC has dreamt about came crumbling down with fall of batting. Any email on other TCA team group sums it up “Just see how meekly Saturday CC (35 All Out) surrendered to Bay Tigers”. This was not how SCC folks had thought how the Super Weekend will end.
The taste of defeat sucks. The sleepless nights with nightmares of finals will continue for a long time. Having won the greatest game in the history of SCC to suffering their worst loss, in the span of 24 hours feels like suffering a Tsunami. The rise took 2 years, fall just 2 hours.
SCC once again has to rise from ashes. The arithmetic sequence seems to be on their side 4 (semi), 4 (semi), 2 (finals), 2 (finals). 2006 has got to give them number one status. The Kings must return to power!!! The Jedi’s have to keep on fighting and overcome the dark side. SCC is the chosen one and it’s time will come.

We Live for This!!
-- GO SCC

Another thriller finish sees us through to the Semi Finals!!

2005-10-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday CC survived another scare on Saturday against Yorkers to reach the Semi Finals of the TCA Open 2005 tournament. Once again, as has become our habit, we made heavy weather of an easy run chase before pulling through at the finish line.

Yorkers won the toss and elected to bat. Abhay and Kedar M opened the bowling attack for Saturday CC. Both kept things tight at the start. A brilliant piece of fielding from Shankar caused the fall of the first wicket as he sprinted from fine leg to third man and threw the ball back to Shiv just in time to have the batsmen stranded. Kedar got another wicket in the fourth over to have Yorkers pegged back at 9 for 2. Yorkers decided to not take any chances and just play themselves in. Shankar and Ahmed who replaced the opening bowlers kept things tight. The two batsmen moved the score to 28 by the end of the 10th over.

The 11th over by Madan cost 7 runs and there was the fear that the Yorkers would take the attack to the Saturday CC bowlers. However Ahmed took the important wicket of Ramana in the the 12th over. The 14th over, by Shankar, was a beauty as he took a wicket and gave away 0 runs. By the end of the 16th over, Yorkers had reached 47 with 6 wickets in hand. There was a possibility of Yorkers going berserk in the slog overs and putting up a decent total.

However Abhay and Madan kept things tight getting a wicket every over from the 17th over onwards. The last over saw just 2 runs scored as alert fielding from Abhay and Ashish caused two run outs. Yorkers innings ended with a ball to spare. They put up a decent but not all that challenging total of 66. Shankar and Kedar were miserly with their bowling efforts giving away just 5 and 9 runs respectively.

On a ground where there are scoring opportunities in all directions, this seemed like an easy target for Saturday CC to achieve. Parag and Viral started brightly and put up 10 runs in the first three overs. However the team seemed to lose the plot a bit as Viral was bowled in the 4th over trying to play across the line. This wicket was followed by a couple more wickets as Naresh and Parag were out in quick succession, leaving the team tottering at 17 for 3 in the 7th over. However Kedar and Nadeem played sensibly to take us to 32 after 10 overs without any further damage. Kedar hit a wonderful boundary to deep midwicket.

35 runs to get in 10 overs with 7 wickets in hand seemed like an easy enough task. However Kedar lost his wicket in the 11th over trying to hit another boundary and only managed to hole out to deep midwicket. Madan walked in next but was kept off the strike for the next couple of overs. However Nadeem was making sure that the asking rate did not get out of control by getting about 3 runs an over.

Madan hit the first ball of the 14th over for a six over long on. However, he threw his wicket away off the last ball of the over trying to force a shot when one was not required. Wickets thrown away at times when all that is needed is common sense batting puts undue pressure on the batsmen to follow. The next three overs fetched only 7 runs as both Abhay and Nadeem tried to make sure that another wicket was not lost. However Nadeem fell off the last ball of the 17th over with 13 runs still required. Nadeem, who came in at a crucial time, scored 13 runs and was responsible for holding the innings together.

The next over saw both Shiv and Abhay lose their wickets trying to hit big shots when singles would have done the job. Abhay scored 8 runs. Suddenly the tension in the air was palpable, as Saturday CC required 10 more runs with just 2 wickets in hand and only 12 deliveries left. Yorkers had their tails up and were sensing victory.

However Saturday CC’s batting depth came to the fore here. At the crease were Ashish and Shankar. Both of them have played crucial innings in the past and seen the team through on various occasions. Once again, they were entrusted with the responsibility to save our season. The 19th over saw 6 runs scored as the two batsmen ran aggressively and were helped by two wides as well. The last ball of the 19th over saw Ashish and Shankar combine to literally steal a single from the opposition as they converted a tap by Shankar close to his own feet into a run.

With 4 required of the last over, things were going to be tight. Shankar patted the first ball of the over back to the bowler. The equation read 4 required with 5 balls remaining. The aggressive running by the two in the 19th over caused the Yorkers fielders in the outfield cheat a bit to try and save singles from getting converted to doubles. Shankar took full advantage of this the very next ball as he smashed a slightly over pitched delivery over the long on fielder, and actually over the boundary ropes. It was an amazing shot under pressure and was hit with some authority and confidence.

The entire team ran onto the field to congratulate and thank the two batsmen for extending our tournament. It was a thrilling victory and there was relief amongst the team members. The road will only be tougher going into the final weekend. All teams are going to be pumped up, with just 4 teams left standing. The team which wins 2 games next weekend is going to become the TCA Open 2005 Champions.

Lets give it our everything this next weekend and there’s no doubt we can be that team.

Saturday CC holds nerve to win thriller

2005-09-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday CC was playing San Ramon CC (SRCC) after a two week break in the first of the two second round matches. The match was played in the far-off Pacific field in San Leandro. Saturday CC team was motivated for the match as was evident with all 12 assembling before 8 am.

The field was dusty and even after cleaning it up, it looked like the pitch would suit the bowlers as the ball was stopping after pitching. This prompted Naresh to elect to field after winning the toss.

Abhay and Shankar started the proceedings for Saturday CC. San Ramon CC openers used the slog sweep very productively to score some quick runs. They ran aggressively and the difference between the first round teams and San Ramon CC was apparent.

Shankar made early inroads in the 4^th over when he induced Ganesh to play at a shortish ball uppishly. It looked like the upper cut will clear Ashish at point. But Ashish timed his jumped perfectly, padded the ball with soft hands and completed a fantastic catch. SRCC were 12 for 1 after 4. In the 6^th over, Shankar’s third, Satya misjudged a delivery on the middle and leg and was bowled around his legs. Mahesh, the new batsman, hit a cracking lofted on-drive which easily cleared mid-on for a four. The score read 20 for 2 after 6. Kedar M, Ahmed and Kedar B were not able to make further inroads and SRCC were 35 for 2 after 10 overs.

Madan started after the break and bowled an express delivery on the length which clean bowled the dangerous looking Mahesh. The opener Sadish was still at the crease and he was accumulating runs with ease. Saturday CC bowlers, with the exception of Ahmed, were not able to put the ball in the right place to stem the run flow. Ahmed got Sadish to pop one out to Shiv who displayed great concentration in holding on to the catch even as the non-striker (Rajesh) tried to run over him. Shiv was shaken up by the collision but was allright and did not suffer any serious injury. Rajesh had no business running the way he did and Saturday CC players were not at all impressed with his act. After 14, SRCC were 55 for 4 and a big total looked on the cards.

Shankar bowled a fantastic maiden over – the 15^th of the innings. However, SRCC scored 22 in the last 5 overs to finish with 77 for 8. On that pitch, it was a very competitive score for that pitch and playing conditions. Sadish topscored for SRCC with 21 and extras came in second at 15.

