Yuva XI vs Blitz CC (Match Preview by Samy from Immortals)

Once again Blitz CC makes it to my Cricbox, and why not, after all they truly deserve to be where they are currently placed in Group F two spots behind the group leader Yuva XI. This game will bring out the best of both the teams, with Blitz o n a dream run of their own winning 4 out of 5 games, and would surely come out all guns blazing to dimantle the furniture of Yuva XI who are unbeaten with 4 wins and 1 abandoned game. This group should be the most closely fought in terms of points, where 7 top teams are hunting for their 5 spots for the Platinum. Meeting for the first time in Cricbay, these two teams are surely bound to put out some fireworks of their own in the race to the top. It would be interesting to see who gets under the skin of whom.
Quote: If you can dream, you can believe it. If you can believe it, you can achieve it. If you can achieve what you dream of, your belief grows even stronger.

Scenes from Group F:
Some of the big names of Cricbay, and this group finds itself fighting till the end. A big game above, and another one with Skiers, the fight for the top 5 aint over yet in this group. 7 teams are still fighting to qualify for the Platinums and each game from now on shall bring interesting twists and turns for the table.

Source - Cricbox on www.cricbay.com

Confidence in Batting

Blitz has always been a bowling team in the eyes of its members, and it was viewed as a bowling team with a couple batsmen by the cricbay community until May 3rd, 2009. Few years from now, the happenings on May 3rd, 2009 will attain even more significance, and we will always look back at May 3rd as the day when the batsmen came out of their shell. The talent was always there, the sky was the limit, but did the batsmen from blitz have confidence in themselves? - hard to answer that question; but I am ready to announce that our batting has arrived, and what an arrival it was! In Braly park, under difficult batting circumstances, with the wind against the batsmen, facing a top 10 cricbay team - Jiggy slams boundaries and goes above the field, Tushar picks the gaps at will and goes through the field, Mountu plays his shots with alacrity and leaves the bowlers clueless, and all this while the pillar of our batting, and captain extraordinaire Puneet watches. For once he didn't have to carry the batting on his shoulders. Little did the Champs know that there was more batting waiting in the dug out, and, had we played first on Sunday, we could have set an unattainable target.

Do we have a complete team? - hard to answer that question too. Can we win games with just batting, when the bowling attack has an off day - HELL YEAH! Hopefully, this performance inspires everybody to step it up a notch and focus, not get overconfident, and make the Platinum round.


Go Blitz!
Arun

The new Champs :)

05/03/2009: Blitz CC vs Champs XI

Bad weather did not play a spoilsport at Braly Park as rain was predicted over the weekend.

The scene was set for a great encounter ahead with Champs XI, a Top 10 ranked team, doing well in 2009 season VS Blitz with their new found form and confidence. 

Toss seemed irrelevant as Champs prefer defending and Blitz chasing. So when Champs won the toss there was no money for guessing the obvious.

Champs started well with the opener Anand slamming three boundaries and some sloppy work in the field was not helping the cause for the home team. A brilliant run out by Akshay got rid of the opener and a great catch under pressure by Sriram saw the back of Anand.

Three wickets down at the end of 10 overs and 40 runs on board, Champs were yet again looking to set a big total with some in form batsmen still sitting in the dug-out waiting for their turn to smash some biggies.

But Siddhart aka 'Kasat Bhai' had some other plans for them. A great 11th over saw Champs loosing 3 crucial wickets, two to some lethal bowling by Kasat and one a brilliant run out by the Captain Puneet. 

No wonder, Kasat Bhai (KB) finished with a great spell of 4 overs 1 maiden 5 runs for 3 wickets. KB is the second most economical bowler this season in all groups and I guess all of us who has seem him perform before are not surprised by this feat!!

Staring at 41/6, Champs were looking for some consolidation whereas Blitz were confident of doing what they do best - demolish sides!!

But, a calm innings by Captain Gokulnath and some clean hitting by Amol saw champs reaching a respectable total of 79/9 at the end of 20 overs.

As decided I went opening with Tushar, the only left hander in the side.

