SPT Tournament 2013 - The Knockout Stages

Team Dell-Wyse finishes the tournament unbeaten

Quarter-Final : It was the time for the quarter-finals, scheduled in the evening at 430 PM against Motorola. Almost 12 of us turned up on the ground by 3 PM. For all of us Cricket lovers, it was kind of a dilemma, we had to choose between, sitting at home and watching the epic Indo-Pak clash in the champions trophy and coming to the ground to support/play for Dell Wyse. All of us rightly chose the later, winning the quarters and progressing to the semis meant a lot to us.

 

We won the toss, and had no hesitation in chasing. All of us bowled well, taking wickets at regular intervals, and restricting the opposition to just 94. Then, it was a mere cake walk for our in-form batsmen. After, a MAX hit by Vijay and a bright start, the match was completed well within the 10 overs by our batting side, led by Pradeep. He was awarded the man-of-the-match for his all-round performance and we progressed to the semis.

Match Summary
Motorola      :  94 all out ( 11 Overs )
Dell-Wyse   :  95-2 ( 8.2 Overs )
Dell Wyse Win by 6 Wickets

Semi-Final : Today, was the big day, the semi-finals, we were among the top 4 teams of the tournament of 16 teams. This match was scheduled to begin at 1 PM, against a company called Grameen-Koota, they had just won 1 match so far, they had made it into the knockouts by run-rate, and got a walk-over in the quarters. We won the toss and elected to field first. It was a very windy day, which makes a big difference in tennis ball cricket. You ball on the off-stump and the ball goes miles down the leg. Somehow, adjusting the line and length, and bowling the best we could in the conditions, we managed to stop the score at 144-4 in 12 Overs.

It was an innings of high drama and action, I (Prasad) had to leave the field due to a sprained ankle, which got Raveendra in the field. Then in the 12th over, the batsman hit the ball high n the air and both Pradeep and Raveendra went for the catch at extra-cover region. Pradeep was running-in from deep cover, Raveendra from mid-off. Both dived in and had a collision, with Pradeep's feet hitting Raveendra's forehead. Raveendra was unconscious for a few minutes, and Pradeep had injured his leg. 

Now, after a dramatic 1st Innings it was time to chase 144 n 12 Overs. Sajith and Vijay began cautiously, scoring about 22 in 3 Overs. Sajith got out, which brought in Tushar, both of them went blitzkrieg, getting the score to 65 n 6 Overs. Then Vijay was dismissed followed by Santhosh, and the scorecard was motored to 110 in 10 Overs. Tushar was dismissed in the 11th Over, with 22 required and I(Prasad) came to face the last ball of the 11th Over. The ball went to deep midwicket and a single was denied by Pradeep, as he was confident of getting all those runs in the last over. Their captain decided to bowl the last over. The first ball, went for a MAX-6, which meant 12 runs and we needed 9 of 5 balls, Then, the next ball went sailing over the mid-wicket boundary for a Six. Now, it was 3 Runs required of 4 balls. Looked like, we were into the Finals, after the heroics of Pradeep. Then the late twist-of-fate took place, next two balls were well-bowled dot balls. Now, it was down to 3 Runs of 2 Balls. Pradeep struck the ball to mid-wicket and tried to get a quick 2 and Pradeep was run-out whilst taking the second. Now, Luv had to face the last ball and 2 runs were required. He hadn't batted ever before in the tournament and was under tremendous pressure, the wind was blowing at it full pace and the bowler bowled a fullish delivery outside off,  he had a wild swing at the ball, it missed and went to the wicket-keeper, who had a shy at the stumps at the keeper's end. It missed and went to the bowler, we had completed 1 Run by now and we madly sprinted  for a double, and Luv was run-out at the Keeper's end, the scorecard stood at 144-6.

Now, the captains, umpires and the organizers got together and initially decided to have a super- over decider. But, somehow, the opposition came up with the rulebook, stating that there is no mention of Super-Over , which is usually the case with Knockout matches. The team, that had lost the least number of wickets must be declared the winners and would progress to the Final. Unfortunately, we had to go by the rules and it meant curtains for us. We had to live with the nightmares of the last ball tie, until the next tourney. We now know how the South-African Cricket team felt like. Hopefully we can wash away this memory by winning a tournament in the coming days. The pain of the injured leg wasn’t anything close to the pain of coming so near, yet being so far from the trophy we were all trying to get our hands on!!

Match Summary
Grameen-Koota  : 144-4 ( 12 Overs )
Dell-Wyse             : 144-6 ( 12 Overs )
Match Tied ( Grameen-Koota progress to the Final, based on lesser wickets lost )

We had managed to win all the battles, but lost the War. Still, we could go out holding our heads high, and knowing that we had gone down fighting. Another, super exciting Sunday, but this time not the result we all liked. But, One thing is guaranteed like the Terminator “We’ll be back”, definitely more  stronger and wiser for the future tournaments!!

