The CNAT-Cricket special - Page 14

CC suffered their first defeat so far when SS managed to pull off a hard fought victory at home and break their unbeaten record. Rama won the toss and put CC in to bat.

Chanda & Hunda both got early breakthroughs, removing Sukarna & Ashwin1. Bhrigni and Nahusha came in, and batted hard, taking singles and twos, but boundaries were hard to come by. The 2 of them batted long and hard, and both made 50s. Ultimately, in the 16th over, Shumbha got a breakthrough, dismissing both of them.

Once he did, it was a procession. Sesha, Vishwakarma and Nishumbha all tried to force the pace of scoring, and all perished in the process. Shumbha ended up w/ a bowling figures of 5/20, and CC ended up w/ 142.

In response, CC bowled tight, and did a good job bogging down Rishi Garg and Sanandana. Both of them lasted a full 10 overs, but Taare and Bhrigni kept them tied down to 40. Finally, in the 10th over, Nishumbha removed both the openers, and that brought Vaishistha and Bhageeratha to the crease. Vaishistha tried to accelerate the scoring, but was caught by Nahusha at cover. Finally, Rama came in and hit some lusty shots, while being ably supported by Bhageerath at the other end. Nishumbha, Sesha & Murli did their best to get rid of him, but tended to concede too many wides & no-balls, which upset the bowling figures. However, in the 15th over, Rama took apart the bowling of Sesha, scoring 20 runs in that over. Bhageeratha fell next to Murli, but from then on, it was somewhat smooth, as Chanda joined Rama and did a good job rotating the strike. In the last ball of the 19th over, Murli removed Rama's wicket for 45.

The last over required 9 runs, and Hunda, who joined Chanda, managed 5 runs in the first 5 balls. That left 9 to win in the last ball, and Hunda managed to loft the ball, which was caught by Taare, but w/ one foot across the rope. The umpires ruled it a 4, and SS had squeaked through by the narrowest of margins.

Rama won the man of the match award for his 45. Nishumbha got the naya soch award for dismissing the openers w/ unique deliveries

Score summary

CC - 142/8

Nahusha - 54

Bhringni - 52

Shumbha - 5/20

SS - 143/6

Rama - 45

Bhageeratha - 35

Sanandana - 25

Nishumbha - 2/22

DD pulled off another win today when they stole an unlikely victory over VV in another exciting match. Indra won the toss and chose to bat, and took full advantage of the fact that VV was w/o Munda & Vibheeshan.

Going in to bat, Bhrigu & Sanaka opened the batting and took full advantage of the asura absence. VV opened the bowling w/ Narada & Varuna. Sanaka took advantage of this attack and hit Narada hard early - whipping 22 runs off an over. Aside from that, the scoring was smooth, and at the end of 9 overs, DD were 90 for no loss.

Following that, Daksha brought himself in to bowl, and immediately got 2 wickets. Sanaka got stumped, while Bhrigu was caught at the boundary by Vishnu-rishi. This brought Banvanal and Amatya to the crease. Daksha next introduced Vishnu-rishi at the other end, and got both of them out.

Indra then came in, and determined to play an anchor role. Gautanshatru joined him at the other end, and tried to hit out, but was again dismissed by Daksha, This brought Yamaraj to the crease. Indra & Yamaraj batted out the rest of the innings, and ended up w/ a big total of 162.

In response to that, VV too decided to take advantage of the absences of Mahishashur & Raktabheej, and opened the batting w/ Durvasa and Narada. Indra brought himself in to bowl in the 2nd over, and got Narada stumped. He then removed Durvasa in the 6th over, but not before the latter had made a lusty 35 runs.

Gautama & Kapila then came together, but Indra rotated all his bowlers so that neither could get a good handle on it. Both of them batted slowly and steadily up to over 16, but could manage to get the score to only a 100 by then. With 60 runs needed off the last 4 overs, Daksha came in and hit Indra for a couple of sixes, but soon got out. Once Daksha was gone, Yamaraj ran through the side and the VV resistance ended.

Yamaraj was the man of the match for both his quickfire 60 as well as taking 4/13. Indra got the naya soch award for the way he managed to tie down VV w/ his bowling changes.