I enjoy opening the innings with Tushar, if nothing more the Right hand - Left hand combination brings some nice gifts from the bowler :-)

Chasing 80 in 20 overs, we had to beat our previous succesfull run chase of 76 to bring home victory.

We started off really well. I was able to dispatch the first ball for a boundary - a nice juicy short 

slow ball from their opening bowler Sreeram. With a score of 10/0, @ the end of 2 overs, we were on our way.But the opening bowling pair tightened up the screws and with some brilliant ground fielding singles were tough to come by.

Myself and Tushar knew that we just have to play out their opening bowlers with some caution and with wickets in hand and a strong batting line up, there was no stopping us from winning this one.

At 23/0 in 8 overs, momentum was slipping away from Blitz and there was a need to step up the scoring rate. Fortunately I was able to connect a full toss from Mohit for a six and Tushar hit a beautiful pull shot for 2 runs. With 11 runs coming in that over, momentum was shifting back our way. Tushar was looking in great touch, able to pick gaps and rotate the strike at will.

With a score of 39/0, at the end of 10 overs, we could see Champs under pressure.

After the break, I realized I had woken up from the lucky side of my bed today; with two skiers dropped I felt we cannot lose!

Myself and Tushar put up a 50 run opening stand, the first one for Blitz, before I got out for 31 to a neat catch by the Champs skipper Gokulnath in the deep.

Tushar was quick to follow in the next over after having scored 16.With both openers out and the score reading 51/2, Champs felt they had a chance to make a match out of it which they had given up long back.

But little did they know about Montu's hitting capabilities. Two awesome boundaries by Montu scoring at more than a run a ball there was hardly any doubt which way this game was going.

With 11 runs needed in 3 overs to win, Montu got out at 15 to a sharp catch by the keeper & Dug out got a little tense.

In walked Arun, and with 11 needed of 17 balls he smashed two huge sixes of the first two balls he faced.The tension gave way to cries of victory and the whole dugout ran onto the field.

This was a great victory for Blitz beating one of the best teams in cricbay.

This victory will definitely go a long way for the team to start believing in their batting abilities and confidence to chase or put up big totals in the future.

I was honoured to be presented with Man of the Match, which was truly a team performance.

I will like to take this oppurtunity to thank my team members and management for showing trust in me and giving me opputunity,advice and support.

Go Blitz!!!

Legendary Article by Mizzou about the Kings victory

Kings dethroned by some monkey business

The greatest sports films involve stories about underdogs - be it a Lagaan, or a Chariots of Fire. These are the stories that arouse emotions, and offer a true measure of the spirit of the underdog. This Sunday's match between Kings XI and Bhajji's Monkeys was no less dramatic.

o­n paper, this was David vs. Goliath. And as happened in the most famous underdog victory, it was won by David. o­n paper, Bhajji's Monkeys vs. Kings was a no contest, but as the cliche goes, matches are not played o­n paper.

Bhajji's Monkeys may not have put together a string of consistent victories o­n the pitch, but as far as the toss is concerned, they have strung an impressive run of wins. Sending the Kings in, they were looking for a few early wickets to put the pressure o­n the favorites.

A stellar direct-hit by Mountu in the fourth over set the tone for the Monkeys. A few balls later, a good catch, albeit with an exaggerated dive, by Barry gave the Monkeys their second wicket, sending Pradeep back to the pavilion for no score.

What followed was a fiery spell of fast bowling by Avinash that ended in a maiden over, increasing the pressure o­n new batsman Kishore. This over set up the next wicket, as Kishore went for a straight drive to rotate the strike and Siddharth pouched a fabulous o­ne-handed catch to continue the pattern of good fielding by the Monkeys.

The Kings then put up their best partnership of the day with some intelligent cricket, and smart running between the wickets by Tridivesh and skipper Sai K, pinching singles at will. Their partnership yielded 30 at around four an over, and it seemed the Kings would bat the Monkeys out of the game. The Monkeys were now beginning to look a little erratic in the field, also giving away a few no balls, thereby removing the pressure built up earlier.