Viral and Parag opened for Sat CC. Parag looked positively aggressive from the outset lofting one over mid-off for a couple in the very first over. Viral looked in great touch as well, lofting one over the fence on the leg-side. He used the gaps on the off-side very intelligently to pick up singles and twos. SRCC bowlers were bowling a tidy line and kept the run-rate in check. Ramana and Mahesh looked their best bowlers. Ramana broke through for SRCC on his very first ball as he bowled a snorter to make Parag top-edge one to the keeper. Parag made a well-paced 10 and more importantly laid a great foundation for the Sat CC run chase. Kedar M went in at no. 3 but was dismissed on the stroke of the break as he chased a wide ball outside off. Sat CC were 31 for 2 after 10.

After the break, Naresh and Viral started to accelerate. 6 came of the 11^th over, but Sat CC were not able to score off Ramana and Mahesh and that kept SRCC in the game. 8 runs were scored in the 13^th over. The asking run rate was inching towards 5. In the 14^th over, Viral tried to go for the big one and was caught. He made 25. His innings created a launching pad for Sat CC middle order. What was even more important was the way in which Viral fought out the initial few overs as he was trying to get a feel of the pace of the pitch.

Madan joined Naresh after the fall of Viral’s wicket. They quickly settled down and started taking singles and twos. 7 came off the 15^th over and the score read 56 for 3 after 15. 22 were needed in 5 overs. SRCC had a tough problem of trying to squeeze in two overs from their fifth bowler. They had already used 7 different bowlers and they were having conferences after each over to figure out what was the best time to squeeze in the two overs. They chose to introduce a new bowler in the 16^th over and that was a costly mistake. Madan made them pay for it by first cracking a magnificient extra cover drive for 4 and then pulling one for another. 12 runs came off the first 5 deliveries. The last ball was a rank long hop which Madan tried to hit out of the park. But he only succeeded in holing out to deep square leg. His 6 ball innings got Sat CC within shouting distance of an easy victory. He scored 12 runs.

10 runs were needed off 4 overs. Shiv went in and after patiently blocking a couple of deliveries, tonked Ramana over mid-wicket for a cracking four. However, he got out the very next ball, as he tried to clear the boundary again – this time off a full-toss.

Abhay walked in and inexplicably tried to drive one full and fast delivery from Mahesh and was clean bowled. This clearly was a very poor shot to play at this juncture. Ashish could not negotiate a Yorker and suddenly Sat CC had lost 4 quick wickets.

Mahesh bowled an express 18^th over and took 2 wickets and in doing so brought SRCC into the game. The equation now read 6 needed in 2 overs. Shankar and Naresh scored 4 runs in the 19^th over which was riddled with controversy as SRCC argued over a no-ball call. The issue was settled after the umpire called Ajay to confirm that the back leg no-ball rule was in effect. Tempers frayed on both sides during this break as both sides were pumped up. Couple of SRCC players were especially provoking the Sat CC bench by showing up after each wicket. Sat CC reciprocated after each run and that added to the furore.

The long delay seemed to distract Shankar and he was bowled in the 19^th over. Kedar B joined Naresh as 2 runs were needed in the last over with 2 wickets in hand. Naresh scored a single off the second ball. Kedar B blocked 3 deliveries before scoring the winning run off the last ball of the match. Naresh captained the rocking ship out of the rocky and choppy waters with a well-made 18 not out.

Viral was adjudged man of the match for his 25 runs. Naresh's captains knock of 18 ensured that Sat CC did not lose the game while Madan's rocking 12 runs propelled Sat CC over the required run-rate.

It was a real thriller and the Sat CC lower order almost made a mess of it. An analysis of our shortcomings:

Too many extras conceded. We allowed 15 extras which is criminal.
We conceded 54 runs in 10 overs. We need to minimize the big overs.
3 batsmen (Madan, Shiv and Abhay) were out trying to hit a forcing shot when all that was needed was a single. We need to develop this professional attitude.
The lower order needs to do a better job of negotiating a good bowler. Shankar and Kedar B showed how this can be done.
And lastly, the think tank needs to keep an even keel and not get dragged into controversies or needless trash talk. We would have won the match if we had merely tied it. But nobody thought about it and instead the message from the sidelines was for Naresh and Kedar B to run for a single no matter what. If they had run for a non-existent single and gotten out, we would have lost the match (the tie-breaker now relies on wickets lost and we would have lost one more SRCC).

It was a great cricket match though and was enjoyed thoroughly by both teams. Sat CC finished on the winning side one more time in a tough match. Lets use this game to feel confident about ourselves!

SJSU Stars lead SatCC romp

2005-08-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday CC cantered to an easy victory in their last round-robin match of the TCA Open 2005 First round. The easy victory was primarily achieved due to the batting exploits of two SJSU friends. One is a SatCC veteran of 3 years while the other is starting to make his mark in his first year as a SatCC player.

SatCC was facing WisdenCC this weekend, and were put into bat after WisdenCC won the toss. The team went in with a new look batting order with a view to trying a few combinations before the Knockout rounds. Two SJSU pals, Parag and Viral were asked to
open the innings.

Both started sensibly, picking up ones and twos, placing the ball into the gaps and running hard. The runrate was kept healthy and by the end of the 4th over the score was 21. After this, there was a shift in gears, as Parag started taking toll of the WisdenCC bowling. He hit two delightful boundaries, one to deep square leg, and the other to deep mid-wicket. Parag hit the ball cleanly and his drives were a treat to watch. He was also helped by WisdenCC fielders dropping a couple of cathces, and he cashed in.
Viral was a study in contrast, as he was content nudging the ball into gaps for singles. He had a lot of deft glances and cuts which helped rotate the strike, and never allowed any sort of rhythm for the opposition bowlers. Occasionally he had a few aerial hits over midwicket region.

Parag and Viral literally batted WisdenCC out of the game by the time their partnership came to a halt,thanks to a stunning one handed catch at deep-midwicket. Parag, who scored 30, was the victim. By then, the two had put on 60, easily the biggest opening partnership for SatCC (most probably the biggest partnership for any wicket in this club's young history) in just under 10 overs.

With this platform, it was always going to be easy on the following batsmen with no real pressure on them. Kedar M was sent next to join Viral. He however tried to hit a lofted shot without much conviction and was caught for 6. Viral followed soon after trying to up the runrate and was bowled for an astutely compiled 24.

Shankar and Madan then settled down a bit for an over or so, content with ones and twos, before they accelerated a bit. The two of them ran hard and hit a lot of 2s.
Both seemed to tire just as the partnership was beginning to look dangerous. Madan's call for a non-existent single caused the fall of Shankar's wicket, who was getting into form. He scored 10. The two put on 39 runs in 5 overs.

Madan scored 27 runs with his slogs and heaves. The remaining batsmen threw their bats around and SatCC ended up with 124 for 8 after 20 overs. While the Final score was really good, the team should have been able to put up a few more after the fantastic start.

The target was always going to be out of reach for WisdenCC, given SatCC's bowling performance the last few matches. However, on this day, the bowling was not upto the mark, and the WisdenCC openers were off to a decent start. Both Abhay and Shankar were finding it difficult to put the balls in the right areas and runs were easy to come by. But the huge target meant WisdenCC needed to take risks, and one risk too many resulted in a Run out.

This was just the fillip SatCC needed as Abhay got two quick wickets on consecutive balls in the very next over. This seemed to remove any fight that was left in the opposition ranks. Ranjeet and Kedar B replaced the opening bowlers and both got a wicket each. Kedar M, who came on to bowl after the break was spot on (despite a 3+ week break) and looked the only truly impressive bowler. He got a couple of wickets.

