What's next:

For the mathematically impaired -if we finish the next game with a win we will have 52 points. The utmost question in everyone's mind is whether we will be in the playoffs. The answer is that with a win we will definitely be in irrespective of what other teams do…Even if Syntel, MCC and VT win all their remaining games the maximum they can get is 50, 50 and 48 respectively. At the time of writing this I still do not know what happened to the MCC vs VT game. Whoever loses there is definitely out…I will keep you guys updated over the next few days as the scenario becomes clearer. But the bottom line is: If we win on Aug 15/16 we are through…Keep that in mind, guys- we still control our own destiny.

On to the match…

Vijay was back along with Ram and Krishna for the match and we were present with 11 of our 12 regulars. The pre game bantering (which was extended due to Ram and Krishna assuming that Vijay's mail telling that the match was at 9.30 AM was in pacific standard time) consisted of Vijay giving unbelievable looks to each TCC player and saying- "It is impossible to give 220+ runs in a match (against HP)…I cannot even imagine it…". TCC decided to show Vijay how it can be done (again) and Vijay's imagination became a reality…

Of course any TCC match has to involve the customary tale of 1-5 players missing at the start. If it was Walmart and the bodily functions which were the culprit at MCC, here the cause was a Swedish girl (and again -different bodily functions). With the TCC players, Ron and one of the SCC batsman ready to start the game (with 9 players) the SCC captain got into a argument about the rules that need to be followed if the two people come in time for their batting only. Convincing him that we had just reached them in their cell phone at I-40 and that they were minutes away was of no avail…Damodar and the SCC captain got into a friendly bellowing contest (and this was to continue all day) when Ram and krishna made their grand entry.

The first 10 overs produced 40 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. Shared honors between the teams. Yesh and Amit bowled a very good line restricting SCC who on their part were content to take the available runs w/o forcing anything. With Janardhan batting well and Subbu taking the odd single to keep the strike moving SCC looked to be in good shape. Although Amit and Yesh came close to taking the outside edge there were no clear chances that came TCC's way. The opening wicket came via a run out with Subbu deciding to go for a second run which was not there. Amit's throw was sure and true onto to Kal's gloves and Kal removed the stumps with a lunge. Whatever Kal did in India is helping. His keeping has become very good and as he was to prove later -his batting touch is back.

Ganesh was the new batsman and played off the 2 odd overs before drinks. The spectacle which Vijay "wanted" to see started in first over after the break. This was Krishna's second over and Ganesh picked this one apart. Twenty runs came off this over and the flood-gates were truly opened. There were two fours (at least) and one six in this over. Vijay's next over had five good balls and one which was hit for a six. Janardhan took the odd four and kept the score moving giving the strike to Ganesh. Ganesh stroked the ball really well with the best shot being a flick for a four through square leg off damodar. Seeing that both Krishna and himself were not effective- Vijay brought on Amit who delivered. It was definitely an over which other bowlers can learn something from…The second ball took the outside edge and went agonizingly close to Damodar at cover- clearly out in any ground- but a six at Shiloh. The fourth ball was again mistimed and a flick in the leg side took the top edge and flew for another four (or six?) in the off. Amit did not falter or change his line and kept attacking the off stump. The attempted off drive again took the edge and Krishna snapped the jaws of his alligator hands shut with the ball firmly in, to gleefully accept the catch. A really nice over from one who never gave up despite getting (mis)hit for two boundaries. That was the only bright spot though.

With the new batsman, Prashant, Janardhan moved the score up to 130 in 20 overs. 90 runs off 10 overs. Prashant was well caught by Amit at long off after a quick 10-15 runs. Janardhan played some very good shots which include a massive six off Vijay to get to his 50. He was finally caught by Ramesh at long on after a nice innings of 61. Vaseem the new batsman was taking his time settling down and we hoped that there may be some respite in sight. This was not to be. Vaseem again took Krishna's over to go berserk. I lost count of the shots there. The over had at least 3 fours and one six….All I remember was the SCC fielders running on to the field in between the over to congratulate Vaseem on his 50. I remember thinking -50!- so soon…Not to take anything away from Vaseem- Vaseem shots were great- but we need to bowl better in those slog overs. Vijay was later remarking (as TCC sat contended having shown Vijay how 220 CAN be scored every time) that maybe we should just bargain with the opposing team about how much they are willing to agree as a target- 210, 220, 240 ..!?

But seriously- our bowling is not that bad that we get whacked for 220 runs every match. The bowlers need to figure out what is wrong, themselves. It is tough to pin-point any one area. The positive thing is there is lots of room for improvement! Krishna, Yesh and Amit need to come with the mind-set that they have to complete their quota of 6 overs and that their primary reason for being in the team is to take wickets. We should atl east get 5 wickets amongst the three of them. If we get initial breakthroughs then Vijay, Dam, Rajesh can all tie up the batsmen and can get wickets by inducing frustration. Unfortunately by the time these guys come on to bowl the batsman are really well set that the runs keep coming in cruise control. The first three have to do better- especially krishna. The last two matches he has bowled a total of 7 overs (or 6) out of his quota of 12. That will not cut it. Yeah- one catch was dropped that would have sent Vaseem back and really helped us- but our bowlers cannot feel that they have done everything and it is the fielders fault. Granted that scoring overall is higher than last year in the league but only slightly. And 200+ runs are fantasies unless you are playing against TCC. Three teams have scored 200+ against us. The afore mentioned three are our main bowlers and need to figure out a way to get wickets. Getting a quick breakthrough has been a lost art in the previous 4 matches. WE NEED TO BOWL BETTER- GUYS.

