CricketGraph - Celebrating D Cricket in You

When you have the determination to do well, you always succeed no matter what. Sports Gurukul played with the same spirit in the quarter final of Dreams Champions Trophy Regular Plate A against Morgan Stanley. Riding on Moses’ 4 wickets and a superb innings by an “injured” Satyasheel while chasing, Sports Gurukul entered the semifinals of the tournament courtesy of losing fewer wickets than their opponents in what turned out to be a tied match.

Morgan Stanley called correctly and decided to put runs on the board. Openers Muffadal and Chandresh were off to a slow start as they were able to score only 9 runs in 4.2 overs when Chandresh was caught out of the bowling of Moses, giving Gurukul their first breakthrough.  Wickets continued to tumble till the 9^th over as the scoreboard read only 18 runs. Too slow a start in a T20 match!

But due credit must be given to Gurukul bowlers especially Moses who ran through the top order of Morgan Stanley while choking the runs. He got excellent support from Satya and Anish. Stanley’s Sagar and Muffadal joined hands and took the score past 100 in the 18^th over. Sagar scored run a ball 56 while Muffadal contributed with 38 from 46 balls. But they were precious runs considering the situation. Morgan eventually ended for 118 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Moses was the chief destructor with 4 top order wickets.

119 should have been an easy chase and Sports Gurukul batsmen showed no hurry at all while chasing the total. After both the openers fell when the score read 30, Satyasheel and Swapnil steered the innings together. Although they prevented further wicket loss, they were unable to keep up with the run rate. Too many dot balls early in the innings enabled Morgan Stanley to keep up the asking rate despite not taking any further wickets. The match was ultimately tied. Tapan from Morgan Stanley bowled an excellent spell giving away just 6 runs in his 3 overs. Three other bowlers managed a wicket each.

Satyasheel had an injured hamstring before the match but he decided to take the field and scored a match winning knock for his team. Moses for his devastating opening spell of 4 wickets for 11 runs was declared man of the match.

Keep following CricketGraph for exclusive coverage of Dreamz Champions Trophy!

Brief Scores:

Morgan Stanley: 118/7 in 20 overs (Sagar 56, Muffadal 38, Moses 4/11)

Sports Gurukul: 118/3 in 20 overs (Satya 49, Swapnil 40, Sagar 1/17, Sudarshan 1/23)

Match Report By:

Sumanyu Jain (Regional Manager & Editor @ www.cricketgraph.com)

In continuation to our article on Battle of FCC T20 Tournament, we are bringing more updates on the tournament for our readers.

Four teams “Thane Advocate, Datafriends, Cricket Club of Dombivli (CCD) & Friends Cricket Club (FCC)” qualifies for Semi Finals which will be played on 2^nd May’2015 at All Saints Ground, Bhiwandi followed by a Big Final on the same day. CCD will play against Datafriends and Thane Advocate will play against the host FCC and the winner of both semifinals will play to seize the 1^st FCC T20 title.

The day was full with 3 must win games for 3 teams to qualify in the semi’s. The details on the balanced three league matches which were played on 26^th April are:-

 Match-4 : Friends Cricket Club (FCC) V/s Cricket Club of Dombivli (Result – FCC won by 16 runs)

This was a must win game for Host FCC to stay in the tournament, which was possible only by putting a big total in front of strong batting line up of CCD. Accordingly, FCC elected to Bat first after winning the toss. CCD opening bowler Hitesh who bowled truly well this season started good with 1^st over by conceding only 2 runs which created a pressure on FCC openers. On the 1^st ball of 2^nd over (bowled by Devendra), Ajit attempted a difficult catch at Mid Off of FCC jewel Manoj, but could not make it. Taking this golden opportunity, Manoj started playing his natural attacking game with his Partner Prashant and they gave a cracking opening partnership of 68 in just 9.4 overs. In Innings 10^th over, Ajit gave a breakthrough in his 1^st over by taking a wicket of Manoj (27 in 29 balls, 3×4 & 1×6). With this solid start, the other batsmen of FCC had to take over the bowlers of CCD and this trouncing was done by the next partnership of Prashant & Hiren who made jointly 75 runs in just 41 balls. Hiren (38 in 24 balls, 4×4 & 1×6) got out on team score of 143 and Prashant who was the star batsmen of the innings got out on score of 149. Prashant who contributed 71 in 50 balls hitting 9 fours and 2 sixes was bowled out by Machindra. This was also the highest individual score of the tournament so far. CCD fielders dropped 5 catches in the innings because of which FCC finished the innings at 176 in 20 overs loosing 7 wkts. Bowling figures of CCD were Hitesh (4-0-19-0), Devendra (2-0-21-0), Kiran (2-1-11-0), Mangesh (3-0-37-0), Ajit (2-0-16-1), Vasu (1-0-18-0), Machindra (4-0-34-2), Akhilesh (2-0-16-3) & extras were 12.