The innings soon folded for 53, leaving no doubt about the difference between the two sides in terms of talent and experience. The highlight was a nice diving catch by Viral at square leg. Shiv, another SJSU dude, had a couple of catches and a stumping to round off the incredible performances of his other two college-mates.

Parag was adjudged Man of the Match.

As we approach the next rounds of this very important and prestigious tournament, we need to iron out the flaws and shortcomings in our game. We still give away too many extras while bowling. We still let other team's lower order batsmen to get runs against us.

While Parag, Ashish, Shiv, Kedar M, Madan have been amongst runs, we are yet to hit peak batting form. Sanjay, Naresh, Kedar B, Nadeem have not spent a lot of time in the middle while batting and we need to get these people a lot of batting practice. We do have a more than adequate squad stength, with the luxury to choose from amongst 15 really good cricket players. We need to make sure every one of us is fit and fine, ready to contribute when called upon.

The real excitement begins in 2 weeks time. In the meantime, Hope all of you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

cheers,
Madan

Day of the Yankee

2005-08-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

On a day when the New York Yankees blanked Chicago White Sox 5-0, the biggest Yankees fan in the SCC team worked his MAGIC to win us our third match in the TCA Open 2005 with some of his YANKEE MOJO.

We were playing Deep Creek CC at Booster Park. They are not amongst the top tier of teams in TCA and their was talk amongst us of using this match as practice for future rounds. However, we were brought to ground in the first over of the game. Deep Creek CC put us into bat, and before the team was settling outside the boundary lines, SCC lost Sanjay (1/2). In walked Ashish to join Parag.

The ball was keeping low initially, and there was some awkward bounce every once in a while. Both batsmen were finding it extremely hard to get runs. Parag, not in touch at all, lost his patience in the 6th over and handed a catch at point (14/2).
Abhay was sent in to up the run rate, but he was back in the pavilion soon, trying to heave one out of orbit(18/3 in 8th over).

The run rate was not moving up at all and there was considerable concern in the SCC camp. These concerns were allayed though as Ashish started finding his bearings and Shiv, who went in next, got going in his normal busy fashion. The two started running hard and put pressure on the opposition bowling. Shiv's unorthodox methods, and Ashish's textbook drives put Deep Creek CC on the backfoot and the scoring rate improved. The two carried on very well to carve a 25 run partnership before Shiv got out trying to cut a real wide ball for an important 12(43/4 in 12 overs).

Madan joined Ashish and was subjected to a rigourous fitness test. Ashish by now was very well set and decided to be the agressive of the two. He found gaps regularly and ran real hard. Ones were converted to twos and twos to threes. Overs between 13 and 16 fetched 30 runs. Ashish was the wrecker in chief. Madan was out of his breath and lost his wicket trying to hit his way out of tiredness. He scored 11.

Ashish lost his wicket the very next ball (75/5 in 17 overs), but by then he had made 34 runs of the highest quality. On a day when most SCC batsmen could not buy runs, he got his in 42 balls, on the way pulling SCC out of trouble from 18/3. He was involved in two partnerships of 25 and 32, and spent time at the wicket from the 1st over to the 17th. It was a very well compiled innings as his last 31 runs came of 30 balls, after taking his time to get started.

Viral then hit a quickfire 13 not out of 11 balls, combining with Nadeem to score 11 runs of the last over. SatCC ended up scoring 95 for 7 in the allocated 20 overs. The last 13 overs fetched 77 runs (at 6 per over) after the first 7 fetched 18.

It was going to take some real good batting by the opposition to deny SatCC from this point, but Deep Creek CC were not up for a fight. By the end of 4th over, they were 7/2. By the end of the 5th over, they were 9/5. This was the most interesting over of the Deep Creek CC innings as they had no answers to Ranjeet. Ranjeet, making a comeback after a real long time, bowled as though he had not missed a beat. He was bang on target from the first ball, and got 2 wickets of consecutive balls in his first over itself.

The Deep Creek CC innings folded soon after as SatCC wrapped up the tail quickly. Deep Creek CC ended up on 23/9, as they were one batsmen short. Ranjeet was the pick of the bowlers and ended up with figures of 3-0-5-3.

Ashish was the undisputed choice for Man of the Match. He bailed out SatCC today with his intelligent batting. While his efforts were brilliant, and there was good positive batting by Shiv and Viral, the rest of us still need to do a lot of work. Real good teams will not let us off the mat so easily. The trick is going to be to make sure we dont find ourselves backed into a corner. The quest to find ways and means to achieve this continues, even as we get ready for the last game of the 1st round next weekend.

So long for now. Someone from the team will be back here with the next match report next week. Before I end, Salutations once again to the Yankee fan for covering our backs today.

cheers,
Madan

Redemption at it's BEST!!! Saturday CC Vs Islanders

2005-08-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

Posting on behalf of Ashish who wrote this very nice report:

Chill weather was unexpected at this time of the year in SV, especially inlands. Harvey Park, Fremont was the match venue for second game of the first round. We anticipated this match to be a tough contest. Islanders are an upcoming team in TCA and have some good allrounders. We had played them in 2004 League in a very picturesque setting in Alameda. The team think tank (all 11 payers :-) ) was wondering whether to Set a target or Chase one and indeed it was a tough choice to make. Guess, loosing the toss put to rest that argument. Islanders put Sat CC into bat.

Parag and Sanjay started the innings on a slow but steady note. Parag looked in great touch hitting some nice drives but unlucky to find gaps. Sanjay on the other hand had to yet to open his account and he was keen to do so. Sanjay played a nice lofted drive straight down the throat off long on and was back into the pavilion for an unlucky duck. Naresh the most dependable of Sat CC batsmen took his stroll to the wicket with a task on hand. Islanders bowled a nice line and length and their orthodox spinners were quickly able to run through their overs. Naresh and Parag could not increase the scoring rate and even the craftiness of Naresh proved futile. Parag departed trying to up the scoring rate and Viral was sent in. It was Viral's second match and boy what a situation to walk in. Viral has a stock of nice shots in his batting arsenal and the Sat CC camp hoped he could get those out today. Viral too failed and got out cheaply. The score read 14/3 at the end 9 overs. Ashish who was sent in next could not build an innings scored 3 runs and got out cheaply giving an easy catch to long on. The 10th over fetched 5 runs (most runs since over 1) and at the break the score was 19/4 !!! (lowest score at the break for Sat CC in its rich TCA history). Nadeem joined Naresh who seemed to get back to his usual form but lost his way and was out. Madan walked in and he had a uphill battle of not only scoring runs but to keep his wicket as well. Both Madan and Nadeem displayed great technique and kept the score board moving. Madan was lucky not be given run out and boy he rode his luck in the game to the full. This partnership of 23 runs sailed Sat CC out of troubled waters and just before they could capitalize Nadeem departed with a well made 14 runs. Abhay, Shiv and Ahmed gave support to Madan who by now had created tremors in the Island of Islanders with his cracking drives and lofted shots. It was a great contest to watch between Islanders and Madan. Mind game was the name of the game being played there and Madan always had the upper hand. Sat CC score read just 63/9 with one ball to go.

The last ball of the over had Madan's name written all over it. Madan coaxed the bowler into giving him a short pitch ball and it was gone out of Harvey Park for a huge six!!! Sat CC needed those runs badly and everyone in the pavilion rushed into the field as if the match was won already.The adrenaline was so high that Ashish lost Madan's engagement ring in the field. The ring was found much to the relief of Madan :-)

69 to defend against Islanders was going to be an uphill battle for Sat CC especially without the likes of Wasim, Shankar and Kedar M. Abhay and Madan opened the bowling and Madan stuck the first blow in his very first over. The bowlers were backed well by everyone in the field and the Islanders could not sail off the Island.

