Winner's Cup Finally

A year long of hard work and continuous improvements in both our individual and team game, handed us our first trophy. The win has come to us in the Lawson Memorial Cup. Now that we have reached the top, our focus should be on how we can stay at the top, which definitely would involve taking our game to the next level.

The morning started as planned as we all came early to the ground and practiced our fielding, bowling and batting, which always proves to be good for our game. Before the toss there was a bit of confusion as to whether we should bat or bowl first, with both points of view holding some weight. Wicky won the toss and went with his instinct of bowling first. Anyways all of us knew that we have come too far to rely on the toss.

Playing a 35 over match was a bit of concern for most of us, since for most of us it was for the first time. But it turned out well. Considering the practice session we had in the beginning and the extra bowling Anees Bhai and I did before the match to warm up, I think we can handle 35 overs in the future as well.

The finals was with Mazda company and they had a strong young team. We had played Mazda twice before and hence knew a bit about them. Their openers were quite lethal and strong and had the ability to go at around 15 runs an opener. Zartab was the most aggressive one, while Tanveer (their captain) wasn't too bad either. I had planned to keep the bowl up around thigh height and to swing the ball into them, since I remembered that they were not that good on the leg side. My plan didn't get me a wicket, but kept them under check. I went for 20 runs in my first 5 overs. Anees Bhai was good as well but the bowls he bowled under Zartab's bat went for huge sixes, and hence reduced the pressure on them. Anees Bhai's one over was particularly good, where he bowled short to Zartab and exposed his weakness to the shorter deliveries. Zartab's footwork impressed me the most as whenever he came out of the crease, he managed to keep his balance and bring the ball under his bat.

Wicky came first change and bowled well but went for a few runs. Eventually he came round the wicket to cover Zartab's swing. This turned out to be a good move as Zartab continued to swing his bat, but just manage to send a catch to me at mid on. Basharat accounted for Tanveer as he brought one into him, which he tried to late cut. The ball came in and hit the off stump. The great thing was that we showed resilience in our bowling and kept on throwing variety at their batsmen and usually they succumbed to it.

Nisar was exceptional in his spin bowling. The way he controlled the flight and turn, I didn't know how any batsman could hit him while staying in the crease. Mazda's thoughtless hitting amazed me a bit. None of their batsmen, after the openers, used their brains. Rather they just preferred to keep on swinging their bat. If it not had been for a few dropped catches, we would have nailed them within 25 overs. Ahmed bowled well in tandem with Nisar to completely dry out the runs. We had a bit of bother with their last wicket partnership. Both batsmen blocked all that came their way without even lifting their bats. Nisar & Ahmed both asked for extra overs from the captain, but still no luck. As per popular vote the pace of Anees and Waqar was tried as well, but still no luck. Anees Bhai bowled a maiden over as well. I was brought in, but by that time the batsmen had done their job and given 40 precious runs to their team. I got the wicket, but it didn't feel very good, as we had lost the sweet feeling of bowling them under 200. Anyways 220 was a low but fighting target for Mazda. They had won the last finals while defending 216. Rizwan kept well behind the stumps, he took a catch and was aware enough to stump another batsman while he was appealing for his second catch. Basharat took an important and a difficult high catch as well. Bilal's catch was amazing as well. The ball was way high in the air, Bilal judged it perfectly, and made me an immediate fan.

We started our batting with disaster as Nisar disappointed his fans by playing one in the air and giving a simple catch to the mid on. Asif was joined with Samir Bhai. And a mix up in the middle brought all our hearts in our mouths. But in the end the fielder's throw was wide and at the wrong end, so Asif made it safely back home. This was the only false foot that Asif and Samir Bhai put forward. The rest was just purely amazing to see. Samir Bhai with his flicks, blocks and cuts managed to keep the scoreboard ticking without giving any leeway to the Mazda bowlers. While Asif showed them what 'thok do' means. His sixes were so huge that it took ages for the fielders to bring the ball back in the ground. He usually took 15-20 runs from each over. So blazing was his innings that Mazda tried around 7 bowlers in the first 10 overs.