While chasing a big total of 177, CCD star Sachin could not gave a good start for the team and felt yet again. Sachin got out at a team total of 23. But his contribution was covered by the Akhilesh & Advait who gave a sensible next partnership of 40 in 37 balls. Akhilesh made 20 in 22 balls. After the wicket of Akhilesh, Advait who is known as hard hitter of CCD took over the charge with Machindra and they started hitting gigantic from 11^th over. They gave a small partnership of 36 runs in just 22 balls before returning to the pavilion. Machindra made 28 in 14 balls (3×4 & 1×6) and Advait scored a half century (50 in 37 balls, 4×4 & 3×6). This chasing was supported at the end by Kiran (10 in 6 – 2×4), Captain Mangesh (20 in 14 – 3×4), Prasad (16 in 9 – 2×4, 1×6) which felt short by 16 runs. CCD could make 160 loosing 9 wkts. FCC won the game by 16 runs and they stayed in the tournament. Bowling figures from VCC were Imtiaz (4-0-18-2), Pandurang (4-0-25-1), Ankit (4-0-27-1), Vikrant (3-0-29-0), Manoj (2-0-23-1), Ashish (3-0-36-3) & extras were 6.

CCD, who won their 1^st game against VCC, topped the Group-1 on Net Run Rate Basis and qualified for the semifinals with FCC. VCC could not make it to the Semi’s as the net run rate of FCC was better than VCC.

Match-5 : Datafriends V/s Panvel Advocate (Result – Datafriends won by 3 wkts)

For Datafriends too, this was a must win game to stay in the tournament. Young team of Panvel Advocate decided to bat 1^st. Similar to 1^st match, once again Datafriends bowlers bowled a good line and length restricting Panvel Advocates to 122 runs loosing 7 wkts. Advocates opener Akash (23 in 22 – 3×4, 1×6) and Vishal (23 in 29, 2×4, 1×6) gave a good start for the team of 37 in 5.4 overs, which was not overtaken by subsequent batsmen. With the help of Shailesh (8 in 5, 1×6), Tushar (28 in 37, 1×4), Mahendra (14 in 10, 1×6), Hemant (16 in 15, 2×4); Advocates scored 122 runs loosing 7 wkts. Bowling figures from Datafriends were Arun (4-0-19-1), Kuldeep (4-0-20-1), Lavlesh (4-0-31-1), Tushar (1-0-13-1), Nikhil (3-0-19-2), Sudhir (4-0-20-1) and extras were 9. While chasing 2^nd time in the tournament, Datafriends lost the 1^st wkt. (Arun) on 2^nd ball of an innings. Sudhir; the “wall of Datafriends” (which is unbreakable many times) ensured that target of 123 runs is easily achievable and made a 2^nd wkt. partnership of 37 in 37 balls with Tushar (20 in 19, 3×4). As always, Sudhir kept on playing his cool minded game and moved his team towards a must win. He scored 48 in 33 balls hitting 7 fours & 1 six, before getting stumped out on bowling of Tushar. Datafriends managed the target of 123 in 18.3 overs. Towards the end, Anmol (13 in 24, 1×4), Mangesh (22* in 18, 3×4), Nikhil (4* in 1, 1×4) played a handy innings to get the victory for the team. Bowling figures from Panvel Advocates were Tushar (4-0-18-3), Suraj (2-0-16-0), Mahendra (2.3-0-20-2), Hemant (1-0-10-0), Shailesh (3-0-16-0), Akash (4-0-25-1) & extras were 12.

