Runwees Challenger Trophy 2010 - Match 1

Runwees Challenger Series 2010			Venue:	MNM Jain College
Match 1			Date:	16th may 2010
			Result:	Runs won by 19 runs
Runs Innings
Batsman		Runs	Balls	4's	6's	S/R
V Raja	c Anba b Aditya	0	3	0	0	0.00
Koushik	b Pradeep	35	22	7	0	159.09
Balaji	b Aditya	7	9	0	0	77.78
Bhargav	b Vignesh	11	29	0	0	37.93
Giri		11	11	1	0	100.00
Vishwa	b Vignesh	10	9	1	0	111.11
Karthi	c&b Vignesh	4	9	0	0	44.44
Subbu	Run Out	1	2	0	0	50.00
Praveen	b Guna	0	4	0	0	0.00
Suresh	Not Out	6	5	1	0	120.00
Ravi	st. Anba B Guna	9	10	1	0	90.00
Extras		52
Total	(in 19.5 ovs)	146
Wickets Bowling
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts
Aditya	3	0	36	2
Viji	3	0	21	0
Pradeep	3	0	23	1
Sam	3	0	16	0
Guna	3.5	0	26	3
Vignesh	2	0	9	3
Wickets Innings
Batsman		Runs	Balls	4's	6's	S/R
Sankar	lbw Koushik	22	27	4	0	81.48
Guna	b Vishwa	7	15	1	0	46.67
Anba	b Praveen	37	31	6	0	119.35
Pradeep	st. Karthi b Praveen	7	10	0	0	70.00
Aditya	c Subbu b Praveen	17	14	2	0	121.43
Anirudh	b Balaji	9	9	1	0	100.00
Viji	st. Karthi b Praveen	7	7	1	0	100.00
Sujit	Not Out	3	6	0	0	50.00
Sam	Not Out	1	1	0	0	100.00
Extras		17
Total	(in 20 ovs)	127
Runs Bowling
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts
Balaji	3	0	14	1
Giri	1	0	9	0
Vishwa	4	0	22	1
Suresh	4	0	25	0
Koushik	4	0	23	2
Praveen	4	0	32	3

Runwees Cup 2010

Friendship Series has given us a good understanding of ones' ability in bowling and batting. All those net sessions had finally been paid off. At one time during the Series, we thought we will be out of the race even before we begun.

However, the guys played well and we got back into the race by putting up some superb performance. One of the highlights of this series would be Adi's knock of 50 runs (his first fifty!) and KK's dedicated bowling. And even as a team, I think we have improved a lot. Our fielding has improved as well.

Even though we got knocked off in the Semi-finals, the way we carried on in the Friendship Series paints a true picture of how each one is committed towards their game.

On a personal front, I was unable to play some of the crucial matches in this series and that is what I regret most. Anyway, I hope that I will make myself fully available for the team and help them win more matches in the future.

And some interesting statistics our players performance in Friendship Series:




With the completion of Friendship Cup 2010, we now look forward to Runwees Cup 2010. This is an internal series match which is most likely to be played in April - May. We will be shortly announcing the playing 11 for teams Runs and Wickets.

Just a quick intro for the upcoming series:

My first fifty

The build up
It was Saturday night at around 10:30PM when my mobile beeped. I instantly looked at it to check if the sms had anything interesting for me. It was my captain Anba announcing the playing XI - Tashi, Anba, Adi, Kothand, KK, Bharath, Pradeep, Guna, DD, Karthi and Morarji. Seeing my name at #3, I had a lump in my throat. Was he expecting me to go in at that position? Even before the thought had completed, my mobile beeped again. Anba's message "Adi, can you play one drop?"

