Engineers end a long drought at YC&AC

Dinesh Singh scores his maiden century

By Sanjeeb Sahoo

In a fantastic all round display we managed to beat YC&C in an exciting high scoring game. Engineers captain Sanjeeb called the toss right this time and elected to bat first. Bobby was promoted to open with Santosh in the absence of regular openers. YC&AC got 2 quick breakthroughs via run outs, Santosh in the 2nd over misjudged a direct throw and then in the 6th over Bobby sacrificed his wicket for Dinesh in a terrible mix up. Bobby's sacrifice did not go waste though as Dinesh went on to score a fantastic century. Sanjeeb and Dinesh steadied the innings for the 3rd wicket and added about 70 runs, Dinesh doing bulk of the scoring. Then Vezly and Dinesh for the 5th wicket added 115 runs to put the Engineers on top. Towards the end a blistering 51 not-out, including a last ball 6 from Anurag, took the Engineers past 300.

Chasing a mammoth total YC&AC started in a steady fashion. Good pace bowling by Ashok and Mohan meant that they had to take risks to meet the asking rate. Ashok got through Nick's defense in his 3rd over to give the Engineers the much needed quick breakthrough. Steve and Mark batted well and put up 50 runs for the 2nd wicket. The game was on balance at that point. But a brilliant fielding at point by Santosh ran Mark out and the momentum started swinging towards the Engineers. Then a good catch at cover by Ashok got rid of the dangerous looking Steve to put the Engineers on top, Anurag being the bowler in this case. Prashant(59) and Farhan(26) batted well for some time and gave the Engineers some anxious moments but the growing asking rate got the better of both batsmen. Anurag took a superb catch at long-on to get rid of Farhan and Vezley bowled a beautiful yorker to knock Prashant's middle stump out of the ground. Once Prashant was out it was just a matter of time before the Engineers became victorious. Vezly bowling his 7th over got rid of the 9 and 10th wicket in 2 consecutive deliveries to get YCAC all out within the 40 over.

It was a disciplined effort at the field by us, we took some fantastic catches, caused run outs. Even though we dropped some catches was still a far better performance than the previous outing against the same opposition. I must mention that Anurag and Sagar took two outstanding catches while yours truly dropped a simple one ;). In the end we had a drink with YCAC and thanked them for inviting us to play in their fantastic facility, and wished well to Neil who was playing his penultimate game in Japan and the last one against the Engineers. We then marched home with the satisfaction of beating YCAC which had remained as a dream for few years now.

Brief scores:
IECC 302/6 (40 overs). Dinesh Singh 114(14x4, 3X6), Anurag Singh 51 (7X4, 2X6), Vezly Gracies 43(5X4, 1X6), Prashant Kale 3/49.
YC&AC 237/10 (37 overs). Prahsnat Kale 59, Cmitha 40*, Vezly Gracies 4/35.

YC&AC storms into PFC final

Engineers continue their wayward batting

By Vijeder Khatri

It was the same story for Engineers as the previous encounter between the two teams. Same opposition batsman hitting a century and then every Engineer eager to go back to pavilion made the story exactly same and boring. This time we encountered a new Flicx pitch and colorful astro turf outfield at the YC&AC. It was a lovely colorful ground to have a cricket match. Engineers were high on confidence following their fighting win in the last match against the Indian Tigers. All guys were pretty much on time and match started at 11:10 AM with Engineers were asked to field first after losing the toss. Engineers opened bowling with Biju Paul and Ashok Kumar. Both bowled a tidy spell with a lovely line and length that made the YC&AC openers difficult to rotate the strike. Engineers were pretty happy about chipping 2 precious wickets inside 10 overs for just 31 runs. Engineers had their plan well executed for all batsmen until the wicket of YC&AC skipper, Kamran Ali, who was out to a frustrated shot after the Engineers blocked all his scoring areas. YC&AC 40 odd runs for the loss of 2 wickets. But then enter Prashant Kale, the most valuable batsman of YC&AC. We all knew we have to get him out as early as possible to restrict YCAC to a moderate total. Dinesh had a perfect plan to get him out and it would have worked to perfection if yours truly had not have been wondering about something and not looking at the playinf field standing at long-off. I was feeling guilty(I'll buy everyone a beer!) and I tried to repair the non-repairable damage by running hard and fielding well but my team-mates weren't impressed. Anyway Dinesh created one more chance when Prashant was at 40, this time to mid-on to Bikash but he also fumbled the precious chance even through he held a great catch earlier to get the YCAC captain out. On the other end Riaz, the YC&AC opener was batting beautifully with patience and occasionally hitting the odd boundaries but finally got out to Sanjeeb's bowling at 40. At drinks break after 20 overs YC&AC was at 88 for loss of 2 wickets. But then some violent hitting by Kale (124) and some useful knock from other batsmen YA&CA set a target of 256 for the Engineers to chase with the help of some dropped catches to win the Pacific Friendship Cup Semifinal.