Match-6 : Thane Advocates V/s Panvel Advocates (Result – Thane Advocates won by 49 runs)

This was a must win game for Panvel Advocates. Considering the continuous 2^nd match of the day for Panvel Advocates, Thane Advocates captain Mangesh decided to Bat 1^st after winning the toss. Ishan & Rohan gave highest opening partnership of the tournament so far of 79 in 7.3 overs. Ishan (52 in 32, 10×4) and Rohan (37 in 25, 6×4, 1×6) played stunning innings of the day which was supported by Pranay (19 in 10, 1×4, 2×6), Mahesh (18 in 11, 1×4), Kundan (22 in 8, 1×4, 2×6), Sandeep (6 in 6, 1×4), Magesh (7* in 6, 1×4) and finished the innings on a massive highest total of the tournament 192 loosing 9 wkts. Panvel Advocates used 8 bowlers but still could not stop Thane Advocates. Bowling figures for Panvel Advocate were Tushar (3-0-35-1), Suraj (4-0-26-3), Mahendra (1-0-16-0), Hemant (2-0-16-0), Akash (1-0-14-0), Shailesh (4-0-31-4), Vishal (1-0-17-0), Sushil (4-0-26-1) & extras were 31.

While chasing a big target of 193 @ 9.65 runs per over, Panvel Advocate lost the 1^st wkt. (Mahendra) on team score of 4 (at 1.2 over) and there on Akash (37 in 36, 4×4) & Shailesh (46 in 31, 7×4, 2×6) took over the charge of chasing. They made a partnership of 72 in just 46 balls. But this was not sufficient to achieve the target. Panvel Advocate was in need of similar partnership from other players, which they could not make and they felt a short of 49 runs. Panvel Advocate reached 143 in 20 overs loosing 8 wkts. and lost the game by 50 runs. Captain Mangesh of Thane Advocates varied his bowlers smartly and used 8 bowlers, which did not give any chance for Panvel Advocate to understand the bowling line up. Bowling figures from Thane Advocate were Pranav (3-0-30-0), Kundan (2-0-13-1), Ishan (3-0-18-1), Mahesh (4-0-27-2), Sameer (4-0-24-1), Sandeep (2-0-11-2), Pratap (1-0-5-1), Mandar (1-0-6-0) & extras were 18.

With this mislaid, Panvel Advocate made exit from the tournament and gave Datafriends entry into Semifinal. With 2^nd win, Thane Advocate topped the Group-2.

Keep reading the space to know the 1^st hoister of FCC T20 trophy….

(Article by Sachin Rajput, Sr. Editor – Cricketgraph)

(6) D.V. Cheetahs

Venue: Mumbai Police Gymkhana Cricket Ground Mumbai  | Match Scorecard  | Tournament Details

Just when City Riders were down and out, Akash Parkar emerged as their savior smashing an unbeaten 40 ball 68 consisting of 7 fours and 4 massive sixes to guide his team to a confidence boosting 6 wicket win over Bandra Heroes. Bandra bowlers started well in their defense but Akash’s innings was just too good to end on the losing side.

Bandra Heroes won the toss on a hard surface and decided to bat first. Opener Omkar Gaurav went back without making much of an impact scoring just 3 runs. Harsh and Yash switched a partnership of 40 runs in the next 5 overs and brought the innings back on track when Harsh was caught off the bowling of Prashant Auti. He was the highest scorer of Bandra’s innings with 35. Bandra kept losing wickets on regular intervals that prevented them from setting up a challenging total on an easy surface. They were further dented by consecutive strikes from A Dhumal. Due to some late boost by Amit and Dhumil, Bandra were able to make a respectable 133 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Akash, Aditya and Vinayak from City riders managed a couple of wickets each.