A pivotal moment in the match however, came when least expected, as Tridivesh stuck a full toss, off Puneet, straight into the hands of Sriram at square leg. At 53 for 4 the Kings were still in the hunt to get a score of around 85. However, Kings' Skipper Sai followed soon thereafter, and the Kings ended up losing their last 6 wickets for 7 runs, two of them to run-outs. What started off as intelligent running between the wickets, then turned into suicidal running, as Shashi and then Siva Kumar were sent back to the pavilion by some individual brilliance from Arun Ramchandran. Avinash Kumar ended as the outstanding bowler with three wickets in 3.2 overs conceding a measly 10 runs, with figures of 2 for 10 for Barry.

A total of 69 still seemed too high for a Monkeys team that had never chased anything above 44. Opener Sriram fell in the second over as the Kings were buoyed by a superior opening spell of fast bowling by Kartik.

In strode Mountu and released some of the pressure with a quick-fire eight off eleven balls. A mistimed flick off Ramakant ended Mountu's stay at the wicket. The o­nly southpaw of the game, Arun Venkataraman, then joined the other opener Puneet Shetty and put o­n a steady partnership of 26 which put the Monkeys o­n track for an upset win.

Puneet Shetty, the top-scorer among the Monkeys, put in yet another Man-of-the-match performance with 30 runs off 51 balls. His ability to pierce the field at will marks him out as a special talent, with o­ne particular square-cut splitting three fielders o­n the offside. A classic off-break by Ganesh was enough to end Arun's stay at the wicket, but another vital 27-run partnership between Puneet and Barry, brought the Monkeys to the brink of a famous win.

With three runs to win, Puneet top-edged a ball off Kartik's second spell, and it was left to Barry and skipper Arun Ramchandran to get the Monkeys to the end zone. The Kings however were not prepared to relinquish their crown as the sole undefeated team in the second round, and piled o­n the pressure with some tight bowling by Kartik and the wily off-spinner Ganesh.

With three balls remaining and a run to win, the captain of the Monkeys swept a low full-toss over midwicket to end the match and complete an upset as remarkable as any seen in Cricbay. A team of motley first-timers had outwitted a hardened professional outfit such as the Kings. While the Kings are still competing for the Platinum trophy as division leaders, the action now shifts to Encinal Park, for a do-or-die game between tonights victors and the Invincibles, with a spot for the Gold shield playoffs at stake.

- Arun Venkatraman

Previous posts on Cricbay when our team was covered in the cricbox

GROUP F Blitz CC vs Daredevils
Two new names in my Cricbox for a change, and why not. After all, Blitz CC have truly lived to their name this season, by pulling off great upsets. First they humilated Chargers with a stunning performance and then they repeated the same with Skiers 11. Both the oppositions were left dumbfounded about this newly found form of the Blitz CC (Although I liked their previous name a lot - Bhajji's Monkeys). Blitz who is yet undefeated this season, unlike their previous stints, would be facing Daredevils for the first time, who yet have to register their first ever win in their Cricbay stint. They are a new team, with and would love to take their first win home to taste the real success of tennis ball cricket in Cricbay.
Facts: Blitz CC was ranked # 54 in the opening ranking table for this season, when Skiers were placed at # 18 and Chargers at # 30. Daredevils are placed at # 66.

GROUP F

Skiers XI vs Blitz CC

Sunday 04/05 @ SGI Park, Mountain View

The Big Picture

Skiers XI took a break for the 2008 Fall Open which means that they have played just o­ne regular season in Cricbay. But in this short time they have give a fair glimpse of their potential by managing to make it to the Platinum group in their very first season. Getting past the pre-quarter stage is just a matter of time and experience.

Blitz CC entered Cricbay the same season as Skiers XI but are a little more experienced having played the 2008 Fall Open. They did beat Kings last regular season, but since then they have struggled to beat any team in the top half of the league when provided an opportunity to play them. But every new season is a fresh beginning and Blitz CC seem to be charged up, coming off a crushing victory against a Chargers team at pretty much full strength. Whether this is the trigger they were looking for to reach greater heights, o­nly time will tell.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

Skiers XI - WLWWL
Blitz CC - AWWLL

Watch out for ...

Avinash Karthaveerya (272 runs) and Suryanarayanan D (284 runs) were in prolific form during last years regular season. They were ably supported by their lead bowlers in the form of Shankar Narayanan (40 wickets eco. 2.84) and Prudhviraj (26 wickets eco. 2.94). They will be counting o­n these guys to keep a choke-hold o­n their opponents again.