I replied, "Sure Anba, I can. Would love to in fact. Thanks for the opportunity"
Anba replied, "Fantastic Adi. You deserve and created your opportunity ;)"
Then came my arrogance, "I have a feeling I will succeed tmrw and will be the key in our win! :) Fingers crossed! :)"
Anba assured me, "I am confident too ;)"

I went to sleep after that conversation. Was making me feel good. I announced to my wife just before hitting the bed, "We will definitely win tomorrow".
Her immediate question, "Why? Is your opposition made up of people collected randomly from the streets?".
"No, we are playing Frost. Our traditional rivals. We have lost to them 4 times out of the last 5 matches"
She had her usual smirk on her face about my overconfidence. It was an expression that conveyed that it was my usual arrogance before doom! :)

Got up as usual at 5:30AM. Got ready and was about to leave home by 6.10AM when my wife got up and discovered that the milkman (milkwoman actually) had forgotten that we existed today. So I had to get milk and that delayed me by about 10 minutes. I left home by 6.20AM. I was scheduled to pick Kothand and Tashi up from the Guindy bus stop at 6.40AM. It wasn't that far away (20 mins was ample time to get there), so I drove happily listening to "Aaromaley" in a loop! :)

Kothand was on time as usual. Tashi had missed one train and would come in a little later. So Kothand and I had some intense discussions on IPL, CSK, and a whole host of things including his immediate shift to Delhi on work which would ensure that he wouldn't be with RnW for the next 3 to 4 months. RnW without Kothand is like a mathematical equation without its cross-checking methodology. Tashi joined us at 7.00AM. And we left for DB Jain Grounds.

The warm-up
Must have reached at around 7.20AM or so. Don't remember checking the time. Was quite disturbed that I couldn't make it at 7.00AM as my captain expects us to though I was fully geared up for it. But decided it was not something to gloss over right now and focussed on warming myself up. Went for a round of joggging around the ground - "quite a big one", I thought while tracing the boundary.

I guessed that others were done with the usual football warm-up routine (I am not a big fan of playing football to warm up before a match as it might result in an injury) as Anba had started catching practice. Its a form of craziness where people assemble in a semi-circle around one guy as the center, and that guy hits the cricket ball towards any of us and we are expected to catch it. It is called catch practice - apparently catches come to fielders in matches in the same way. Pardon my arrogance, I rarely drop a catch in practice and rarely caught one in the matches! But I do practice catching religiously! :) Once this was done, we shifted to ground fielding. One guy hits the ball along the ground and we (the ones who are practicing) stop the ball and throw it back. We are practicing on how to stop the ball from going between our legs. I am sure you can understand the embarrassment I face whenever I let a ball thats travelling at the pace of a cycle rickshaw through my legs and to make matters worse it goes for a boundary. So, you just do this practice and tell yourself that you did your bit before the match - what can be done if your brain didn't work when the ball came to you during the match?! :)

Vignesh Raja accepted very obediently when I asked him, "Can you just throw a few balls at me? I want to get a feel for the ball hitting the bat". And his feedback during the session was very useful. He said,"Adi, you are not moving in the direction of the ball which is why you are missing the deliveries that are full in length and outside the off stump". We were so engrossed in the session that when we thought of approaching the ground we saw RnW assembled in the usual huddle format (without any physical contact, mind you! We are all straight!) ready to take the ground to field! We had missed the toss itself! :) Anyway, how does it matter? I was feeling good that the ball was hitting the middle of my bat. Before I end this part, I want to mention something about Vignesh Raja. He wasn't in the playing XI. Yet he made it to the ground. And without even the slightest display of reluctance agreed to give me 'batting practice'. This kind of humility and team spirit is something that I am yet to see even in established teams! Karthi and Pradeep showed the same spirit in our previous match. It is amazing to see such camaraderie. Let us keep this on forever. Thanks everyone.

The Bowling & Fielding
We bowled like a dream. KK and Tashi - the opening bowlers - bowled so damn well that standing at short midwicket position I was able to overhear the batsmen discuss during over changes, "The ball is bouncing. Wait for the bad ball and be careful. Get a helmet if you want". The batsmen were clearly psyched up. KK's scalp of BK, Frost's most consistently successful batsman, through a brilliant catch running backwards by Bharath was truly motivational. I haven't shouted so loudly in quite a while! :) It was what changed the complexion of the match at a mindgame level. FCC always had BK anchoring one end and the others going after the bowling. This time their anchor was off. And they truly lost direction. BK had to come back on to the pitch in the guise of a substitute runner to pump the guys up to make them stay at the crease and gather runs. Anba's wicketkeeping stood out from our fielding effort. I must also add that his field placements looked good. They were in tandem with the bowler's strategies as they should be. Really loved fielding this innings out. Our bowlers bowled very few wides, so we might not have fielded for too many deliveries over 150 (as we did in our previous matches). That definitely left us a lot more refreshed to come out and bat.