DD - 162/7

Yamaraj - 60

Indra - 45

Sanaka - 38

Daksha - 3/44

VV - 140/10

Kapila - 42

Gautama - 41

Durvasa - 35

Yamaraj - 4/13

In a low scoring match for both sides, PP held its nerves as it pulled an unlikely but stunning victory over AA. Kartikeya won the toss and selected to bat on a surface that had plenty for the fast bowlers.

In the first over, Jalandhar removed both Agastya & Sanatkumar w/ the score on 1, and in the very next over, Ashwin2 & Shilpi were removed by Bhashmasura. This brought Lakshman & Kamadev to the crease. Knowing how good Lakshman was against pace bowling, Vidyunmali brought in Vasuki and Chandal, but they failed to make any impact. Lakshman and Kamadev put on 50 odd runs between them before Lakshman was run out by a brilliant direct hit by Jalandhar. Very soon, Vasuki struck and removed Kamadev, and PP was reeling at 62/6 at the end of 14 overs.

It didn't get any easier. Vidyunmali sent back Jalandhar and Bhashmasura, who made short work of the remaining batsmen. First, Jalandhar shattered Tarakasura's middle stump in one of the most beautiful deliveries seen so far. Bhashmasura then came back, but Kartikeya hit him for 20 runs in an over, sending him out of the attack. However, in his next over, Jalandhar's rampage continued. He removed Kamalaksh w/ a beautiful caught behind by Chakri, and in his next delivery, he had the next batsman plumb lbw, and was on a hat-trick. In his very next delivery, Jalandhar did a brilliant caught & bowled to dismiss Veerbhadra off his own bowling, and got his hat-trick. PP were all out for 92.

Any other team would have wilted having to defend such a low total, but Kartikeya took it head on. This time, he bowled the first over to dismiss Rishi Atri and Sanatkumar, while at the other end, Veerbhadra made short work of Bhashmasura and Chakri. Kartikeya then decided that like the asuras, he needed to save the bulk of his & Veerbhadra's overs for emergencies, so he brought in Tarakasura & Kamalaksh into the attack. Both of them were just as effective, and although Vidyunmali and Vasuki managed to put on 30 runs for the 5th wicket, they were really held in check. Finally, Kamalaksh had Vidyunmali caught by Kartikeya, while Tarakasura managed to get Vasuki lbw. At the end of 14 overs, AA were 45 for 6. Kartikeya then brought back Veerbhadra and himself. He went on to take 3 wickets, while Veerbhadra took the remaining 2. Jalandhar was the last man in and tried hitting out, but ended up being caught at the boundary w/ the team score on 90.

Jalandhar won the man of the match despite being on the losing side, due to his hatrick and his 6 wicket haul. Kartikeya got the naya soch award for the way he rotated his bowlers and defended such a low score.

Score summary

PP - 92/10

Lakshman - 28

Kamadev - 25

Jalandhar - 6/16

AA - 90/10

Vasuki - 25

Vidyunmali - 20

Jalandhar - 15

Kartikeya - 5/20

Sukhi: Thank you Vrish. Yeah, as you know, we had 3 new asuras who've been signed up by the teams following some random injuries. Utpal & Vidal, after serving suspension time in Yamalok, are back. Vidal has been snapped up by DD and Ugrasura, who was kicked out of AA for his indiscipline and rebelling against Jalandhar, was contacted by Sati and snapped up by GG.

However, it's in the CC camp, which has pulled off a few surprises on the field, that there have been more revolving doors. As we pointed out last week, CC had temporarily hired Asokasundari, but now, CC has signed on Vrinda as batting coach, and released Asokasundari to go back to GG, where she will be the batting coach. Also, CC has decided to strengthen its bowling by signing on Utpal.

In addition to all these developments, there have been 5 new additions to the side - Apasmar, Blueasura, Whiteasura, Redasura and Blackasura. Apasmar has been retained by AA, but the others have been snapped up. Redasura has been signed up by SS, Blueasura by PP, Whiteasura by BB and Blackasura by VV. As a result, each of these teams now has an extra asura.

To get an insight into them, I'm now joined by AA owner Shukracharya. Asurguru, tell us about these new entrants.