Due to the hard surface and modest total, City Riders were the favorites after the first innings. But like their opponents, they were also off to a bad start with three wickets falling in quick succession and scoreboard reading just 38 in the 6^th over. But the fall of the third wicket proved to be a blessing in disguise as in walked AkashParkar to join VinayakBhoir and the mayhem began for Bandra Heroes. Both were together for next 8 overs and added 57 runs taking the game out of the reach of Bandra Heroes. Vinayak was unfortunately run out on a personal score of 28. But Akash ensured no further hiccups and finished the game in next 3 overs by launching an attack on Bandra bowlers. Bandra’s M Amir provided his team a perfect start scalping 2 wickets in the beginning but the score was too less to pose any challenge to City Riders.

Akash Parkar was adjudged the man of the match for his superb knock.

Brief Score:

Bandra Heroes: 133/8 in 20 overs (Harsh 35, Shikhar 29, Vinayak 2/13, Aaditya 2/19)

City Riders: 138/4 in 16.3 overs (Aakash 68*, Vinayak 28, M Amir 2/13)

Report By:

Sumanyu Jain

Regional Manager & Editor|www.cricketgraph.com

Sixth Open  Medico Double wickets Cricket Tournament was held on Sunday 26^th April  2015 at Dadoji Konddeo Stadium, Thane..Bhayander  Medico’s well known  Industrial Emergency Management Consultant, Dr.Satish Shetty   and Dr.Kiran Kerawad  after winning toss put year 2013 winners Bhandup Medico’s General Medical Practitioners ,  Dr. Rajan Merin  and Dr. Rajesh Kher  into bat . They  scored 37 runs in four overs but Dr. Rajan Merin was dismissed 2 times  due to splendid bowling by Dr.Satish Shetty. Thus their corrected score was 29. In reply, Bhayander Medicos put their head down to see that they did not get dismissed to score 32 runs Hence  they won by 3 runs and  lifted 6th Medico Double Wickets Trophy, a symbol of supremacy in Medico Double Wickets version

Earlier in one Semi-final  Dr.Satish Shetty and Dr. Kiran Kerawad  defeated  Bhandup Medico’s Dr. Santosh Dhamdhere and Dr. Manish by 27-49 while other Semi-final Dr. Rajan Merin and Dr. Rajesh Kher took into their stride Kanivali Medicos Dr. Sanjeev Narula and Dr. Ishan Thakkar by 48-12.

Wicket Keeper Abhay Pratap Singh and Vaibhav Bane  were adjudicated  The Best Fielders.

Fielders from Mr.. Kiran Salgaonkar Academy presented a Good Fielding Show.

Former International Cricket Umpire from Thane,Mr. Pilloo Reporter  was  The Chief Guest and gave away the prizes. Well Known cricket coach, Kiran Salgaonkar and Shashi Nayak, The Sports Administrator of T.M.C. Mrs. Ujawala Panjabi and Cricket Umpires, all shree Chandrakant Mhatre, S. Sen, Mukund Tanksale, Rjaendra Khare and Mr. Vijay Vaze, Trustee of The Sports Foundation,  were present on The Dias.

It is learnt from Dr. Prakash Vaze, Managing Trustee of The sports Foundation.

Results in Brief:

Winners: Bhayander  Medico’s well known  Industrial Emergency Management Consultant, Dr.Satish Shetty   and Dr.Kiran Kerawad ( 29-32)

Runners Up:  Bhandup Medico’s General Medical Practitioners ,  Dr. Rajan Merin  and Dr. Rajesh Kher

Best Fielders: W.K. Abhay Pratap Singh and Vaibhav Bane  from Kiran Salgaonkar Academy,Thane

Match Report by – Mr.Venkatraman Iyer

Sr. Editor & Commentrator @ www.cricketgraph.com

Venue: Plot 4, LIC

All of us have heard that Cricket is a batsman’s game. It indeed is. But we also forget a bowler’s role in the game, time and again. It’s really the bowlers who “defend” a total, whether big or small to win a match for their teams. That is exactly what happened in a match between Lowe Lintas and Zeus Systems in Milan Cricket Club T-20 tournament.