SPT Cricket Tournament 2013

TEAM DELL-WYSE STORMS INTO THE KNOCKOUTS

This tournament was an entirely different experience for team as a whole. There was a pleasant change. Finally, there was healthy competition among the squad to get into the playing team. It wasn’t like the past tourney’s where you just turn up and get a bowl or a bat. You had to make hay of every little chances. It was definitely more exciting and challenging, bit like our very own Wyse turning into Dell Wyse. There was some extra feeling of accountability and responsibility. Everyone of us were aware of our roles, this time it wasn’t about an individual performance or personal heroics, but winning as a team, for the greater cause.

Thanks to the internal Cricket league in Dell-Wyse, we had a good pool to pick from. So, after a lot practice sessions and painful filtering, we decided to go with the following team to the tournament - Ela, Pradeep, Santhosh Kanan, Tushar, Sajith, Gireesh, Raveendra, Baiju, Tamil, Luv, Narayan, Raghunandan, Vijay and myself.

The likes of Ponting and Tendulkar sitting out of the team, leading to the ultimate victory of Mumbai Indians in the recent IPL were fresh in our memories. We had seen enough of Sachin’s career and umpteen amount of interviews, where it was made clear to us that ‘ You play for the name in-front of your jersey, and the name at the back of it, will echo forever! ‘  Expectedly, some of us had to be the men the team deserved, but not needed, we had to be the Dark Knights!!

 

The tournament format was such that, we would be playing 3 matches in a day, each of 12 Overs. All of us reached the ground the SPT grounds by 9:15 AM, had their famous 1-vada only breakfast and headed to play the first match.

Match-1: First match was against EFI. We won the toss and elected to field first. We restricted them to 115 n 12 Overs. Then, the strong batting line up led by Tushar, chased down the target in just 9.1 Overs, earning us the bonus point.

Match Summary
EFI - 115 all out (12)
Dell WYSE 121/4 (9.1) ,
Dell WYSE won by 3 wickets ,
MOM - Tushar for 34 runs & 1 wicket

Match-2: Without any break, we had our 2nd match against TCS. Again, we won the toss and we elected to field first. We restricted them to 108. Due to some good bowling and some tiredness from the previous match, we were in a tough position at 35 runs required from 2 Overs, with Tushar unfortunately run out in the beginning of the innings. This format had a wildcard option, or you can say a boon in our case, we had to sacrifice 10 runs and an already dismissed batsman can come out to bat again after the dismissal of 4 or more wickets. So, making the full use of this wildcard, which turned out to be a masterstroke, we sent Tushar to bat again. The target was revised to 44 runs of 17 balls.

After a good penultimate over, we required 23 of 6 Balls. Narayan glanced the first ball to 4 and the next ball the strike was rotated back to the go-to man, the man who had all kinds of pressure from opposition as well as our own team to delivery a boundary, and he delivered and delivered n style. Sent the ball right through the MAX zone flag posts, which meant the runs scored would be doubled! The target now reduced to 6 runs of 3 Balls, this was clinically finished with a four and 2 singles. We had clenched a victory from the jaws of defeat!

The man of the match was awarded to Sajith for a good bowling performance and stabling the batting in the middle overs.

Match Summary
TCS - 108 all out (12)
Dell WYSE 109/5 (12)
Dell WYSE won by 2 wickets
MOM - Sajith for 52 runs & 1 wicket

Match-3: After a memorable match we had a good lunch break, and now with a reputation as great chasers and confidence sky-high, we were off to face the former champions, Infinite in the final match. The had kicked us out of the tournaments previously, so a bit of vengeance was in the heart. Due to overcast conditions and time constraints , it was reduced to a 10 over per side game. We lost the toss and were asked to bat. We had a new combo of openers this time, it was Sajith and Gireesh, they gave us the best possible start, belting each and every ball to all corners of the ground. Gireesh was at his best, middling just about everything and sending not only loose balls, but even some good deliveries out of the fence! We ended up setting up a Target of 110 in 10 overs, which was defended easily by some excellent catching and good bowling, restricting them to just 65 and gaining a bonus point once again. The man of the match was awarded to Girish.

Match Summary
Dell WYSE 109/7 (9.3)
INFINITE 65 all out (7.2)
Dell WYSE won by 44 runs
MOM - Girish for 51 runs

We did have a Super-Sunday, where we enjoyed each and every moment. I'm sure each and every one of us, on and off the field cherished the moments both the ups and downs, to the fullest!

This is how the group table reads :)

In two weeks time we'll be playing the knockouts, and this time probably as the table toppers and maybe the favorites!