So..the much anticipated 2nd round matches of the NPL ..our intra-office cricket tournament was to be held today. Our match was scheduled to start at 10:30..however we reached there at 7:15..jst to find the venue drenched with light showers. The weather was really cloudy when I started from my place but it began to drizzle by the time we reached the stadium. The match was held up due to rain..however it soon cleared up and things went underway..but not as we expected.
Match - 1: Varvel Warriors vs Linux Dare-evils
The first match was supposed to be a one-sided one. We all thought Varvel would win easily..however Saroj Satapaty from Dare-evils single-handedly took the game away from Varvel. The Dare-evils who had lost the previous match hit some real good form and scored a huge target of 83 in 9 overs. Varvel Warriors were pathetic in the bowling department (or so I heard..I reached when they had already bowled their 9 overs). Anyways their batting wasn't good either. They lost wickets at regular intervals and lost the match by a nice margin. This enabled the Dare-evils to reach the semi-finals with just a single win.
Match - 2: Hydra Hooligans vs WIN (Whats In a Name...(worst in the game ;P))
They both had lost their first matches..and it was absolutely crucial for them to win in order to have any chance in the semi-finals. WIN team batted first and scored a miserly 50 odd runs. They dint bat that well but did provide us with some last over fireworks. Anyways Hydra Hooligans (the toughest team to beat .. on paper) began well. However they lost it in the middle overs and gained the momentum back in the last over. They had to make 6 runs in the last over with 1 wicket to spare. The advantage for Hydra Hooligans was that the last over was to be delivered by Shruti. However Shruti..the one person who is usually at the wrong end of my jokes when it comes to sport or other miscellaneous topics..was absolutely excellent in the last over. She managed to create enough pressure for the tail enders that they ultimately threw the last wicket away to loose the match. In my opinion it was Shruti's last over that won the match for WIN.
By this time we were like..wat the hell is going on!!..the calculations were all up-side down..the teams which we thought would lose , won comfortably. The net run rate was surely to come in picture and if we had any chance of going thru to the semifinals, we had to thrash the Embedded Eagles team..the team by the way had registered the highest runs in the tournament. Anyways but we were sure of our abilities.
Match 3: Block or Bleed vs Embedded Eagles:
The third match was between my team (Block or Bleed) and Embedded Eagles. Thankfully the weather gods were kind to us. It was nice and cool at 11:30 am. However there was the wind factor. The wind was very strong. We did give away some wides because of the wind. Anyways..we started off really well..I got their opener out in the 3rd ball of the first over itself. Amaresh took out 3 of their batsmens in his spell. Subhash was also excellent..took some vital wickets in the middle of the innings. The vital over was again by Eshita (our female team member). Although I may sound like a MCP but I have to admit..she was careless!! I know she might have tried hard and stuff..but we got her on when our opponents brought in their girlie player. And I kinda expected it to be a good show. However she gave away good 16-odd runs in her over. They finished with 62 at the end of 9 overs. This was near about the same target that we had acheived in our last match. We were pretty confident to win. Our openers Bhupesh and Shubhojeet were awesome!!!! Their partnership lasted till the 5th over. With around 20 runs to win from 4 overs, Shubhojeet gave his wicket away in the girlie over. And somehow their girl player was much much better than ours. She gave away just 9 runs!! Anyways we had a few hiccups with 2 of our batsmen (Sumit and Partha) getting out in the space of a few overs but Bhupesh thrashed two balls to the boundary to seal the victory and the slot in the semi-final.
Phew!..it was a hectic day..my throat hurts after all the screaming. Me, Partha, Subhash and Amaresh went to Superstars for a few beers. I just reached back home. We have two matches..the semifinals and the finals tomorrow. I hope we have enough energy left to play 2 matches (considering we would reach the finals) tomorrow. We have to!!..and we would give our 100% to see Block or Bleed clinch the title of the first ever NEC champs!
Match - 1: Varvel Warriors vs Linux Dare-evils
The first match was supposed to be a one-sided one. We all thought Varvel would win easily..however Saroj Satapaty from Dare-evils single-handedly took the game away from Varvel. The Dare-evils who had lost the previous match hit some real good form and scored a huge target of 83 in 9 overs. Varvel Warriors were pathetic in the bowling department (or so I heard..I reached when they had already bowled their 9 overs). Anyways their batting wasn't good either. They lost wickets at regular intervals and lost the match by a nice margin. This enabled the Dare-evils to reach the semi-finals with just a single win.
Match - 2: Hydra Hooligans vs WIN (Whats In a Name...(worst in the game ;P))
They both had lost their first matches..and it was absolutely crucial for them to win in order to have any chance in the semi-finals. WIN team batted first and scored a miserly 50 odd runs. They dint bat that well but did provide us with some last over fireworks. Anyways Hydra Hooligans (the toughest team to beat .. on paper) began well. However they lost it in the middle overs and gained the momentum back in the last over. They had to make 6 runs in the last over with 1 wicket to spare. The advantage for Hydra Hooligans was that the last over was to be delivered by Shruti. However Shruti..the one person who is usually at the wrong end of my jokes when it comes to sport or other miscellaneous topics..was absolutely excellent in the last over. She managed to create enough pressure for the tail enders that they ultimately threw the last wicket away to loose the match. In my opinion it was Shruti's last over that won the match for WIN.
By this time we were like..wat the hell is going on!!..the calculations were all up-side down..the teams which we thought would lose , won comfortably. The net run rate was surely to come in picture and if we had any chance of going thru to the semifinals, we had to thrash the Embedded Eagles team..the team by the way had registered the highest runs in the tournament. Anyways but we were sure of our abilities.
Match 3: Block or Bleed vs Embedded Eagles:
The third match was between my team (Block or Bleed) and Embedded Eagles. Thankfully the weather gods were kind to us. It was nice and cool at 11:30 am. However there was the wind factor. The wind was very strong. We did give away some wides because of the wind. Anyways..we started off really well..I got their opener out in the 3rd ball of the first over itself. Amaresh took out 3 of their batsmens in his spell. Subhash was also excellent..took some vital wickets in the middle of the innings. The vital over was again by Eshita (our female team member). Although I may sound like a MCP but I have to admit..she was careless!! I know she might have tried hard and stuff..but we got her on when our opponents brought in their girlie player. And I kinda expected it to be a good show. However she gave away good 16-odd runs in her over. They finished with 62 at the end of 9 overs. This was near about the same target that we had acheived in our last match. We were pretty confident to win. Our openers Bhupesh and Shubhojeet were awesome!!!! Their partnership lasted till the 5th over. With around 20 runs to win from 4 overs, Shubhojeet gave his wicket away in the girlie over. And somehow their girl player was much much better than ours. She gave away just 9 runs!! Anyways we had a few hiccups with 2 of our batsmen (Sumit and Partha) getting out in the space of a few overs but Bhupesh thrashed two balls to the boundary to seal the victory and the slot in the semi-final.
Phew!..it was a hectic day..my throat hurts after all the screaming. Me, Partha, Subhash and Amaresh went to Superstars for a few beers. I just reached back home. We have two matches..the semifinals and the finals tomorrow. I hope we have enough energy left to play 2 matches (considering we would reach the finals) tomorrow. We have to!!..and we would give our 100% to see Block or Bleed clinch the title of the first ever NEC champs!
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