The batting
When we stepped out to chase 142 down, I had no doubts that we would (not could, would) do it. The only point was whether we could do it within 20 overs to get the bonus point. (If you chase down the opposition total within 80% of the stipulated overs i.e. 20 overs, you get a bonus point). Tashi and Anba started in their usual solid style. I was all padded up and ready to get out in the middle. I requested Morarji to throw a few balls at me to get a feel of the ball hitting the bat. Yeah the same torture I inflicted on Vignesh Raja a few hours ago, I decided Morarji was too happy and needed some balance of work. Morarji did it very diligently and sincerely. I totally appreciate his willingness to come out in that hot sun and throw a few balls at a player who hasn't gone beyond a 20 before. Now, that's team spirit again for you! :) I love this team I tell you!

Coming back to the match, we were at 37 off 7 overs when Tashi got out to a ball that kept low but he was going very well at the current rate. It was the ideal start you reqired for a chase of this sort. A steady one with the new ball that has become neither too hard nor too soft. And the main bowlers - atleast their opening ones - have exhausted some part of their quota of five overs without a wicket. The fielders' noise would be a little low because they have been under the 11 o clock sun for half an hour now. Ideal time to enter the wicket for batting.

The innings
As I crossed Tashi, I could see him feeling a little sad that he couldn't make as many runs as he could have. I asked him, "Did the ball keep low?". He replied, "yeah". That alerted me to face the bowlers with a slight bend in my knees to take care of the ball that occassionaly likes to rub itself against the mat throughout its journey from the bowler's hand to the stumps. As I took guard Anba whispered something which I couldn't hear. Anba clarified in a louder whisper, "They are making an issue of the time we are taking to take guard and all that. Let's not get into that". I immediately understood that this was Frost's level of mind games and nodded my head in agreement to Anba.

The first delivery I faced I defended it off the front foot on the offside. The second delivery was a short-of-length one slightly outside the offstump asking to be cut. I forgot Gavaskar's principle of no cut shots during the first session of a test match and went fully for it. Only thing was I was a micro-second late in my shot. The ball took the edge and traveled straight to the keeper's gloves. The keeper was from an outsourced agency. He dropped it. Actually I think if he was in the habit of collecting deliveries that came straight to his gloves, he would have held on to that one. But I guess being outsourced, he had a different problem! :) Whatever it was I was thankful for Frost's outsourcing policy had saved me the embarrasment of getting out on zero on my debut at #3 position for RnW!

Then came on a bowler who looked like was on drugs or something. He started bowling beamers at me. Just that these were beamers for those batsmen who stood three steps outside the crease. I am of the Rahul Dravid mould - I stand with the crease parting my legs. So these were juicy full tosses dipping into my thighs waiting to be creamed through midwicket where there were no fielders. He bowled two of those and both disappeared off the middle of my bat to the mid-wicket boundary. He then tried to compensate by bowling one outside the off-stump - good line - but length was the problem. It was pitching at his own feet. I cut it behind point for another boundary. I felt like Virender Sehwag. 13 runs off 5 deliveries :D

Then came Bk. Before the match started I didn't know he bowled also. Someone told me he was an intelligent stump-to-stump bowler. His first ball to me was an uncharacteristic short one on the leg stump which I promptly deposited for 4 runs at the fine leg boundary. But I wasn't sure I had timed it well so I was running very fast (ok, as fast as I can!) between the wickets. I was telling Anba, "Anba, run. I don't think the timing was good". Anba was tired after keeping for 25 overs and then opening the batting is not an easy task at all. He just said, "Adi it might not have been good. But it was good enough!". Then came the best shot of my innings (my pick): a flick off a ball on the offstump towards the fine leg boundary. I had timed it so well, I knew the minute it touched my bat that it was a boundary. For this Anba said, "Ok, so did you time this one well?". I was grinning.