Kedar B and Viral took the bowling attack from Abhay and Madan. Viral was very excited and his emotions were high costing a few wides but he claimed 2 good wickets. Kedar B took a very well judged catch on the run. Kedar B was at this best from the other end. I believe this was one of the best bowling performances I have seen of Kedar B. Spin bowling and looping deliveries at its best. Islanders had no answer to him and even one of their all-star Samay could only see the ball spin past his off stump. Kedar's bowling was very refreshing and Sat CC needed him to deliver today and boy he did so in great fashion. Things had tightened up for I'ders by this time and Ahmed hammered the nail further down by bowling Samay out on his very first delivery. Fall of his wicket just tightened Sat CC's grip on this match and victory now looked probable. At the end of 10 overs Islanders were 16 for 5 loosing one of their finest batsmen.

Overs 11-16 have always proved ineffective for Sat CC and we seem to loose our way during these overs. Wonder if there is any curse on Sat CC for these overs? Islanders batted with determination and with a purpose. Slowly but surely they clawed their way back into the game and by the end of 17th over the equation read 13 runs of 18 deliveries with 2 wkts. Islanders definitely had an upper hand (though slightly). 4 runs came of the next over with 1 wkt. Islanders now needed 9 runs in two overs. Abhay produced a gem of an over under pressure and gave just 2 runs and it all came down to the final over. 7 runs needed of 6 delivers with 1 wkt in hand. Madan was handed the bowling baton. The first ball was magnificently lofted straight down the wicket for 4 runs and it all seemed so blurry suddenly. The next delivery that Madan bowled was fast bowling at its best. It was an express deliver right in the block hole and even before the batsmen could react his off stump was sent flying. What a way to come back !! This day belonged to Madan and this win will go down as one of the finest individual performance in the history of Sat CC.

Madan was undisputably awarded the MoM for an unbeaten 24 and 2 wickets. Time and again bowlers have won matches for Sat CC, can the batting deliver in crucial games is the million dollar question ?

GO SAT CC !!

- Ashish

Saturday CC-Challengers Match Report

2005-08-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

Kedar B, Shiv rescue Saturday CC

It was quite a sight. A veteran of several matches alongside an up and coming star. One playing shots from the coaching manual while the other using the bat more like a broom. You cant have two more different batsmen playing at the same time. However, they had one common goal – to take Saturday CC out of the deep hole its lower middle order had dug in. On the fence (the umpire did not allow Saturday CC to sit in the dug-out), the bowlers were already discussing how this meager total can be defended. The score read 63 for 9 (it read 61 for 4, 12 deliveries back), Shiv and Kedar B displayed great guts and application to take Saturday CC to 81 for 9. While Kedar B drove stylishly, Shiv walked across the wickets a la Javed Miandad to whip the deliveries towards deep square leg region. Shiv scored 11 while Kedar B made 3 not out. In addition, they also accumulated 3 more runs in the form of extras to put together a partnership of 18 for the last wicket. At the end of 20 overs, Saturday CC had posted 81 for 9.

It looked like Saturday CC would get much more than that when after Naresh elected to bat first, Parag was in cracking form. Initially, he cut the ball hard in to the ground on the off-side to get singles, however, as his confidence increased, he played some Sehwagish upper cuts to clear the high baseball fence. Sanjay could not put away a widish short delivery outside off but Naresh replaced him and quickly restored order. Naresh and Parag took the score to 29 when a mix-up resulted in Parag running out. He scored a flawless 13.

Ashish joined Naresh but the run-out express was now picking up steam. Ashish and Naresh were involved in another run-out. With the score still reading 41 for 3, Ashish skied one to point and it now read 41 for 4. The fall of two quick wickets saw Kedar M and Madan join forces in the middle after a long time. Kedar was returning to cricket after making a beautiful contribution to the Satcricket team of 2025, and he looked in great touch. A couple of ferocious pulls proved that and the opposition was already feeling the heat. Madan also looked in great touch a cracking cover drive testament to that. The pair took the score to 61 when Madan action-replayed Sanjay and got out trying to cut a short and widish ball. Abhay played a nothing shot and inside-edged an innocuous ball onto the stumps (63 for 6). Shankar and Kedar M sleep walked through another mix-up and Shankar then tried to run a non-existent single to short fine-leg. Nadeem was unlucky to see his drive plucked off the ground by a brilliant covers fieldsman. And that is what brought Shiv and Kedar B together to perform the Houdini act.

81 seemed like a pretty gettable total for a decent batting team. The pitch was hard and the ball was coming at a very nice pace off the pitch. Saturday CC bowlers were confident of making a match (win) out of it. In the absence of Wasim and Ahmed, however, there was no margin for error.

Abhay and Shankar started the proceedings for Saturday CC. In the second over, with the score reading 2 for no loss, Shankar induced a thick edge which looked like it will travel well wide of Sanjay at first slip. Sanjay had different ideas. He kept low and nicely dived towards his right caught the ball and held on as he hit the ground. It was the catch of the match.

The first change batsman was waving his bat like Bhimsen would wave his club. That prompted Saturday CC think tank to push the mid-on (Madan) a little deep. Kedar M and Shiv made sure that the deep mid-on was not needed. He induced an outside edge off Kannan which was turned down by the umpire (one of the many umpiring mistakes). The next ball was wide outside off and while the main umpire was signaling a wide, Shiv noticed that the batsman had stepped outside the crease. He threw down the stumps to effect a stunning stumping. Even Kannan was surprised to see himself standing outside the crease. Sethu and Prakash put together a pretty good partnership. Scoring singles and the occasional double, they took the score to 41 off 13 overs. Saturday CC fielders aided the scoring by not catching well and misfielding several times. Even better fielders like Parag had an off day.

Kedar M came back in the 13^th over and made Prakash sky one to Madan. Madan ran back and made a very difficult catch look simple. It was a much needed break-through. Naresh made it a double break-through by scalping Sethu caught by Kedar B. Kedar B ran all the way from mid-off to deep extra cover to take a spectacular catch on the run. The required run-rate had ballooned to 6 an over. But the Challengers were somehow able to keep it there. 9 runs were scored off the 16^th over and 27 were needed off the last 4. A situation similar to last year’s final. The quality of batting and the ground conditions were not quite the same.

Abhay started the 17^th over. Ankur slogged at the first ball over mid-wicket where Parag ran behind Kedar M and made up for the earlier dropped catch. The next ball was a Yorker on the off stump which Sumeet was not able to negotiate. Off the last ball of the 17^th over, Vinayak set-off for a non-existent single to Nadeem. Nadeem throw was way wide. But Abhay was able to collect it and knock down the stumps in time. Three wickets in one over and the momentum turned Saturday CC’s way.

In spite of Abhay conceding 8 off the 19^th over, Challengers needed 12 off Madan’s last over. What they got were 6 whiff’s. Madan was firing on all cylinders despite nursing a sore ankle. Challengers’s tail swung through Madan’s express over, connected for a couple of runs and Saturday CC was victorious by 9 runs.

Kedar M was declared man of the match, but he was quick to acknowledge that the Men of the Match were Kedar B and Shiv. But for their last wicket partnership, Saturday CC was staring at a certain defeat. Saturday CC bowlers did a pretty good job at defending 81. Shankar was the most economical conceding 5 off 3 overs while claiming one wicket. Kedar M took 3 wickets for 15 off 4 overs.

There were 4 run-outs in Saturday CC innings. And none of them was due to an outstanding fielding effort. Batting collapses have become the norm for us and we find different ways of doing it. What can be done to cure this seemingly incurable deficiency? Maybe, chasing a small total can help boost our confidence?