S: Well, to start w/ Apasmar - he's a very good wicket keeper, and we've not really had one in the side - Chakri is more of an utility player whom we've been using in that role. With Apasmar being brought in, Chakri will be back to his normal role, which is important given our losses to CC and PP. Apasmar is also a good batsman against spin bowling, which has been our Achilles' heel.

As for the others, well, I can't say what their franchises will do w/ them, but Utpal and Vidal are pacemen, although if DD can't play asuras in Amravati, I have no idea why they bothered bidding on Vidal. Ugrasura, who's joined GG, is a good batsman like Apasmar, particularly against spin bowling. The colored asuras - Redasura, Blackasura, Blueasura and Whiteasura are all-rounders, and would be useful for their teams to fit in an extra bowler or batsman, as they see fit.

Sukhi: Thank you, Asurguru. And that's the scoop, Vrish, on the new additions to all the teams.

V: Sukhi, thanks for getting us caught up w/ this. Also, any news about Parvati?

Sukhi: Well, the word from Ayodhya is that she's still at Kashi being treated for her memory loss. It's sad that she's had to miss such an exciting tournament so far.

V: Indeed it is. Thank you, Sukhi, for bringing us this report.

BB today pulled off a stunning win over GG at home, against all expectations. Both teams included their latest entrants - GG bringing in Ugrasura and BB Whiteasura to strengthen their batting.

Dadhichi won the toss and put GG in to bat. However, this time, he decided to open the bowling w/ Whiteasura, and that did have a surprise effect. With his first ball, Whiteasura removed Rishi Markandeya and 4 balls later, Shani too was gone.

Shilad then started to put on some resistance, ably supported by Vayu. Vayu hit some lusty shots and boundaries, but was removed the moment Dadhichi brought in Ravan. Dadhichi then brought in Dhoomralochan to remove Shilad, who made 35.

Nandi and debutant Ugrasura came to the crease, and Dadhichi brought back Ravan, who tormented Nandi and removed Ugrasura. However, Nataraja came in and looted 24 of Ravan's next over, and Nandi was calm again. Following that, Dadhichi then brought in Agni, who clean bowled Nandi. This brought Ganesh to the crease, and along w/ Nataraja, they batted, but couldn't put on much more than 125 on this pitch.

In reply, Dadhichi sent Ravan in to open w/ Kashyap. Nandi saw what a threat this was, and so sent in Mahakal and Tarakaksh to open the bowling. Mahakal removed Rishi Kashyap cheaply, but at the other end, Ravan hit 3 sixes and Tarakaksh was out of the attack. Nandi then decided that the way to beat BB would be to make Ravan run out of partners. Nandi got the wicket of Angira in the next over, but Dadhichi figured out their plans, and told Ravan that he'd just rotate the strike, giving it all to him, and let Ravan do the hitting. Ravan hit every bowler - Ugrasura, Vayu, Nandi & Tarakaksh heavily, while Dadhichi ensured that Ravan didn't have to face Mahakal. However, Dadhichi got seriously injured in his rib cage and was out of the match for the season, due to injury, and Ravan became the captain of BB. Dhoomralochan joined Ravan, and they saw BB to a fine victory.

Ravan got the man of the match for his unbeaten 74, while Whiteasura got the Naya Soch award for first 2 wickets in his first over.

Score summary

GG - 125/6

Nataraj - 45

Ganesh - 30

Ravan - 2/28

BB - 126/2

Ravan - 74*

Dhoomralochan - 28*

Mahakal - 2/12

Yes... Ganesh has come under the scanner for his unorthodox fielding techniques. Our reporter Tarakari has more news

Tarakari: While we have all heard and seen spectacular catches, you will agree that most have been taken with two hands.

However GG's youngest player Ganesh has come under the scanner for his "teesra" i.e third hand...no...sorry ..er... third appendage... I mean -his trunk- which is offering him unfair advantage.

In the recent match against PP (which the Ganas won) Ganesh had almost dropped the ball which he had caught with his hands, but managed to scoop it with his trunk before it fell on the ground.

More disturbing is his technique while batting. While facing a ball, he first catches it with his trunk and then gently tosses it above, before hitting it to the boundary. At other times, he has been noticed to suck the ball just after it has been delivered and then hitting it conveniently

The PP players have lodged an official protest, seeking a ban on Ganesh using his trunk while playing. Ganesh remained unavailable for comment.