So, yet another loss... well atleast this time, we gave some fight..... it wasn't one sided, well ok, may be close to being one-sided...

I think, from my point of view, we are improving and that's what matter isn't it? I am positive that next match will turn our luck around and we will have a win under our belt... in the mean time, enjoy the highlights of our match and look out for some funny moments...

Part 1 

Part 2

Part 3

Lets start our season with some fun .. :)

 'What goes up must come down' says Newton after he was hit by a falling apple while sitting under the tree. Newton must be a happy man after Hash Browns cememted his 'already accepted' theory. Well, Hash Browns were not playing to prove Newton or for that reason anyone right. They were playing to prove that respect and camraderie within the team is of utmost importance and the rest is all 'stats & numbers'

Now let's talk cricket. Hash Browns had a rockin' start to this season and were consistently at the top untill knock-out stages. What went wrong? I am sure in response to this blog we all will share some views (common and personal) about our loss last evening in hind-sight. I'll let views from all qaurters flow through.

May I take this opportunity to wish Sunny a speedy recovery. Sunny, you were missed big-time by all of us ! Hope to join you again in next season mate. 

Thanks to Vinay for his top-class captaincy throughout the season and to organise cricket itinerary for the team and thanks to everyone for being a wonderful company.

All the best guys with your commitments this summer.

Stay Fit!

Cheers,

Rahul

Let me start by congratulating everyone for putting out one of the best fielding effort for this season. Even though we lost the match, it was not lost until the last ball of the match was bowled.

After winning the toss and batting first, we could only put a modest 102. It was not our poor batting or running between the wickets, but it was rather the quality bowling from SLC which didn't allowed us to break free and score freely.

Going to bowling, we all knew defending 102 was going to be a tough task and specially after we lost the plot in first four overs and let our opponent score 67 runs for their first skin. After this hammering, we got together and pulled them back in next 4 overs by restricting them to -3. During this skin we saw our best bowling effort, Rahul was pick of our fielders as he had 3 direct hits and runouts in a row. Ashish also chipped in with 2 wonderful runouts. Daniel did a beautiful stumping of Chris and Chris took a spectacular catch behind the stumps of Deepak. There was also a blinder by Divya on the jackpot ball in the 3rd skin. There was also some clever thinking by Deepak and Anuj, especially Anuj who got a runout when the ball was hit for a six. Both of them bowled fast and straight and were right on money, special mention to Deepak who ended up taking 4 wickets for 1 run in allocated 2 overs.

At this point of time, we were right back in the game and we believed that we could win the match. We did ball well in next 8 overs but I think we were 10-15 runs short in the end.

We should not loose any heart from this lost rather think about what we did well and what we didn't. Next week is a very important match for us (semi-final). If we have to win this match, we have to come up with our very best. We all have talent and capability, we just need to believe in our self and play for the man next to you. 

I would strongly encourage each of you to use the comments section to put your thoughts out for everyone. Please contribute in highlighting the positives and on things we can improve.

Some stats for you guys -

• We got out 12 times including 6 run outs . Our opponent got out 15 times which include 7 run outs.
• We made 28, 27, 23 and 24 for our skins whereas our opponents made 67, -3, 10 & 39.
• We made 3+3, 1+1, 1+1, -3+-3 for our jackpot ball, SLC scored 3+3, 0+0, -3+-3 & 1+1 for their jackpot balls.

I still think we played well in patches but couldn't keep the standard up for whole match.

Looking forward to your comments.... :) 

Still after two consecutive losses , Hash Browns are on top of the ladder.

Thanks to team's previous huge wins.

Result in the last match against SLC will shape semi-final berth.