Yet Another Victory for SCC over Maharajas

2005-06-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

I may come to know about as a "Saturday CC Win Reporter", but I don't care. Folks, it was one of the best matches played by SCC that showed real gut and temperament till the very end, by the 2004 TCA Open Runners-up. It was almost a deja-vu all over of the 2004 Open Semi-Final match between SCC and MegaStars. Here is a story in pictures.

Well, the day promised to be one of those hot days in Californian Summer where the mercury was to hit 80. That scorching heat compounded with dryness and the first encounter of 2005 with 25 overs a side were going to test the tenacity of SCC players.

It was bright, sunny day with match starting around 9.00 AM and it was really hot out there. The guys were relaxed in the dressing room

in spite of the missing stars like Wasim/Madan/Shankar/Pras.

The new young captain :), Naresh

won the toss and elected to bat first. The pitch looked good for batting with an occasional keep-low characteristics. Naresh decided to change the batting order a bit and the Bapats (Kedar and Parag) were to open. They started off well but rather too much on the defensive, not being successful in converting defensive strokes into singles. Before they could realize it was 7 for 1 in 5 overs. Kedar got out being clean bowled by a straight delivery that kept a little low. So, as far as batting was concerned, it was a 20-over match for SCC.

Shiv was sent up in the order to get a few runs quickly with a few odd shots that he hits so well on the on, and the tactic seemed to have some potential. The young generation of SCC needs to take a lead role and that idea alone though needed to be implemented. Parag and Shiv were playing well trying to speed the run-rate up with a few risky shots. Shiv seemed to overdo the flick and was a little awkwardly blocking the fuller length deliveries. He hit a juicy full-toss for a long-leg boundary. Notwithstanding this, Amit Chouhan and Raj Sekhar were bowling a tidy line and Maharajas did not concede any extra runs. It was this discipline that fetched them the well-earned second wicket of Parag who could not leverage the rhythm that he was getting into and was caught behind. That brought Sanjay to the creeks, yet another change in the batting line-up. Sanjay quickly settled in and started hitting his hard shots, whereas Shiv was doing his defense well. Sanjay hit well in the V and was looking for a long inning when the disaster struck and got himself yorked (again).

With not many runs on the board and 8 overs gone, Naresh had a daunting task and he was ready for it. But he seems to be a frequent victim of mediocre umpiring decisions and today was yet another instance of the same. I wonder why this happens with him every time. On this occasion, he managed to leave a ball around arm high a little awkwardly, down the leg-side and was adjudged caught behind owing to a half-hearted appeal! Kedar M followed and after a few good looking shots, met with the same fate and was adjudged caught behind on a ball that clearly bounced off-the-ground. There was an unfortunate mixup between Shiv and Kedar in the meantime and Shiv found himself well outside the creeks and was run-out.

By this time, there were interesting developments off-the-field in that there were a lot of hard-working band-enthusiasts that were probably preparing for a band competition/performance and that amuzed a lot of players.

The veterans Abhay, Nadeem, Ashish, Alan with Ahmed had tough task of taking score at least to a defendable target and to a good extent they were successful in doing that. Abhay showed some composure, good balance and intent to stay at the wickets.

Ahmed was rather sluggish and was yorked soon.

Though Ashish and Nadeem were watchful,

they were out rather cheaply and then it was Abhay and Alan who were struggling to get us past 70. Abhay put on a good show. But he was rather too reluctant to try Alan's batting and that was a mistake in my view. Finally SCC got all-out in a little more than 2 overs to spare. This shows problems with handling 25 over matches. SCC has got to tie these loose ends. Albeit, the target was 75 and 3 r.o. was not at all a difficult task on this ground where pitch was reasonable and out-field was fast.

Abhay and Kedar M started on a cautious note and both of them got their rhythm going well, with occasional extra runs. But they bowled a tidy line. There was a simple catch dropped at mid-off by Kedar B, but it was not to cause damage and he took the dropped catch rather too seriously and in the fifth over, he had one direct hit that claimed the wicket of dropped-batsman back and then a simple throw to Shiv after Naresh made a good attempt for a catch and was not successful. It was 2 for 11 after 5. Not bad. Prashant and another batsman then tried to steer clear of any troubles and that combined with the lack of regular bowling attack meant a tough road ahead for the SCC.

Kedar B was rather inconsistent with pitching the ball where he wanted and Naresh was not getting the length right. Both of them though were economical, did not pose problems for batsmen and aided by a few extra-base-hits :) got 39 runs for 3 wickets in 13 overs for the Maharajas. This meant a healthy run-rate and quite a few wickets in hand for them.

But Ahmed had something else in mind and was as lethal as ever albeit with a few problems with the line. Yet, he made Prashant have an edge to Shiv. Then came a brilliant piece of fielding by Nadeem. Niloy had placed the ball in the covers towards Nadeem's right and he picked it up in a flash and had a direct hit at the striker's end and Ajit was out by miles. 5 down and 30 runs to get now started to look a bit promising for the SCC.

Niloy was playing well without taking any risks and apart from a very hard chance (from Parag B) he was playing the anchor well. He was also effective in getting runs. For the intelligent bowling changes on the other hand (owing to collective captaincy that SCC displays so well on the field), wickets were falling pretty regularly. Kedar M got Abhishek to balloon one to Alan and then it was Abhay's crampy-over that started.

He was getting cramps above his left ankle and this was probably the effect of the scorching heat. Yet, he made Manish edge one just outside the off and then bowled a beauty to the next batsman that unknowingly destroyed the latter's wickets. That was the turning point of the match.

It was 9 for 60 in 20. Niloy was still at the wickets trying hard to make his dream of beating the SCC come true. For SCC's generosity he was having help of Janardhan who is not a regular Maharaja. He was wearing hawai and till we knew his name we called him the chappal-waalaa. Naresh allowed him to play as the 11th player as Maharajas were short of a monarch. He was almost out many times but hanging in there and it was soon 65 for 9 in 22.

Kedar M/Naresh each had one over and there was a question of one more over and it was a gamble. Naresh decided to bowl the 23rd over and finally Janardhan gave up and edged a chest-high ball to Shiv. Shiv held a brilliant catch single-handedly.

Man! It was tough. This was one of the best bowling performances we ever had (though we conceded 17 extras) because it

Made me nostalgic and reminded me of the Semi-finals of 2004 TCA Open.
Reinstated belief in our bowling prowess, and
Proved the importance of temperament in a tight-match situation.

Shiv was adjudged the man of the match for his useful knock with the bat and brilliant catches (4).

The exhausted winners were all-smiles because win is so sweet!

Hats off to a great win.

Saturday CC romps to victory against Hattrickers

2005-05-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

Match Report Saturday CC vs. Hattrickers

The 3rd round match of 2005 Knockout tournament started under cloudy conditions with a weather forecast of intermittent showers. Luckily, the raingods stayed away the entire match. SCC captain Naresh wasn't as lucky though with the toss. Hattrickers chose to bat first however, setting in action what SCC think-tank wanted, to chase a target, rather than set one.
SCC bowling attack was looking comparitively weak, with the absence of Abhay, Ahmed and Kedar Bapat.

Wasim started as usual, bowling a very tight line and length and giving nothing away. He was almost awarded with a wicket in the first over but Shankar dropped a sharp chance at square leg. Morning blues, probably. But the pressure created by Wasim helped in the very next over as the other opener skied a catch to Nadeem at covers of the bowling of Madan. There was a runout in the next over as well. As always, Ashish was involved in the runout along with Shiv. Any scoring opportunities were dried up by accurate SCC bowling and tight fielding.The pressure fetched a wicket each in the 4th and 5th over as batsmen tried to force the pace.