My innings proceeded in this way. I kept dealing in boundaries. Our aim was the bonus point. After Anba got out after a glorious knock, KK walked in. I remember one conversation that I had with KK when we had around 23 runs to go for victory and about 9 overs left. To get the bonus point we had to make those runs in 4 overs. KK said, "Adi, we have 4 overs left and 23 to make for the bonus point. Let us make it in 3 overs". I replied, "KK, never employ me with your company mate". Was referring to his innate ability to compress targets and expect delivery. But if he does what did in the match at his company also, then I am game. He took strike the next over and blasted 4 4 1Wd 4 2 1 . off that over. We only had to make some 4 runs to win next and we comfortably made it home.

The feeling
To have beaten a team to whom we lost repeatedly in the past with so many overs to spare was a feeling that was undescribable. To have made the first fifty of my cricketing career at the age of 30 is something I am going to value for the rest of my life. A small snippet before I end this long monologue: The bat with which I batted was a Kookaburra bat. It was my birthday present last October (Oct 2009) from my sister-in-law. Her condition while buying the bat was this, "You should make one fifty in the first three matches that you play with this bat". This was the second match I was playing with that bat. Most of RnW thinks that it was the bat that made the 50 while I was just holding it showing it off. I somehow agree to it. The bat is who I dedicate this knock to! :)

Friendship Series | Third match | Frost Vs Runs n Wickets | Scorecard

Dear Runwees,

I remember talking about belief in my last email. Belief that we would win this match against Frost. I am happy to say that our belief translated into the most convincing victory that I have ever been a part of. The online link to the match is here:http://www.cmdn.com/scores/RUNS-AND-WICKETS-vs-FROST-6137

Just reading the scorecard (pdf attached) gives you an impression of the way we dominated the opposition right from the word 'go'. The best part of the scorecard to me is the "Worm chart"! :) Pick your favourite section.

Factors that inspired me in our victory:

The way KK bowled (sophisticated brains with raw pace peppered with short ones and the slower ones added for taste! Rightly adjudged Man of the Match in the scorecard. He is my choice too!), Tashi's support to him, Anba's wicketkeeping, Trio of DD-Bharath-Guna: bowled very well during the fag end of the innings and Kothand's mere presence (personally for me)! On the batting front, Anba's consistency has been a great inspiration. A half-century from me is merely an offering in gratitude to all these things that inspired me.

The team spirit is really good. We are peaking at the right time. Let us win the series. Go RnW Go!

Love,

Adi.

RNW have their job cut out from them against FCC

With the first match over and Frost Cricket Club winning a thriller, we egaerly look forward towards the second match. For RNW, the job have been cut out for them against FCC. They need to attack the team with a determined effort. The fielders need to back the bowlers and the batsmen will have to play through the innings. The team has released the playing 11.

1. Anba
2. KK
3. RV
4. Guna
5. Kothand
6. Viji
7. Vishwa
8. Shankar
9. Tashi
10. Moraji
11. Sharath
12. Aditya

There are three changes made to the team. Pradeep, myself and Aditya (Adi) is out while, Moraji, Shankar and RV are in. RV was supposed to play the first match but was out due an injury he sustained in the previous match. With RV, Shankar and Moraji back in the squad, we can expect RNW to go full guns blazing.

I am not sure about the FCC line-up. But rumors has it that Viren might be in the playing 11. He is a formidable bowler and can do some hard hitting with the bat as well. All RNW has to do now, is it go out there and play their natural game. This will ensure their success in this match and the series as well.

Watch out for RNW@twitter as I will be doing some up-to-date posting on Sunday.

