Score Sheet of Redbirds vs. Peoria XI

Click here to view the detailed score sheet of the match that was played on June 10, 2007 between ISU Redbirds and Peoria XI

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=psFoGOd8FJj0CuAQgcphIDA

Rain rules

With both Rapchiks and the Rebirds geared to go up against each other in a very anticipated encounter, it was the other 'R' that ruled the day - Rain. With heavy overnight rains the Bloomington ground was damp and pitch was soaked. It would take about a couple of hours of sunlight to dry up the pitch atleast, but it looked like sun was on a vacation (is that possible??..where would sun go for its vacation). The bowlers run-up leading up to the wickets was hosting a puddle of water that could prevent the best of the bowlers from delivering.

Without any hope of cricket being played for the day, a few members of the two teams met at the venue and consequently decided that the match will be rescheduled for another day, possibly after July 4.

The Redbirds face off with the knights on June 30th. Watch this space for more.

Preview: ISU Redbirds vs. Rapchiks

No tournament is complete without the emergence of a young team that comes in and grabs everyone's attention. ISU Redbirds is such a team that has so far made a mark for itself in the CICA tournament. With back-to-back wins, the Redbirds are looking as a strong and cohesive unit brimming with zest and determination. It is the unsatiated desire to win and the team chemistry that has worked for the the Redbirds giving them positive and proven results. With a restricted albeit commendably strong and fierce bowling attack, the Redbirds will be rearing to restrict the Rapchiks' run flow. A modest batting line up where a lot of players have contributed to the victories in the previous games, will give the Redbirds a serious chance of setting an imposing target.

Rapchiks, on the other hand is a team that has earned quite a reputation in the CICA tournament. They earned the title of runners-up in 2006 losing to Howitzers. Having made the highest score (165/6 in 16 overs) by any team in this tournament so far, Rapchiks have amassed an intimidating run rate and would like to make history repeat itself this weekend with a fresh team.

Granted that the weather is not going to play spoil sport (the weekend forecast looks disappointing here in Central Illinois), this will be one the very closely watched and interesting encounters so far in the tournament. An encounter that will set precedents regardless of the outcome. If the Redbirds win, it will be a glorious example of how the favorites bite the dust and the dark horses steal the glory. If the Rapchiks win (really??), it will be another feather in their hat and testament of their reputation.

Cricket has peculiar habit of making the prognosticators take a back seat almost always and question their logic or lack of it. Numerous scoresheets reveal situations where the mighty have fallen and the rookies have risen. So without making any predictions at this stage of the tournament the only words that come to my mouth (or fingers for those of you who are pedantic) are "LET THE GAMES BEGIN".

Deja Vu - The match against BPUD

Click Here - A few pictures from the match

The match against BPUD (I still believe that it means Bloomington Peoria United Desis) was pretty much a déjà vu experience of our match against Peoria XI. The Redbirds were buckled down to go in and bat with intentions of scoring big in order to boost the net run rate (and escape the scorching heat in the initial hours of the play). As I said, it was a day filled with all sorts of déjà vu experiences. The Redbirds lost the toss again and BPUD elected to bat. In hindsight now, it was probably a good toss to lose.

After a few minutes of grunting and groaning from the Redbirds and some strong cheering for the batsmen from BPUD, the match was all set to get underway. The third delivery of the day set the tone for the rest of the match when Kedar sent the off stump of the captain wheeling back about six feet behind the wicket keeper. Vinod was given the ball for the second over and he opened his account with a rising delivery that was pitched slightly fuller from length on the off stump which the batsman hesitantly fended and the ball rose to be caught by Kedar at mid-off. After a couple more tight overs from the opening pair, the first bowling change came in the form of the skipper, Dheeraj in the fifth over of the innings.

Dheeraj kept it tight and opened his account as well when the batsman edged a good length delivery to the keeper. By now it was a tradition to gain a wicket in the first over for every bowler. The ball was then given to Imran, who had picked a very tidy three wickets against the Peoria XI. After a first ball single, the second ball saw an amazing throw from Varun, an almost direct hit that sent the BPUD opener back to his groupies. A couple of deliveries later, things were back to normal, when the batsman edged a full length delivery back to the keeper and now all the bowlers had consumed their victims in their opening over. By the end of the sixth over BPUD found themselves wrecked losing 5 wickets for a meager 18 runs.

Half way through the innings (after 8 overs) things weren’t looking quite well for BPUD who were at 32 for the loss of 5 wickets. After some middle order hitting, BPUD (and probably the Redbirds as well) were starting to look at a big score by the thirteenth over, but the Redbirds had other plans. Vinod broke the 47 run partnership in the twelfth over, when he trapped the batsman plum with his knee down (trying to play a cheeky shot down to fine leg) infront of the middle stump. Dheeraj opened the thirteenth over with a ball that rose sharply after landing slightly short of length and took an inside edge to the keeper (who wasn’t having the best day behind the stumps). Imran came in the next over to add a couple more caught-behinds to his tally and Vinod cleaned up the innings in the penultimate over with another leg before. Another reason for déjà vu – BPUD lost their first ten wickets for a paltry eighteen runs and their final five for an even miserly ten runs. The nervy forty-seven partnership between Pushkaraj and Praveen saved the day for BPUD, who set a target of 76 for the Redbirds (another experience of déjà vu).

Having chased an uncanny similar target a week ago, the Redbirds again saw their innings start lacking the confidence that they would like to see in their opening pair. Ramakanth (RK) was off to another shaky start and was given out under extremely unfortunate circumstances (blame it on the anointed lords of the field beknownst as the umpires). The next over saw the dismissal of the captain after which Varun and Madhav steadied the innings with a decent and much required 17 run partnership. Varun fell in precisely the same manner as his last game when attempted to sky a low full toss which just ended up in the hands of the fielder planted on deep mid-wicket. After that Madhav was back in the cage after making the cardinal mistake of playing across the line to a delivery that was pitched full and straight.

Kedar and Vinod provided a solid partnership with 30 run stand for the fifth wicket and put the Redbirds in sight of victory. However, the Redbirds lost three quick wickets and everything appeared so far out of reach with the scorecard reading 68 for 7. With seven runs required from two overs, it was still an achievable target. Imran tied the scores up when he sent the ball out of the ground sailing over the square leg boundary. The next ball was pitched as a full toss which was sent back to fine leg boundary and Redbirds had done it once again.

It was a match where the balance kept swinging from one end to the other all the way, but at the end of the day, the Redbirds did dominate BPUD with some fine bowling and key partnerships in the middle. Except for a few dropped chances and a couple of poor shots aided with some terrible umpiring decisions, the Redbirds would have cruised through the match.

Having lost both the opening matches, BPUD find themselves placed in a tough spot now. The Redbirds are riding high on their back-to-back victories and will face a tough challenge next week when they face-off with Rapchiks (a team full of chiks who rap??), a team that has earned a notorious reputation in the tournament and were also the runner’s up in 2006. At the end of the day, the Redbirds will be very satisfied with the over all performance of the team. Vinod was rightfully declared the man- of the match, for his crucial 3 wickets and invaluable 24 runs. Except for the last two balls, the match was reminiscent of the Redbirds vs. Peoria XI match and hopefully the Redbirds won't experience as many déjà vu in the following games, unless ofcourse it involves the sweet victories.