Wasim bowled a very effective spell of 3 overs for 6 runs and 1wicket.Madan and Wasim were replaced in the attack by Kedar M and Shankar. Both took a while to settle down and the run rate improved a bit. A partnership started blossoming and then there was another letoff. The opening batsmen Ani, who was dropped by Shankar, got 2 lives in one ball. First Naresh could not hold on to a very fierce drive to his left hand. But Nadeem, who was alert, threw the ball to the bowlers end where Kedar M smartly collected the ball and whipped the bails off. However, as is to be expected of most umpires in theTCA, this one was also in no position to judge correctly, and ruled in favour of the batsmen. There was another reprieve when a clear outside edge of the bowling of Shankar was not upheld by the umpire. The partnership finally ended in the 11th over when Kedar M took a very high catch of his own bowling with the score at 31.

Hattrickers managed 23 runs in the last 5 overs losing 3 wickets. Naresh castled a batsmen while Shankar and Shiv got into the act to run out the opener Ani for 16. Shankar also gave up only 6 runs in his 3 overs. SCC were set a target of 54.

The mood in the SCC camp was jovial and chirpy. The cold weather brought out some Hema Malini mimickry asking "Dharam" to make her "Garam". I dont know about Dharam, but both Parag and Nadeem sure warmed up to the task of chipping at the target in extremely confident fashion. Parag hit the shot of the match in the 3rd over when he flicked an overpitched delivery to the right of the deep midwicket fielder for a one bounce boundary.

SCC was helped by some inconsistent bowling as there were wides and No balls aplenty. But it was the opening pair that did all the damage. Parag and Nadeem displayed tremendous understanding in running singles and twos and put constant pressure on the fielding side. They literally took the match away as opposition shoulders started dropping. The two put on 39 in 8 overs, thus ensuring that there would be no dramatics to follow. Parag was out, immediately after the break for a well made 13. SCC needed just 15 runs in 7 overs at that point, with 9 wickets in hand. This stat should provide you with a clear picture of the dominance of the SCC openers.

Madan, greedy to bat, begged his captain to send him next, and was granted his wish. But he did not look confident and was finding it hard to rotate the strike. Nadeem was his composed self at the other end, collecting singles where-ever available.In the end, the target of 54 was never a daunting one, and SCC sauntered home with 3 overs and 4 balls to spare.Nadeem was unconquered with 15, while Madan chipped in with 9 runs. All in all, a very easy victory.
The wonderful form of both the openers should bode well for SCC in the upcoming matches.

But this victory, however convincing, still does not hide some of the weaknesses and/or shortcomings on display. Dropped catches, the inability to stem singles and twos in the later overs, not getting lower order wickets quickly enough are some of the problems that need to be addressed while bowling. The other problem is new batsmen not displaying the ability to get singles, not rotate the strike and thus put pressure on the other batsmen.We need to iron out these things as the quality of opposition will only improve henceforth, and there lie tougher tests ahead. So lets prepare ourselves to improve our Knock-out tournament record, one match at a time.

cheers,
Madan.

SCC Vs Hatrickers ...

2005-05-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

Excitement builds up. We are playing III knock-out match tomorrow at the Vista Park. I don't remember of having played here.

Hatrickers is a good team. They have won both their matches with the support of their bowling and some slog-over-extravaganza by couple of batsmen. We have got to do well.

All the very best ...

SCC Registers Impressive Win Over Dunford Devils

2005-05-01T14:38:00.001-07:00

(Please read on till the very end).

Alright, SCC were in the second round of the knock-out tournament owing to an allround performance in the first match. And all know why the II round was important. It is some kind of lakshman-rekha that SCC had never crossed in the knock-out tournament.

It was a fine Sunday Morning and Northern Californian weather was at its best notwithstanding the weatherman forecast of overcast morning. The match was scheduled to start at 8.30 A. M. and SCC players were eager to be back at a ground that has been home to so many teams. All had a nice session in the nets :) and were ready to fire on all engines.

Dunford Devils had been beaten by SCC in a match that is more popularly known as the run-out-saga of 2005. But the things were reported (and hyped) to be different with the return of a few bowlers that could turn the match

Naresh lost the toss and Dunford Devils elected to bat first. Dunford Way II is always a pitch with unpredictable bounce, but there are plenty of opportunities to score the runs on either side of the wickets. One of the highest totals (156) in TCA history was scored here by Gladiators. SCC had fond memories of this place with a victory (chasing 68 runs) in the last match that they played against ACC in 2003.

Wasim started the proceedings with a cool and composed line and was well respected by the openers George and Ravi who were watchful and looking for odd loose deliveries. They set a nice pace to build a good total, aided mainly by wayward new-ball-treatment of Kedar M. At the end of 4 overs Dunford Devils were going along nicely at 15 for no loss. Apart from a dropped chance (a real hard one) by Parag, there were no risks taken by these batsmen. The singles that they scored in gully-point-cover region were risk-free and effective.

The disaster struck the Devils, when Madan came in to bowl and straight away started with a wicket when George was caught behind by Shiv. Ravi immediately followed George when he went after a shortish delivery from Madan and found Parag merrily holding on to a high catch. Whenever a couple of wickets fall in the same over, the batting side naturally goes into a defensive approach and that's what happened with Prasanna and his team mate. They were still trying to go for big ones and were occasionally successful.

Wasim was certainly the most consistent amongst the bowlers as he finished with 8 runs in his 3 overs. Kedar M and Madan had conceded 11 and 9 respectively. At the first drinks interval, the scoreboard read 27 for 3 in 8 - a reasonable total.

Naresh was the II change and conceded 10 runs in his first over taking the score from 30 for 2 in 9 to 40 for 3 in 10 overs.

Ahmed, from the other end (well, actually the same end :) ) was brilliant to say the least. He was very sharp in his line and length was close to perfect.

He was certainly the pick of the bowlers and inspired others to emulate. This was when the collective SCC captaincy came into play (as it has always been). Ahmed, Madan, Kedar M had one over each and Naresh had two. Ahmed bowled the crucial 11th over of the innings and kept the batsmen under control with Yorker-length deliveries.
It was quite a beautiful reflex catch that Ahmed tried to grab and ended up ballooning it back to short-mid-off where the short-mid-off-man, the agile Maradona was ready to swallow it. Catch of the match!

It was 41/4 in 11. Now was the moment of decision for Naresh. Naresh gathered his temperament and went for the kill. He pitched the ball (which he did not do at all in his 1st over) and pitched it well. Soon he found himself on hat-trick! 2 Wickets in 2 balls. This indeed turned the match around. Not only did this ensure that Naresh would bowl his quota of 3 overs but he bowled it well.

The pressure now mounted on the batsmen who could not react to this sudden shift in gears by SCC men. What once looked like 65 (at least), ended in mere 50. There was yet another brilliant catch by Naresh, this time standing at short-mid-on.

It looked easy. 51 to win in 15.
Nadeem and the-newly-wed Parag opened the innings and soon found themselves back in pavilion. Nadeem was in the classic maaru-yaa-chhoduu dilemma and ended up giving an edge to the keeper. He needs to work on this shot and not learn anything from Kedar M in this regard ;).

Parag was rather unlucky and because he did not use his feet well ;) after his bat was beaten by the height (or the lack of it) and was clean bowled. Sudarshan, the bowler was in utter disbelief and why not, because he never expected it.