As the outfield was pretty fast and ball was nicely coming on to bat, we were pretty confident to make a successful chase if we bat full overs. After having a 25-30 mini lunch break Engineers started the chase with Atul and Santosh but to be disappointed soon with the score reading 15/2. Skipper Kamran started the slide when he trapped Atul plumb in front in the 3rd over of the innings. Yours truly was sent to bat in at 1-down position but was soon bowled by a lovely in swinging delivery from Farhan, which clipped the off stump bail. With the 'Keeper standing up to the stumps, the main umpire and batsmen had some doubt about whether it was bowled or stumped but the square leg umpire confirmed that it was clean bowled.

Ashok and Sanjeeb started sensibly to repair the damage, playing cautiously but soon Sanjeeb was out to Neil's inviting delivery to give a simple catch at mid-on. By Now the Engineers had lost 4 batsmen for score of 38. As soon as some partnership was building between Ashok and Dinesh, Ashok (16) was given out LBW as he left a straight-forward delivery off Neil's spin bowling. Now Dinesh and Raju were sailing the drowning boat to give the chase some direction. Raju entertained the crowd fully by hitting three huge sixes, one of those almost landing in the swimming pool. But soon Dinesh was left alone on the pitch when he tried to cut a wide delivery for six to shortest part of the boundary but only succeeded in gaving simple catch at point which made score line 82/5. Soon other batsman followed the same pattern with the Engineers getting all out for 112 in 24 overs. This was yet another disappointing batting performance by the Engineers. "Catches win Matches" and we made it true again where as the YC&AC caught all of the chances that came their way in sharp contrast to us.

View photos and score card at http://iecc-japan.blogspot.com/

Brief scores:
YC&AC 255/7 in 40 overs , Prashant Kale 129, Ashok 3/31, Raju 3/39
IECC 112(24 overs). Raju 24, Dinesh 24, Riaz 3/8

Engineers trump Tigers

Escape an embarrassment with a huge margin

By Biju Paul

When duty called, only two Engineers answered it and answered it in style. It was almost going to be a one-sided match (in favour of the opposition though) what with only 8 Engineers available until as late as less than 12 hours before the match but thanks to some last minute work by the captain, even forcing one of the Engineers to take absence from work to play, Engineers managed to get an eleven. After blowing their chances for a KCL semi-final berth by irresponsible bating against the Kytes the previous week, Engineers this time arrived Shizuoka with hope of an easy win against the Indian Tigers.

Nursing hopes of posting an imposing total by batting out all 40 overs, skipper elected to bat first after winning the toss but as it turned out the hopes turned into embarrassment within the first 30 minutes of the play.  Tigers' opening bowler Anil trapped Engineers' open bat, Atul Joshi, in front of the wicket in the 2nd ball and set off  the damage. In his second over Santosh drove one into the hands of Rajeev, who was stationed at the cover. The batsman stayed at the crease telling the umpire that the fielder might have grounded the ball but the umpire rightly disagreed. It was a great catch indeed taken just centimeters above the ground. But from the other end skipper Udayaraj was leaking runs and he replaced himself with Bala which turned out to be a smart move. Bobby, The Wall, went on to flick a straight delivery off Bala but was clean bowled. Engineers 3/27 in 4.2 overs. No. 4 Dinesh pushed the score with some beautiful pulls and drives to the fence but he too fell to Anil- Rajeev combination with Rajeev producing yet another fantastic catch.  Skipper Sanjeeb got off the mark with a flick, the exact same shot Bobby tried off the same bowler but he too fell two balls later to Anil, his 2nd victim in the same over and 4th over all. Engineers 35/6 in 6 overs. The Anil-Bala bowling combination damaged any hope of recovery, or so it seemed, for the Engineers with Bala clean bowling Silvester for naught. Engineers 35/6 in 6.2 overs.