At the break - there was no specific tensions- with 200 runs looking very peaceful now. The batting has been a work of art so far:

HCC: 56/3 off 11
ANZACS: 104/5 off 20
MCC: 140 odd for 2 off 14
MCC: 170 off 28
CCC: 215 odd
HP: 235+ off 30
RCC: 125 + for 3 for 15 odd.

Overall, we have scored at a rate of well over 6.5 runs an over. One failure against NCSU- in an otherwise great year. Hope this continues for the next match. Syntel though has got a good attack. So we figured it was going to be close- and close it was.

Kalyan has been on tear lately and it continued in this match. Yesh had diplomatically convinced Vijay that he will open with Kal and we got off to a romp. Yesh had a blinding cover drive for a six. And offcourse his patented flick over mid wicket for another. Kal had those glides through covers and the flick through square leg for fours. 35 odd runs in 6 overs. After a great start Yesh was the first to go playing over a ball from Prashant to be bowled for 16. A nice innings which has cemented his opening slot probably. Ramesh went in and was seeing the ball quite fell. He hit three fours during his brief stay.

After scoring twelve runs he fell on the dot at the drinks break moving away to cut a ball which kept low. Again he played over like Yeshpal and was bowled. Strokes like these were necessary to keep the score moving…

We were in good shape at the first break with 63 on board after the first 10 overs. With Kal batting well Ram went in. Together they took singles coupled with the odd four. With no big hits coming the score still moved at a healthy pace of 6.3 to 6.6 runs a over. Ram was not in prime touch but still managed to stick in there. Kalyan (who later remarked that he was tired) got out with the score past 100 after a well made 30, studded with more than 4 fours. We were losing wickets but still kept the score moving at a rate of 6-6.5 per over- good batting right from the start.

Khalil has been in good nick for the past few games and continued his good run here. The huge shots were all there, especially the big hits from off to over mid wicket. With Ram egging Khalil on for singles, the score kept moving along at rapid pace. Ram was running for everything- byes, leg byes etc. With the run rate still hovering around 6.5, Khalil fell trying to pull a ball from the off stump over mid wicket, missing the line to be bowled through the gate.

Ram continued with Damodar and things looked good for TCC, when Ram fell to a questionable call. The ball hit the pad off the attempted flick and was taken by the wicket keeper. I was the leg umpire and it looked to me that the ball had clearly hit the pad. Ron though, thought otherwise and declared Ram caught behind. That's cricket and some decisions go against you and we lost Ram for 24.

Vijay went in the ninteenth over and led us to the break. The equation was 85 in 10 overs. Simple logic suggests that as SCC hit 90 off the last 10 we can do it too- especially with 5 wickets left. But chasing a total is much tougher than setting one. Vijay was game though and with damodar also there, things looked good.

All said and done, SCC did a good job of getting under Damodar's skin. The wicket keeper and their captain continued to needle Damodar…A ball which was left to the wicket keeper (a foot away from the stumps) will be followed by "Man - that was close- you almost got him". Initially damodar was quite calm playing the game, but after a while he let it get to him…One specific instance was when the keeper encouraged the bowler by saying that the ball had hit the stumps (before he collected the ball!) but the bails had not fallen. That probably ripped all sanity out of Damodar who wanted to know how a pace bowler's ball could hit the stump and go to the wicket keeper w/o disturbing the bails. This sledging match was going on in the side…

Vijay was batting beautifully refusing to let the pressure get to him. We averaged around 7-8 runs an over. Problem was that we never had breakthrough over where around 20-25 runs were scored. That eventually proved to be our undoing. Full credit to Syntel's bowlers for not letting that happen. The final spell was quite impressive from their front line bowlers- especially Prashant- who kept the ball at yorker length and to the middle stump.

Damodar fell first- trying to convert a single to two runs to be caught well out of the crease. Anand went ( you are kidding me- Anand six down!- we really have depth) in. What a lovely knock he played. With no time to settle down he played some exquisite shots. The shot which will stand out in my mind was that six he hit. The ball was pitched on the leg and middle. He picked it up beautifully and flicked it effortlessly over backward square leg for a towering six. Sheer timing…Vijay drove a ball on the rise over extra cover for a one bounce four.

Although we were getting runs off every ball- there were not to many boundaries. Janardhan stopped a lot of balls on the cover boundary and the ball consistently found VT in the square leg boundary. Both have good arms and are clean fielders and lots of possible fours resulted in singles.

We needed 43 runs in the last four overs. Both Anand and Vijay fell in one of Prashant's over in identical fashion - going for the huge swings and missing thee line altogether. As I said Prashant's final overs signaled the end of our effort. Another problem as also that we were hitting a lot of shots in the "V" between mid on and mid off- the longest boundaries. Slightly angled shots had a better chance for fours at Shiloh…But neverthess, great batting guys.

The pair of Rajesh and Krishna went in and kept our dim hopes alive. Rajesh at last found his touch and was hitting quite well. He had three twos off well struck shots. Our luck was so bad that Krishna who hits the ball all around the place (does not matter where the bowler bowls) was hitting the ball straight like a classical batsman…Yeah right- all we needed was another batsman! We needed (I think) 14 off the final over and 8 off the last two balls. We got 3 off the last two to lose by 5 runs.

All in all a good effort at the end of which we just fell short.