From: Vinay
Sent: Tuesday, 23 September 2008 10:26 AM
 

Hi Guys,

Well done on a monolithic win yesterday. Even though we were one short and had to play with 7 (not that Sunny can complain after batting twice) we looked solid and for a change, Sirish did hit the stumps few times (believe me it’s rare)

I’ll post on the blog as soon as possible but I have updated the stats on http://indoorcricket.vinaytripathi.com

There were some individual milestones achieved yesterday –

4-     Sunny reached to a total of 500 runs

5-     Rakshit got his first 5 wickets haul

PS: Rakshit, you need to teach our whole team your unique art of attempting sweep on a Yorker length ball J J

Matches like these makes cricket interesting. Todays match was truly a nail biter (unless you have finished your nails in previous matches). Hash Browns coming from a comfortable win last week started off very well with a solid stand by Anuj and Rahul of 49 runs. Anuj was struggling in last few matches but boy, didn't he came back with all guns blazing. First pair had a combination of Anuj's hard hitting and Rahul's elegant play and ability to nudge the ball in a gap and keep the score board ticking.

After this solid stand, Divya and I went to bat but unlike last week, we found it hard to score as freely as Anuj and Rahul. For first 2 overs we struggled badly and only manage to put 10 runs. Some mindful play and with bit of luck, we managed to make 26 in our allocated 4 overs taking the total to 75 after 8 overs.

In this match, we had a player making his debut, Ashish. For those who don't know Ashish, he is a backyard cricket specialist (oh... you must come and see his batting and fielding class).  He went to bat with one of our hard hitter batsmen Deepak. But, it looked like today wasn't Deepak's day as he struggled from very first ball. For the first few overs, Ashish was only a spectator watching Deepak struggling on the other end, making him more nervous on his debut. It was only the last over where with the help of Ashish's first 7 in Indoor cricket they manage to score 15 runs in their allocated 4 overs.

At this point, we were 90 and we thought a score of 120 will be a winning total, with Sunny and Kshitij to bat for last pair, the score looked within our reach but with some ups and down, we could only score 22 runs in last 4 overs taking team's total to a somewhat defendable 112.

With our premier bowler Sirish not playing this match (but still coming and supporting the team, thanks Sirish), it was a tough choice for me to choose a bowler to start the inning. I decided to start off with Deepak and he surely lived to the expectation by only giving 6 runs. Divya and Rahul chipped in with their useful performances and only gave 9 and 6 runs respectively. On his debut, Ashish did took some time but quickly recovered and ended up with 1/26. Our bowing was tight and one good over could have changed the course of the game. Our opponent were 70 after 8 overs and at this point, the match was in balance. We needed a good start for the third skin but some nasty hitting by their batsmen swung the match in their favour by scoring 20 runs in 9th over. Some tight bowling by Anuj and Chris did brought us back into the game but it was bit too late as they ended up scoring 100 runs in 12 overs needing only 13 in last 4 overs. Sunny, Anuj, Ashish and I tried hard but really, 13 runs was very little to defend in 4 overs in Indoor Cricket. In the end, Strokers manage to score 120 runs in response to our 112, beating us by 8 runs.

Even though, we lost the game, there were some noticeable performances -

• A solid debut by Ashish.
• A wonderful display of bowling by Anuj (3 for 3) and Rahul (2 for 9)
• Top notch batting performances by Anuj (29), Rahul(20) and Sunny (19)

There were lots of positives from this match and we shouldn't loose heart. We'll be BACK so watch out for us :)

While we are still waiting for our wonderful blog writer (sirish) to shower some words on our last match performance, I thought why not I lead this time.

As expected, vibrant Vinay did contributed heavily with the bat scoring a brisk 30.

The pair ended at 48.

Now the total reads 119. Good performances from all the 3 pairs so far.

And our last pair (me & Sirish) only had to follow them & score at least 30 again.

We batted very prudently & never risked of getting out.

Our running between wickets was immaculate.

We end up making a respectable 35.

The best part of the pair, we never got out & neither of the batsmen scored a 3 or more.

A very good total to defend & with good bowlers within playing 8, the match was almost won.

But, their batsmen came out very strong with clever hitting & running.

Their first pair scored at a great rate & ended up making 47. We came back between 5-8 overs, conceding only 26.

The next pair scored 39. The last pair needed 43 to out past us.

Our captain did conceive the situation accurately & held the best bowlers till the end.

Vinay & Anuj gave away only 26 & sealed the victory for us.

A very good match which tested us till the end.