After scoring less that run a ball in the shortest form of the game, no team would feel confident of defending it, let alone win by a big margin. Lowe Lintas, after being put into bat by Zeus Systems just could not increase the tempo throughout their innings and eventually ended for a comparatively low total of 118 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Rather than keeping wickets in hand, they must have felt that 150/8 would have put them in a better situation.

Opener Nakul top scored with 36 (41 balls) and was looking good for more when he was castled by a Pankaj Sisodia delivery only to be stumped by Harshit. Amit Narkar (23) and Aniket Vaidya (25) steadied the ship for Lintas but it was the acceleration that was lacking throughout the innings. It never really came though. ArunKelaskar made some effort towards the end with a 10 ball 18 that move the score past 100.  It was a combined bowling performance by Zeus Sytems with four bowlers capturing a wicket each and helping their side to restrict the opponents to a below par score.

But Zeus themselves were to face a reality of 118 being a score way beyond their reach. The fact that the highest score in their innings was made by “extras” bowled by Lintas bowlers, suggest a lot about the extent of batting failure. It was clearly a match to be won by Zeus but taking no credit away from Lintas who bowled extremely well while defending a low total. Top half of Zeus batting line up was back when the scoreboard read 19. The writing was on the wall. The question was when. The innings stretched till the 19^th over but the match was over much before that. Only MaitrayJukar and Parth Shah could enter double digits in Zeus’s innings.

All 6 bowlers use by Lintas claimed at least a wicket each with Aditya Pratap taking a couple. But the chief tormentor was man of the match ArunKelaskar who bowled 2 maiden overs out of 4 and scalping 4 wickets in the process.  This win will give a lot of confidence to Lintas which will help them later in the tournament. Zeus will have to get together quickly and move on to their next match and forget this as one off day.

Brief Score:

Lowe Lintas: 118/5 in 20 overs (Nakul 36, Aniket 25*, Ramarishnan 1/12)

Zeus Systems: 82 all out in 18.4 overs (Parth 18, Maitrey 16, Arun 4/04, Aditya 2/24)

Report By:

Sumanyu Jain

Regional Manager & Editor|www.cricketgraph.com

Venue: Cross Maidan, Plot 7

In the quarter final of Milan Corporate League (Red Ball), GSK defeated Nomura by 3 wickets in the very last over of the innings to book the semi-final seat. Man of the Match, Sagar S, first played his part in restricting Nomura to an average total by bowling a tight line and then emerged as the top scorer in GSK’s innings.

In this knockout encounter, Nomura was lucky with the coin and opted to bat first. But they were not so lucky when the innings began as opener Bhavik was clean bowled on the very first ball of the match by Pratik S. Unfortunately the other opener Pushkar retired hurt but Inderjeet got an able support from Anshul and both of them took the score past 100. Just when things were looking good for Nomura and acceleration was about the start, Inderjeet was run out after a well-made 52 that was studded with 8 boundaries. Soon, Anshul also made a long walk back to the pavilion and GSK bowlers controlled the last quarter of Nomura’s innings with some excellent bowling display. Nomura eventually ended for 131 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Ganesh scalped 2 wickets while Pratik, Sagar S and Prathamesh shared a wicket each. Prathamesh particularly tightened the screws and gave only 18 runs in his 4 overs.

131 was not really a challenging total but it still had to be chased. GSK were on for a decent start with openers Sagar S and Pratik S scoring 25 runs in 20 balls. GSK bowler then took his revenge from Pratik by scalping his wicket when the batsman was on 8, breaking the partnership in the process. Rahul joined Sagar in the middle and both calmly moved the scoreboard past 50. Sagar lost his wicket while he was playing well at 34 of just 24 balls. There might have been some tension in GSK camp as the third and fourth wickets fell in quick succession but the rest of the batsmen contributed well enough to enable their team cross the line with only 2 balls to spare.  Bhavik and Deepak were the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets each.

Nomura bowlers showed great commitment and energy while defending a small total but it was the lack of power hitting in their innings that did them in and ultimately cost them the semi-final spot.