That brought Madan to the crease and oh boy, he was not feeling great with this shaky start. He was watchful and little he knew that leaving the ball to the keeper actually results in batsman being out. Of course, this is not in the books but this is how it happens in practice. The umpires in this match were so hopelessly mediocre that even a baseball umpire could have replaced them without problem. The way Madan reacted to this decision (by dismantling the wickets by throwing his bat at them) would have certainly abandoned him for the rest of the tournament. But if such umpires could be tolerated, such reaction should easily be.

Madan's unfortunate and unreal dismissal brought Kedar M to the crease. Naresh was standing firmly at the other end working his way through those fabulous drives and half-pools. Both batsmen played sensibly and assisted each other. There was still uneven bounce in the wicket but it hardly made Naresh uncomfortable.

Kedar M had a nice looking half-pull

(look at the folded hands of the point fielder -- Ashish, please forgive him).

Naresh was driving the fuller length deliveries firmly and into the gaps.

The off-and-cover-drives that Naresh hit today are some of his best. These two steadied the ship and with the help of many extra runs, just before the drinks break, they were 28 in 7 overs and then in the eighth over Kedar M went for a big one, mistimed it a bit and found the mid-off fielder holding a simple catch.

Sanjay found his rhythm soon and started helping the guy who was playing the anchor so nicely. There was still awkward bounce in the pitch

but that did not deter Naresh and Sanjay from achieving their goal which was made to look easy when they just conceded so many runs in wides and no-balls.

SCC reached 51 in 12th over. A pretty easy win. The jinx was defeated just like the Red Sox (Ashish: Read, Yankees) undid the bombino's curse. Now it is the tournament and there is SCC.

Great Win.

Naresh was rightfully named the MOM.

Go SCC, the winners!

Go SCC, the winners! There is one man that is behind the success of SCC and he is our dear manager. To quote Devendra, "Vishal is the strength (and volume) of SCC". And surely, it was a nice birthday present and bumps that he'd hardly forget that his team-mates gave him on this special day.

Happy Birthday, Vishal!

Alan: Thanks for the nice pictures. It would not have been possible otherwise.
Disclaimer: The thoughts/facts expressed here are KedarsThoughtsWork's personal thoughts. The photos posted in this blog should not be used/copied without expressed written consent of the SCC.

WKO match to start in another half an hour ...

2005-04-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Guys,
I know you're at the Thomas Russell ground. Good. All the best!

I know you have the sweet memories from the semi-finals that we won miraculously at this ground beating MegaStars! Well, we're playing there again. I like this ground, especially for the bowlers and room for the batsmen on the off-side.

Do well.

Don't forget to take the scoring sheets with you because the official scorer is not available today :)

Saturday CC v/s United XI – Match Report

2005-04-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

After the disappointment of a washed out match, Saturday CC was looking forward to play a competitive game again. Saturday CC was without the services of Ashish who was recovering from illness. Naresh was nominated the new captain and Sanjay was named his deputy.
Ahmed was making his debut for Saturday CC.

The venue of the game was the picturesque Burton Park in San Carlos and Saturday CC was looking forward to an easy victory.

Naresh lost the toss and United XI asked Saturday CC to bat. New captain immediately made some changes in the batting order. Abhay and Kedar Bapat were sent it to open the innings. The message was loud and clear. Put away the bad balls and make sure we train ourselves for the 15 over format. With the knock-out starting in 3 weeks, this was obviously a good strategic move from the new captain.

United XI opening bowlers bowled a nice line and length and just 3 runs came of an uneventful first over. In the second over, Kedar Bapat got a peach of a delivery. It pitched on length on off and moved away slightly. Kedar probed at the ball tentatively and it took the outside edge to the keeper (Saturday CC 3/1). Naresh sent in Shankar at no. 3. And Shankar got off to a great start. The second ball he faced was slightly over pitched. Shankar hoisted it over long on for a couple. Another over pitched delivery was hoisted over midwicket for another couple.

With the score reading 19/1 after 4 overs, Shankar tried to clear long on again and was out caught. He was eyeing the area between long on and midwicket but could not execute the shot properly. He scored 10 of 14 deliveries.

United XI brought in their tall off-spinner who used his height to extract good bounce from the pitch. And he immediately had the Saturday CC batsmen in a spin. Naresh survived a close appeal for stumping. In the very next over, Abhay tried to hit a real long hop over the leg side fence too hard and in the process holed out to square leg. Saturday CC’s batting woes continued as in the very next over Kedar M edged a ball in the slips.

Naresh tried to cut another short delivery outside off and was caught at point. Saturday CC was in a real spot of bother (28/5). At the break, Madan and Sanjay were in the middle. With Shiv, Ahmed, Wasim and Alan to follow Saturday CC had high hopes of posting a competitive total.

After the break, Sanjay and Madan scored 6 in the 11th over. But the momentum changed in the 12th over as Sanjay tried to flick a delivery going down the leg but only succeeded in tickling it in the hands of the keeper. After a few patient blocks and taps, Ahmed dragged one on his stumps as he tried to break the shackles. Shiv too tried to hit one across the line and was bowled.

Wasim and Madan steadied the ship a little but Wasim was out caught at covers while trying to block a shortish delivery outside off. Saturday CC were 54 for 9 in the 16th over.

All this time, Madan had been steady like a rock, standing tall amongst the ruins, playing out the difficult bowlers to protect his partners. And at the same time scoring most of the runs. His trademark lofted drives were a treat to watch and even in the heavy morning weather, most of them traveled a long distance.

Madan and Alan played the next 4 overs sensibly. Alan defended cautiously while Madan scored runs in couples and tried to keep the strike. Together, they scored 13 invaluable runs for SCC. Saturday CC finished at 67. Madan made a fighting 21 not out while Alan played out the crucial deliveries to ensure that Saturday CC batted their full quota of overs and at the same time made 2 not out.

During the break, everyone thought that 67 was a defendable target. Given the history of defending scores of 64 and 65 in the 2004 Open, Saturday CC bowling attack was quite confident.

Wasim started the proceedings and bowled a beauty on the very first ball. It pitched on the length and moved slightly away from the batsman. The batsman did not go back or forward and just stuck his bat out for the ball to take the edge and land in the safe hands of Shiv. It was just the spark Saturday CC needed to defend this total. Wasim, as always, provided the crucial early breakthrough.

The no. 3 batsman from United XI was a lefty called Prashant. The way he played Wasim in the first over, it was clear that he was a very good batsman. His partner was a study in contrast. He was trying to hit everything behind square on the leg. Abhay was listless from the other end bowling slightly short and on the legs. It was easy pickings for the United XI batsmen. After 4 overs, the score read 10 for 1.

Kedar M came in as the first change and bowled a good line. In his second over, he got rid of the slogger opener who had troubled Saturday CC bowlers with his unorthodox style of batting. The next batsman challenged Saturday CC bowlers by saying a few things that clearly showed he was under pressure. He tried to hit a shortish delivery from Kedar out of the park and was brilliantly caught by Madan at square leg. Shankar from the other end was bang on target. In fact, he was so fast and accurate that United XI batsmen resorted to blocking their wickets with their bodies. This did not help for too long though as Shankar managed to squeeze one between the bat and pad to get a much deserved wicket.

At the break, the score read 30 for 4. Halfway through the second innings, the match was evenly poised with United XI depending on Prashant to see them through.

After the break, Madan started with a maiden over. Ahmed took time to find his rhythm but bowled a great second over – a maiden wicket. In the 13th, Madan tied up the batsmen. One of them tried to hit out of trouble only to hole out to Abhay at mid-on.