The way out of the hole the Engineers dug for themselves was to bat out and last at least 20 overs so a few nudges and pushes and then hope for the greatest friend under these circumstances, Mr. Extras, to come to their help. Targets were soon revised and a score of 120 was thought to be reachable, not really defendable. However, the pair at the crease was the most dangerous of the Engineers line-up. The calm and composed Sidde Raju and the teen-aged Anurag with fire and brimstone. While the Tigers were relishing an opportunity of a rare and long awaited victory, the batsmen bid their time to see off the bowlers. After withstanding the probing spells from Anil and Bala, Anurag teed off with élan once the second-stringers came on who were palpably ineffective. The duo took the sore past 100, and continued with poise and elegance bringing smiles and cheers to the Engineers camp. Raju hit the first 6 of the innings, a ferocious one that was, over midwicket, off Rajeev, with the ball landing in the river, an occasion Bobby used to take an anticipatory bail - in case things went wrong still - saying "this will save our face even if we lose this match". Tigers tried every bowler available to them but the duo at the crease was not willing to let the advantage slip. They batted almost like a conjugal couple, clearly understanding the one at the other end. Raju did give a chance, after reaching his 50, but skipper Udayaraj, standing at mid-off spilled a relatively easy one. By then the horse had bolted the stable anyway. The rest was all clean hitting, too clean for Tigers' comfort. Raju departed first after scoring 66(4x4, 5x6) with the score at 186, contributing to a massive 151 runs partnership in 21 overs, which took the match out of the reach of the opposition. Newbie, Merwin Frank, replaced him but lasted only a few balls as he was cleaned up by Bala, returning for his second spell, handing him his 3rd wicket. But in the span of those few balls, Anurag had helped another cameo partnership of 25 runs. Having lasted 30+ overs, Anurag stepped up the attack but fell soon to Udayaraj for 76(12x4, 1x6). After the fall of these two, Engineers didn't trouble the Tigers much as the innings folded up in the 36th over when Masood pulled Udayaraj but succeeded only in sending the ball up in the air, with keeper completing the formality.

Having been in similar situations before, Engineers knew exactly how Tigers would have had their lunch. Tigers started their chase at 3:20pm with Anil NT and skipper Udayaraj, both former Engineers, opening the innings. Opening the bowling along with this writer, Dinesh did early damage in a long spell of 7 overs, claiming 3 wickets, almost as if to make up for his failure with the bat. With a few quick wickets, but not the way Engineers batted, soon the resistance of Tigers fizzled out. The sights of Raju and Anurag coming at them again would not have been pleasing at all. Anurag bowled with fire in his belly and sent in deliveries with fierce pace which batsmen could only poke at. Raju's slow run up deceived the pace he generated and both claimed two wickets each. With match almost in the kitty, skipper threw the ball to Merwin, who was full of beans, bubbling around and Masood. An expensive 1st over from Merwin followed with a c&b wicket of the opener Anil(20). Masood's over too produced a wicket when Gijo lofted one over the head of the bowler but this writer running some 30 yards from long off, defied every fielder's expectation of a dropped catch, held on to one. Engineers soon ended the Tigers' innings in the 27th over for 119 runs.

The significance of the partnership Raju and Anurag built can only be gauged when one looks at the score card. The next highest score was 11 by Dinesh, besides the eternal friend of every team, Mr. Extras(42). More than the sum total of this partnership, or the intrinsic value it brought in, it was the way they tore the attack into smithereens which must have destroyed the Tigers' morale. It has been long since the Engineers has taken the attack to the opposition in such strident fashion but it still leaves the Engineers with a gaping hole(The Wall not withstanding) at the top with successive batting failures which results losing matches that should have been won.

To be fair to the Tigers, their fielding great and they played with the same enthusiasm as they started the innings. They just missed some of their bowlers, who could have helped reduce the damage Raju and Anurag caused.

View photos and score card at http://iecc-japan.blogspot.com/

Brief scores:
IECC 231(35.3 overs). Sidde Raju 66, Anurag Singh 75. Anil Nair 4/19. Bala S 3/28
Tigers 119 (26.5 overs). Dinesh Sing 3/28.