Brief Scores:

Nomura: 131/8 in 20 overs (Inderjeet 52, Anshul 23, Ganesh 2/28)

GSK: 134/7 in 19.4 overs (Sagar S 34, Rahul 23, Bhavik 2/28, Deepak 2/35)

Report By:

Sumanyu Jain

Regional Manager & Editor| www.cricketgraph.com

Battle of Six teams from various parts of Mumbai has been started on 25^th April’2015 at All Saints School Ground, Bhiwandi to win 1^st T20 Friends Cricket Club (FCC) Tournament.

FCC which is a newly formed cricket club this year has organised a tournament. The tournament is being played in 2 groups having 3 teams in each group. Each team will play 3 league matches and top two teams from the Groups will qualify for semis which will be played on 2^nd May followed by the big Final. League matches are being played on 25^th & 26^th April. In Group-1 teams are from Dombivli i.e. Cricket Club of Dombivli, Friends Cricket Club, Vrindavan Cricket Club and in Group-2 teams are Thane Advocate, Panvel Advocate, Datafriends.

On 25ht April, three league matches were played, brief details of which are:- 

Match-1 : Friends Cricket Club (FCC) V/s Vrindavan Cricket Club (VCC) (Result – VCC won by 2 wkts)

Captain Tara of VCC elected to Field first after winning the toss. Captain has made a truthful decision to bowl 1^st was proved by the opening bowlers of VCC conceding 16 runs for 3 wkts. in 3.2 overs which is quite a good start in T20 game. But Hiren & Deepak from FCC came on the crease to take on the responsibility & started hitting the ball from 1^st ball itself and both of them kept on moving the score board quite comfortably. They made a partnership of 47 runs in 5 overs out of which Hiren scored 38 runs in 21 balls hitting 8 massive fours. This momentum of runs was kept on moving by Captain Ashish with Deepak and they made a partnership of 93 runs in 10 overs, which took the FCC total to 160 runs in 20 overs with fall of 5 wkts. Deepak scored 52 in 46 balls with 6 fours and 1 six, Ashish scored 33* in 36 balls hitting 5 fours. Best Bowling Figures from VCC were Ritesh (4-0-23-1), Vinod (4-0-22-0) & extras were 26. While chasing a target of 161, FCC bowlers gave a good start for the team. But the Partnership between Captain Tara & Vinod of 55 runs took a turning point for VCC and VCC chased a target of 161 in 19 overs loosing 8 wkts. Vinod Scored 63 in just 35 balls (6×4, 4×6) and Tara scored 26 in 32 balls (4×3). The cool minded innings of Vinod, helped VCC to get a victory in 1^st match. Best Bowling Figures from FCC were Prashant (4-0-28-3), Pandurang (4-0-26-1) & extras were 35.

Match-2 : Thane Advocate V/s Datafriends (Result – Thane Advocate won by 5 runs)

Thane Advocate decided to bat 1^st after winning the toss. But Datafriends bowlers bowled a good line and length, took all the wickets and restricted advocates to 110 runs. Advocates could reach the mere target with the help of a good commitment batting from Chinmay (50 in 41 balls, 5×4, 2×6) and Mangesh (24 in 24 balls, 3×4). The other batsmen could not reach a double digit figures. The best bowling figures from Datafriends were Rohidas (4-1-13-3), Nikhil (4-0-11-1), Anmol (4-0-22-1). While chasing a simple target of 110 runs, Datafriends who are known as well chasers, gave a good start with fall of 2 wkts. at 56 runs in 9.5 overs and after the drinks, the match took a turning point towards Advocates. The Advocates spinners bowled a very tight line and took the game away from Datafriends. Datafriends were bowled out at 105 runs. Mangesh (31 in 13 balls, 1×4, 4×6) gave a good fight back at the end, but he could not convert his fight in to a win for his team this time. Best bowling figures from Thane Advocates were Jay (4-1-15-0), Omkar (4-0-29-3), Chinmay (1.4-0-9-3).        

