PUCC Indoor
League Spring ‘08 - Week 8 Review
Punches and counter punches galore but two teams go home victors... and
one historic moment this past weekend. For the first time ever in the Indoor
League,
Paranjape plays a steady hand guiding Bullets to an unforgettable victory
In a clash of the top two teams in the Indoor League standings, the
on-field chatter matched the off field banter. The two teams involved were the
Underdogs and the Bullets. Sachin, captain of
Overrated Underdogs, won the toss and immediately chose to bat. Overrated
Underdogs, missing Upjeet today, started off their
innings in sedate fashion with Aditya and Jagpreet scoring in singles. The introduction of Vaibhav into the attack brought out the big hits with a 10
run over. Soon after Jagpreet was
bowled trying to out do himself with yet another biggie. Sachin
came in and immediately looked in good touch middling the ball. All the while Aditya was coming to grips with the morning game and slowly
finding his touch. Sachin's wicket, run out trying to
steal a single thanks to a direct hit by Haaris,
halted the Underdogs momentum.
Finally Aditya came into his
own and took his chances against Amit Mulani while the Bullets were contributing their bit to the
score in the form of extras. In the middle overs runs
were flowing but the "Dogs kept shooting themselves in the foot, losing
wickets at inopportune moments. At the end of 12 overs
the Underdogs had a healthy total of 77 runs but had lost 5 wickets in the
process. With Arjun and Midhun
at the crease things were still looking good for the batting team. But Shiven struck soon after and the Underdogs folded up at 87
runs in the last over, a good 10-15 runs short of what they could have made. As
for the Bullets, Shiven and Ali looked the best with
some incisive bowling but the Bullets fielding was not
at its best with a few dropped catches.
Bullets needed at least one of their big guns to come good for the run
chase to take off and today Paranjape proved his
worth with a brilliant innings. Haaris and Paranjape opened the innings for Bullets and took their
time against the 'Dogs opening bowlers Midhun and Aditya. They upped the ante and whacked Aditya
in his second over to the tune of 14 runs to catch up to the required run rate.
Soon after, Sachin struck with his first ball
getting Haaris to nick one to Jagpreet
behind the wicket. Haaris's departure did not deter Paranjape who put away any easy pickings that came his way
and was content to deal in singles and twos to the good balls bowled by the
Underdogs. Much like the Underdogs innings the Bullets were steadily losing
wickets at one end but the innings never stalled with Amit
Paranjape scoring steadily at other end. At the end
of 11 overs the match was very interestingly poised
with the Bullets at 62 for the loss of 4 wickets. The Bullets still needed 26
runs of the last 4 overs while the three strike
bowlers for the Underdogs today, Midhun, Aditya and Sachin, had all
completed 3 overs each while Sukhdeep
had bowled 2 overs giving away 16 runs. The Underdogs
knew fully well that they still needed someone apart from the three main bowlers
to deliver one good over for them.
With the two Amits still at the crease the
'Dogs decided a couple of quick wickets were the best way to put the brakes on
the Bullets run chase. Midhun and Aditya
finished their quota of overs eking out the two Amits but the Bullets were well placed at 78/6 at the end
of 13 overs. With their captain Ankit
and Kaustubh at the crease the Bullets needed just 10
runs in the last two overs.
With the fourth bowler still needing to bowl one over for the 'Dogs, Sachin gambled by bringing Arjun
Shah in to the attack hoping for a tight over. The 14th over turned out to be a
nightmare with Arjun reeling off 4 successive wides. The 14th over yielded 9 runs and all but sealed the
victory for the Bullets. With 1 run needed of the last over Sachin
did his best but Bullets won comfortably with 2 balls to spare. The 'Dogs had
their chances in the last 4 overs but will rue the
two dropped chances that gave continuity to Paranjape's
innings and couple of missed run out opportunities.
In all, a close and entertaining game and should do nothing to dampen
the hopes of the two teams in the run up to the playoffs.
Blazing
Bullets Vs Overrated Underdogs
Virtual
Reality canter to victory against shorthanded A.P.Express
With an undermanned A.P.Express, the Udupi encounter was a non starter and turned out to be damp
squib. Batting first, Bharath played a patient and
steady innings to guide Virtual Reality to a comfortable 99 runs in 15 overs. The rest of the Virtual Reality batsmen took their
team name to heart and played a near virtual innings trying to clatter
A.P.Express Vs Virtual Reality