For Blitz CC their batting mainly revolves around their leading man Puneet Shetty (343 runs) with others looking to stay with him and chip in with whatever they can. The bowling is well led by Kartik Ramaswamy (63 wickets) and Avinash Kumar (42 wickets). But restricting the opposition scoring rate has always been their primary concern.

Home/Away Realities

Skiers XI know how to make use of their home ground very effectively. They have managed to win 8 of the 11 games that they have played at home, but defeats at home have been pretty comprehensive as well. This will be their first home game of this season and will be interesting to see if they can maintain that winning touch at home.

Blitz CC had a bad start to both their previous seasons and have a win % of o­nly about 34%. In the 15 odd games that they have played away from home they have managed to win o­nly twice game, this is a dismal record by any standards. Beating Chargers in the season opener is just the start they would have been hoping for if they want to move to the upper half of the league.

Approaching milestones

Avinash Karthaveerya (Skiers XI): Requires 28 runs to complete 300 runs.

Suryanarayanan D (Skiers XI): Requires 16 runs to complete 300 runs.

Arun Ram (Blitz CC): Requires 5 wickets to complete 25 wickets.

Group F:
Blitz CC Vs Xterminators @ San Jose:

This is a contest between 2 teams which are both a year old in Cricbay and have played almost the same number of matches. Over the 3 seasons they have played they have never faced o­ne another. Players to watch are definitely both the captains since they both have a healthy average above 10 and they will be looking to start the season o­n a positive note. Xterminators have a couple of very exciting players but there is inconsistency of them being available throughout the season which sometimes makes them unpredictable. They are also now under a new management team. We will wait and see if these changes would give them the edge to terminate the blitz theyll face from Blitz CC.

Pics of game vs Skiers11

Some great pictures of Blitz Demolishing Skiers11.

Check out more at: 

http://picasaweb.google.com/jigarshah9/BlitzVsSkiers?authkey=Gv1sRgCKGBge3_263mgwE#

Go Blitz!!!

Match Preview Vs Champs XI

Blitz CC vs Champs XI

Sunday, May 03 @ Braly Park, Sunnyvale

 Source: cricbay.com (Cricbox)

Season o n Season

 

I covered Blitz CC in my first Cricbox about a month back and had mentioned that they need to make use of the momentum of a good start and they seem to be doing just that. Despite a loss to Daredevils a couple of weekends back, they are looking strong and have achieved 3 convincing victories thus far. They have 8 wins in 15 home games and their o nly defeat this season has also been in a home game, so they might not fancy the idea of playing at home.

But looking at Champs XIs away record they might just consider it to be a fair fight. Champs have won 9 of their 14 away games and hold a marginal edge over Blitz in that respect. With 4 wins in 6 defenses and 5 wins in 8 chases its more about playing to your potential o n a given day rather than following a norm. They have won the last 4 away games that they have played with their last defeat coming during the 2008 playoffs.

 

Total Recall

 

Blitz CC @ Home Games (Regular 2008 to current)

 

Average score posting: 61 runs

Average score chasing: 62 runs

Highest successful run chase: 76 runs

Lowest total successfully defended: 57 runs

Least Runs conceded: 40 runs

Highest Runs conceded: 107 runs

Average Runs conceded: ~ 67 runs

 

Champs XI @ Home Games (Regular 2008 to current)

 

Average score posting: 79 runs

Average score chasing: 59 runs

Highest successful run chase: 76 runs

Lowest total successfully defended: 74 runs

Least Runs conceded: 20 runs

Highest Runs conceded: 95 runs

Average Runs conceded: ~ 65 runs

 

Fielders in Action

 

Akshay Shah (Blitz CC): 23 dismissals in 23 games

Jigar Shah (Blitz CC): 15 dismissals in 18 games

Nagesh Tagarathi (Champs XI): 83 dismissals in 72 games

Rajesh Sundaram (Champs XI): 40 dismissals in 37 games

Saisuresh Krishnakumaran (Champs XI): 19 dismissals in 18 games