Match-3 : Cricket Club of Dombivli (CCD) V/s Vrindavan Cricket Club (VCC) (Result – CCD won by 47 runs)

CCD decided to bat 1^st after winning the toss. CCD had a very strong batting line up, hence from beginning they started with attacking shots and put a defendable total of 146 in 19 overs. Machindra (21 in 9 balls, 4×4), Mangesh (13 in 7 balls, 3×4), Sandesh (41 in 32 balls, 3×4, 2×6) Kiran (15 in 10 balls, 2×4, 1×6), Girish (9 in 6 balls, 2×4) were the major highlighters from CCD. While chasing, in front of Strong bowling line up of CCD, VCC could not give a good start which resulted in an increase in the required run rate due to which VCC players started to hit the ball in the air. But CCD players did not miss any opportunity to convert these hits into Catches and bowled out VCC to 100. Captain Mangesh varied his bowlers very well including himself and he bowled best bowling figure of the day i.e. (2.4-0-15-4). The other pick of the bowlers from CCD were Hitesh (4-1-31-1), Girish (3-0-12-1), Machindra (3-0-27-3).        

Keep reading this space for the match updates of 26^th April.

Article by Sachin Rajput, Sr. Editor – Cricketgraph

Hot and Humid says the weather reports but certainly the action got even hotter when the APL kicked off at the Indian Airlines ground in kaliana. Their Unique approach to the game certainly raised many eyebrows. Who says that Partying and a Picnic are the ways to unite different groups working for the same Firm?Lately some of the companies seem to be changing the trend.  In a company that is associated with multiple ventures generally the way to get to know each other is not unknown to us, but certainly some companies think that is going Old School. An Intention can be satisfied in many ways but who ever thought that cricket would be the game changer. Yes its true that here is a company that just wants to unite multiple groups and they felt the best way to do so is to make all of the groups participate in a Cricket tournament. Their Unorthodox Rules certainly blew the wind of the sails. Unbelievably Thoughtful were their Rules where Woman got their Dew. In a Sport dominated by males we will probably never see the females take the cake. Confused?

It was Compulsory for each and every team to have Two female players in their playing 11. What’s More, they would be the two players to Open the batting at the start of every inning and a Female Player would open the Bowling from the opponent side. Sounds Strange, doesn’t it? For teams just been given a stipulated 6 overs that it is the Female players who would Compulsorarily play the first over of every single inning. That makes for a reading of almost 20% of the inningsThat the female players would participate. Yes you heard me right, the females who make up lesser than  20% of the total number of players per side would be given priority over the majority of the male players. Certainly just goes to show that in a country where it has always been Men who have been given priority in every sport here the opposite gender was entrusted with the responsibility to kick of the action which certainly speaks volumes of the character of the think tank behind the tournament. Duly paid were the motives of the think tank. All the players of their respective teams seemed to be enjoying themselves. Not Many of us saw the sight of the three players to kick of the action were surrounded by men fetching the ball for them. Irrespective of the number of wickets falling in the first over yet it would be only the three players who would complete the first over although there was a penalty imposed of a run deducted from the final total with every wicket that fell in the first over.

Honestly it was an Overwhelming sight to see the enthusiasm and energy the woman showed on the field. Some of them certainly gave good starts to their team both with the bat and the ball. Many of us doubted whether a tennis ball from 22 yards would reach the batsmen considering that most of them would have never bowled a ball or held a bat in their entire life. But to all our expectation they certainly did not disappoint. Infact performed prolifically to overhaul all our expectations. Seeing some of the fielding, bowling and batting efforts of the girls certainly taught us that these woman from the company are filled with unlimited potential waiting to be explored further. Undoubtedly the Men gave it their all. Played some competitive cricket and there were some exceptional performances to say the least. Some of the players showed real heart and character with their performances which lifted the spirits of the players and which certainly raised the bar of the standard of the quality of cricket being played. Very seldom do you come across people with such unique thought processes and that certainly deserves to be recognized and acknowledged. They certainly have changed the dynamics of the way cricket was being played and the message being conveyed was of unity, love and brotherhood among all. There were nine matches in all that took place and many more to go on the 3^rd of may where the winners of the ACL would emerge. Do join in to witness a different brand of cricket played from the young and outgoing youth, from the people of a company that are living symbols of the changing times of this day and age.

Click here to check all the scores of APL 2015

Article by Jerviis Ambosta

Professional Cricketer & Commentrator