Engineers kick-off their KCL campaign with a strong show

Skipper's all round performance seals the match

By Anurag Singh

The engineers headed off to s\Shizuoka early morning to play their first game against Nagoya. With Bobby 'Sobers' (he has given up booze, believe me) behind the wheel, as expected, we reached the ground a good a good thirty minutes early. The Nagoyans had already laid down the pitch by then, and the venerable Robert-Gills Martineau, probably the only lively French human being on earth as the umpire for the game, was trimming the grass. The weather was perfect for a nice cricket game and it did turn out to be a good one. Sanjeeb, the Chaser(?), won the toss and decided to field first, no surprises there. The captain gave the new ball to Vimal and Anurag. Vimal started the proceedings from the bridge end with his off spinners and got the opening batsmen trapped in front on his first legal delivery. He bowled with great accuracy and had batsmen in trouble all the while. He got another success after a couple of overs as he trapped the opposition team's captain Saqib in front of the wicket. Anurag was denied a wicket because of a dropped catch in his first over but after that he produced no chances. He also bowled a few wides, although some of them were pretty harsh decisions, so the bowler says. After the first ten overs the captain threw the ball to Dinesh while he himself joined from the other end. They bowled great in tandem and kept troubling the batsmen every now and again. Both of them bowled with great accuracy, giving very few wides and asked a lot of questions. Sanjeeb soon got rid of both settled batsmen, Raja and Shehenshah. The latter was caught beautifully by Dinesh at first slip. After the drinks break the captain called back Vimal for the second spell and he responded by disturbing Ali's timber with a beautiful flighted delivery. Dinesh also got into the act by getting rid of Gul and Butt. And later, Raju and Anurag cleared the tail by picking one wicket each, ensuring no comeback from the Nagoya batsmen unlike previous games. The Nagoyans were bundled out for 167 in 30 odd overs, with extras being the highest scorer at 46. There were a few dropped chances but the ground fielding was of pretty good quality. There were some very good diving efforts by Javed, Masood Jholi and Dinesh. Sobers was initially a bit rusty behind the stumps but changed back to his usual agile self later in the game. He managed to pull off a blinder off Dinesh's bowling which, alas, was turned down by the umpire. All the other fielders did a good job too. Vimal and Viswa opened the batting for the engineers and were going slow and steady. Vimal looked in good touch as he played a spanking straight drive which almost took away RGM's head with it. But he soon fell for a rash shot, scooping the ball in the gully region. Vijender walked in to replace him. Both the batsmen played some good shots but were unable to find gaps through the packed off side field. And they both fell in succession to some caught behind decisions, which left the engineers at 37 for 3. In walked Raju and Dinesh to replace them. Raju was his usual aggressive self as he hit a big six over over the long leg region, but soon fell to Hasrat trying to smack him over his head(too aggressive maybe). Dinesh on the other hand, played magnificently giving no chances to the opposition. He cracked a couple of spanking back foot drives through cover off Shaheen, their premier bowler. Hasrat picked up his 4th wicket in the form of Anurag who had a brief partnership with Dinesh and then 5th on the next ball as he trapped Javed in front of the wicket. In walked Sanjeeb, who along with Dinesh steadied the innings. Together, they piled up 47 runs for the 8th wicket. Dinesh's wicket was probably the most dramatic and controversial one(believe me there were others). After defending the ball, he got out of the crease to pick up the ball and give it to the keeper, but the keeper purposely outran him and then threw the ball on the stumps, before he could get back. The Nagoyans started appealing and Vijender (Harish Chandra), the leg umpire, had no option but to raise his finger. The decision was correct but was it the correct sportsmanship? Jholi walked in after the whole drama and played sensibly along with Sanjeeb. They both played good shots, aggressive when necessary and took Engineers home. The chase may not have been convincing but still a win is a win. Great way to begin this years KCL campaign.

P.S. If you don't like the nicknames you got, I can think of some better ones :)

Brief scores:
Nagoya 166(29.5 overs). Shahensha Hussain 34, V Vikrant 3/40, S Sahoo 3/28.
IECC 169/8 (33 overs). S Sahoo 41*, Hasrat Ali 4/41.   Scorecard