RunsNWickets release playing 11

Yes! The list is finally here. Here are the playing 11 (with the twelfth man) below:

1. Guna (VC)
2. Kothand
3. KK
4. RV
5. Sharath
6. Pradeep
7. Anba (C)
8. Adi
9. Tashi (Rajesh Madhini)
10. Viji
11. Karthi (WK)
12th man: Sankar

There was a mild scare when the Rain God's threatened a down-pour today. However, after some intense praying from me, the Rain God's were pleased and decided not to play spoil-sport.

The match is all set, the ground has been booked (I was told today morning that there might be a cancellation!) and all team members are eager to go ahead.

Lets wait and see what the result is tomorrow. Will give you a full detailed report on Sunday night after the match is over.

Until then, its me signing off!

The Epic Battle Begins ...

Watch this space for more information ...

Highlights of Runs N Wickets versus Royal Indians

Registering its first victory during the last weekend match gave our team much needed confidence in our ability to bowl and bat well. Below is the highlights of the match which was recorded by me.




Man of the Match - Guna 68 (59) and 1 wicket.

Second Wicket Partnership between Guna and Murali - 144

Wicket takers: KK, VijayaRaj, Arun, Dinesh, Guna.

Scorecard can be found here.

Runs N Wickets - Logo

Here is our logo :)

Thanks to Karthi Hanumantharau, for taking time to design this one for us!!

Aane De!

My feelings towards the upcoming T20 matches (CSCA Challenger T20 trophy) is captured excatly by this ad for Indian team ahead of T20 World Cup match.

All I got to say "AANE DE!"

First match Squad - CSCA Challeneger T20 Trophy

The first match of CSCA Challenger T20 trophy between RnW and Stallions @ MNM Jain Grounds. Match starts at 8 A.M. on 31st May 2009 (Sunday).

RnW non-playing members and friends can watch the live score on internet @ WWW.csca.in

The 12 member Squad for first match:
1. Manoj Babu
2. Gunarajan (WK)
3. Muralidharan
4. Pradeep
5. Anbarasan (C)
6. Balaji
7. Karhi
8. Subramaniam
9. Vijay
10. Arun prasath
11. Aditya
12. Viswa

Gearing up - Runs N Wickets 'Warriors'

Last net session was the best, everybody got a chance to play and it seemed that everybody started getting their 'groove' back on. With the upcoming friendly match/series with FCC (Frost Cricket Club) I am excited and ready.

I was able to take some good snaps while our team members were practicing and I am posting them here. Check it out!

Team Runs N Wickets @ YMCA Net Session

KK trying out some few new strokes ...

KK going for the big shot

Later on, I decided to shoot some videos of our team players practicing in the nets. But unforunately, they were shot with a 'titled' angle due to which the video is displayed in a different view. I promise next time I shoot video, I will be more careful!...

Nostalgia - FCC Vs RnW match in 2008

(I had written this commentary after the match we played in 2008. Hope this will be a good nostalgic moment for our old teamies!)

We won against the conditions rather than FCC. It was a day of contrasting conditions. Tough day for our bowlers with wet ball and constant drizzle. Rubbing salt to wounds was the shorter boundaries and 'out of colour' man of the last match Ajay. Captain lost a key spell from him nevertheless bowled himself out very well. This was the time Arunesh sent down couple of good last two overs by gripping across the seam and reading the batsmen intents. Earlier opening the bowling, Sunil picked couple of wickets to keep us on hunt and he could have easily had three.

More 'extras' came in the form of couple of dropped chances, ball running between the legs to boundaries. Tough ones, real tough ones these, unless we are constantly practicing and playing cricket- but nevertheless remain a area of concern/improvement for us. Couples of standouts in fielding were the Murali's sliding catch at point and Diptesh's powerful on-spot throws.

It was a match of three contrasting innings. It was bright and sunny when we went to bat. Murali gave us a wonderful start with couple of classy strokes perfectly timed on the offside. Both of the back foot, one punched through covers and one cut away. He reassured his form with the impeccably timed straight drive. But, I guess he got a bit overconfident during this time which lead to couple of mistimed shots and eventually lead to a mistimed pull which was easily latched upon near ropes. Nevertheless, by this time he had seized the initiative from FCC and set up the runrate.