With 27 needed off 6 overs, Shankar conceded only 3 in the 15th. But Abhay conceded 5 in the 16th. 19 were required in 4 overs. Kedar M bowled a great over and conceded only 2 runs. But 6 runs were scored in the 18th over. United XI needed 11 runs in 12 deliveries. Prashant from United XI was proving to be a thorn in the flesh for SCC. He took advantage of the leg side fence and kept the scoreboard ticking and was threatening to win the game for United XI.

Shankar and Kedar had different ideas though.

On the very first ball of the 19th over, Prashant tapped a good length delivery towards Shankar at square leg. Shankar, ever alert, pounced on the ball and threw it to the Kedar who broke the wickets just in time to run-out Prashat. With the main threat gone, United XI batsmen could only score 3 runs off the 19th over. They needed 8 in the last over. Madan kept it simple by bowling full and on the off in the 20th over. United XI batsmen managed could not do anything other than edge in the vacant slip cordon. It was a great over under pressure. Madan and Kedar M shut the door just in time for Saturday CC to win by 2 runs.

Madan was the obvious choice for the man of the match for his 21 runs and 2 wickets.

It was sheer experience of having played so many matches that helped Saturday CC win this one. Credit is also due to Kedar, Madan, Wasim, Ahmed and Shankar for tightening the screws at the right time.

Saturday CC batting continues to flounder. It is amazing to see so many soft dismissals in this match. This is something that definitely needs to be fixed.
With the addition of Ahmed, the bowling attack looks in great shape. But there are plenty of areas to improve. Lets keep the ball rolling by raising our intensity levels at the practice sessions.

TCA - Knockout Tournament next weekend ...

2005-04-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

Alright folks. It is here. Awesome weather is expected to be back in Bay Area and that brings more cricket along with it.

The knock-out tournament is around the corner. We've got to play hard. We haven't done particularly well in this kind of 15-0ver a side games with ever increasing competition every year.

A quick look at the statistics for 2005 would help:

Runs scored for: 151 runs in 40 overs with 19 wickets
Runs scored against: 114 runs in 20 overs with 18 wickets.
Wins 2, 1 match washed out, no losses.
Our league performance has been okay. Need to do better.

Again, it is a 15-over-a-side game. We need to be aggressive right from the start. Temperament is so important. We may do well on the Ortega Park for a practice session, but any competition is a different ball game.

Make sure that you are healthy and sleep well :) before the game. Keeping beer in check on Friday/Saturday night would help :)

Also, please make sure that you are a registered member of SatCC. Currently, Naresh, the wall & Nadeem, the great ball-finder :) is not listed there. Parag Bapat is also not listed out there. But till he lands from his marital heavens :) it is okay, I guess.

Go SatCC.

2005-03-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

Saturday CC Team Photo

Saturday CC v/s Dunford Devils Match Report

2005-03-08T00:05:00.000-08:00

Excitement was in the air. The 2005 season was about to begin and Saturday CC had a new Captain. Ashish took over the captaincy and lost his first toss as the Sat CC captain. The field was soaking wet from the rain on Friday and surprisingly Dunford Devils opted to field. Perhaps, they had looked at our tendency to chase well.

Ashish opened the batting alongwith Nadeem. Dunford Devils opening bowlers bowled well. Sudhakar and Shree both had pretty decent overs. Nadeem and Ashish, quite sensibly, played them out without taking undue risks. In the 4th over, with the score on 7, Ashish hesitated just a little bit in responding to a cheeky call from Nadeem and was run-out. Naresh and Nadeem upped the tempo by working some singles and twos. 6 singles were taken in the fifth over. Just when it looked like Naresh and Nadeem will put up a big partnership, Nadeem dragged one on his stumps on the stroke of break. He made a very well compiled 21. The score read 36 for 2 after 10 overs. Naresh and Nadeem had stitched a nice partnership of 29 runs.

Kedar M joined Naresh in the middle. After facing a few decent deliveries, Kedar, as is his wont, tried to steer the ball towards the point/gully region and was caught at widish gully. Madan joined Naresh in the middle. But Naresh mistimed a pull shot to a rank long hop and was caught at deepish square leg. Madan started off as if he meant business by knocking a few singles and lofting one over mid-on for a couple. But he too tried to cut a very short ball and was caught at covers. Saturday CC had lost 4 wickets for 10 runs and the score read 46 for 5.

Shiv and Sanjay started the repair job by playing sensibly and running hard. Shiv was getting his first real opportunity to make a mark. And did he make most of it! He placed the ball beautifully on both sides of the wicket and ran hard. He had good communication with Sanjay as was evident when he just tapped the ball on the leg side and ran a comfortable single. Sanjay too looked in good nick. His trademark drives invariably found the sweet spot of the bat. Just when it looked like the partnership was going to take off, when Sanjay was run out to a direct hit from mid-on. Mid-on was brought in for that over and Sanjay could not beat his throw.

Shankar joined Shiv in the middle but was out without facing the ball as he took off for a non-existent run. Again, Saturday CC had lost 2 wickets in the space of 3 deliveries. Dunford Devils had their tails up and were expecting to wrap up the tail. However, they had no idea about the depth of Saturday CC batting. Kedar B walked in and immediately started scoring singles. Shiv was given out bowled for a very well made 14 while Alan got the best delivery of the innings. Kedar B and Wasim played intelligently and score 8 off the last over to take the score to 85 for 9. Kedar made a run-a-ball 7 while Wasim made 3.

With the ball not travelling on the very wet field, this was a pretty decent score.

Wasim started the proceedings and immediately found his rhythm and line and length. Kedar M complemented him very well and the Dunford Devils openers were already feeling the heat in the second over. On the last delivery of the second over, Sudarshan from Dunford Devils glided the ball in between Shiv who was keeping wickets and Sanjay who was fielding at widish slip. The ball ricocheted off the fence. Sanjay fielded it and flicked it to an ever alert Shiv who broke the wickets.

Wasim kept up the pressure by bowling a great maiden over. Naresh came on as the first change bowler and in his first over, the sixth of the innings, Shankar and Naresh combined to dismiss another batsman - out run-out. Kedar M then effected another run-out by brilliantly picking up and hitting the wickets from square leg. Sanjay followed suit by throwing the stumps down from gully and the Dunford Devils were running themselves out of the match. The score read 28 for 4 at the end of 10 overs.

With the required run-rate mounting, Dunford Devils started to become a little more aggressive. Some cross batted heaves to deep square leg and mid-wicket fetched them some quick runs. But they ran out of luck soon as they tried to hoist Wasim over mid-on. Kedar B ran and took a brilliant catch. It was the fifth wicket of the innings and it was the first for a bowler.

The run-out odyssey continued thereafter as Shankar got in the act and threw down the wickets from square leg. Alan and Madan joined the show. From the point of view of a non-playing observer, it was a combination of injudicious running and some agile and accurate fielding. There were eight run-outs in the innings and 11 in the match (probably a TCA record). Dunford Devils's innings folded at 50 and Saturday CC won by 35 runs.

Nadeem was adjudged the man of the match for his 21 runs. Wasim finished with the figures of 4-1-7-1 while Shankar returned the figures of 4-0-6-0

It was an easy victory over a weak opponent. However, we could have done a better job while batting. Somehow, we need to make sure we don’t get out to those long hops and full tosses. The positives were the emergence of Shiv and the accuracy displayed by the in-fielders.

Nevertheless, it was another win to cherish. Here’s to many more!

Welcome to Saturday Cricket Club Blog

2005-03-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

Today Saturday Cricket Club played the first match of the 2005 TCA season. (beat Dunford Devils by 35 runs).
We will post match reports here so that they are readily available. We can also attach some pictures to match reports if available for that match.

The official Saturday Cricket Club website will continue to be the one maintained by Vishal (on geocities).

-Abhay