Then came KK, and essayed a range of shots to completely grab the match out of FCC. He looked he had all the time in the world to play his shots as he looked to concentrate more on his touch and timing. The unforgettable shot was the effortless loft of mediumpacer Sriram which had such a high and wonderful loop before clearing the ropes. The score jumped from 104 to 126 in a span of 6 balls, with KK punishing spinner Mahesh for a bunch of sixes and boundaries. It was the decisive over. The importance of the knock was felt in the way FCC celebrated his fall of wicket. But captain left the job undone.

All this time along, during these two decisive knocks, was a guy who was occupying crease at the other end. He played and missed a bit initially. As he eased out, all he did was put bat to ball and run hard and two, crash boundaries to midwicket if the ball was in his area. What a simple style of playing cricket, I wondered! Two things about his knock; one, he had a very good stamina and two, he never threw up. He sealed the victory for us with two crucial boundaries in the last two penultimate over. Rajesh did it! It was the third decisive innings of our batting.


On a Personal note:
I really enjoyed batting with Rajesh as all I have to do is hit, call and run. Never did he put a foot back during running. Such was the trust he had in his partners call and rather himself that he would reach the crease. Felt worth a point to share and learn.

Here we come!

It was pure fun! The fresh smell of leather and the dirty smell of the kit bag. One year since my senses experienced those!

Last three weeks of nets practice has brought in new team buddies and a new angle to RnW. It looks to be a confident, talented and i must say energetic unit but i must also be candid in accepting that this team lacks the match experience. The matches could throw open a player and strip him apart, as i have found myself in that position many a times. It tests the confidence of the player. We could no more get away with that wide delivery, cannot play a single rash shot which frequently happen during Nets. We will have to bowl that extra delivery in the over and that one rash shot will cost your wicket and the day. Imagine the morale of the fielder in that scorching heat, if a 8 ball over is bowled or if 20 runs are plundered in a over. Its very easy to get 11 drooping shoulders. These are the times to watch out for!

Looking ahead for a match with this new energetic team!

Runs N Wickets is Back!

I officially call Runs N Wickets team 2009 Cricket Season open! Last week nearly 10 guys from Runs N Wickets team gathered to begin the first of many (hopefully) nets session. It was a remarkable sight to see. I saw the usual stalwarts such as Anba, KK (founder) and Shyam coming in and bowling some remarkable spells. I was also witnessed some new joiners like S.Dinesh who bowled beautifully.

I am very much excited and with next net's session already booked, I am very much looking forward to playing matches against our old friend and rivals Frost & Sullivan.

The next net's session is at St. Bede's ground at 6 A.M on 3rd May. Guys, they (St. Bede's staff) has given us strictly 2 hours and hence we need to be tight on timings. Confirm your participation by sending your approval to our group.

Don't forget to around Rs. 100 - Rs. 200 to pay to Anba for organizing the nets session. Also do bring your own abdomen guard and buy a pair of cricket gloves to bat on.

Let 2009 be a year of victories for RnW.

Playing T-20?? Wanted!! Maidens and Fine leg

The Chennai Super Kings who were riding the wave's crest now find themselves in a very predictable trough after the departure of the Awesome Aussie South Paws (Hayden and Hussey) and Oram.
So what does a die hard fan do?
.... when their team get taken to the cleaners.

....when Joginder Last Ball Sharma gets thulped for yet another DFL Maximum Six.(Try as hard he can Tony Cozier just can't get the IPL's Title sponsors name right)

....when Sivamani looses his class raising his fists at the crowds playing second fiddle to the local Cheer leaders.

....when the 200 rupee tickets suddenly doesn't seem worth it, and the humidity boils over and drenches clothing to 110% beyond its saturation?

Answer is pretty evident. A picture is worth 1000 bytes of text. Enjoy the Conversion factor guys.

I would like to conclude this time with a new invitation ... This group welcomes Cheer Leaders with open arms.

Cheers

Aj