Both Samir Bhai and Asif, kept up the good work and took the score to 110. Asif misjudged one and was out caught behind, while Samir Bhai played one in the air to be caught on the boundary. Bilal and Wicky came to the crease. Consolidation was required from both of them, and they started off well. But soon lost the plot. Wicky hit a six in the over, but tried one more in the over, and that too to a flighted delivery probably turning away from him. He got a thick edge and gave an easy catch in the covers. Wicky's wicket almost cost us the match. Rizwan went in next and both he and Bilal blocked a few overs. But Bilal missed a straight delivery and gave his wicket away. Adnan went in next and was looking good and almost set to take us home, when a mix up resulted and he was run out. The falling of 5 quick wickets put us on the back foot. Ahmed came to the crease next, with our backs towards the wall. Ahmed alongwith Rizwan both played another gem of an innings. Ahmed proved his reliabiity once again by not taking any risks and living up to the occasion. Rizwan on the other end, handled pressure really well. Wicky's decision to bring Rizwan in the middle order paid off as Rizwan stabled the boat and took it to the shores of victory. He was a calm influence and knew when to lift his bat and when to defend his stumps.

Suresh, Fareed, Serhan and Royven came to watch the match. It really felt great to receive support from your colleagues while the team fought hard in the middle.

The environment, the feeling, the pressure was absolutely great. The planning before the match and assessments during the match were great to be a part of. Everyone chipping in, in whatever department he could. Always being one step ahead of Mazda. So high is my confidence now, that I feel that if we continued this habit of planning and execution, we would be lifting a lot more trophies. Lastly

'Keep working guys, keep working, dheela nahee hona'

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Keeping the Tempo for the finals.

Responsibility shown all around in batting, bowling and fielding gave us our first win in the RP Sharma tournament against Horizons, and kept us in the hunt for the semis of this tournament. The win was important for us as we needed to keep ourselves motivated for the finals of Lawson Memorial.

Winning the toss, wicky decided to bat first in order to give some batting practice to our batsmen. Bilal and Nisar opened the batting. Bilal's short stay at the crease was torturous to say the least. He seems to be having some technical difficulties in posture, shot selection and shot execution. But then all these things go un noticed when a batsman does the most basic thing right i.e. hitting the ball in the gap and running like crazy. Rizwan can be rated as another anomaly when it comes to technicalities but no matter how he stands he knows where the gaps are and he does hit the ball in them. I am sure Bilal too would realize that the best advice he can take would be from himself and would somehow figure out how he can do the basics right.

Nisar continued to build on his batting form and continued on his merry ways but his running (or rather jogging) between the wickets felt way short of expections. 3s were converted into 2s and 2s into 1s. His innings was a mixture of sweetly timed power shots and some deft touches for singles and doubles. In the end he top scored for the team and for the match by reaching the 70s and would have been much closer to the as yet elusive 100 runs, if we had been more aggressive in running between the wickets.

Samir Bhai came 1 down after Bilal came back and seemed to time the ball from the word go. His flicks and cuts were a treat to watch and his running between the wickets was like fresh air. In the end he flicked one to the fine leg boundary only to get caught. The shot was on but unluckily he found the fielder.

Adnan was next in and seemed to be a bit stuck in his crease. In the end got bowled out. Akmal came after Adnan and laid the match winning partnership with Nisar. Akmal sweetly timed 3 sixes over the long boundary. Both Nisar and Akmal batted responsibly while always keeping an eye on the run rate. It was a very mature partnership and took the team to the much needed comfort zone. Akmal scored his first 50 for Agility. Eventually Nisar played a tired looking pull shot and was bowled. Wicky went next in and tried to keep the momentum for the remaining few overs, but got out as he played one in the air.

Rizwan went in after Wicky and joined Akmal. Both managed to take the score to 195 in 25 overs without any further jitters. The ground was tricky as the pitch was on a slope and we reached a good score courtesy responsible innings from Nisar, Akmal and Samir Bhai.

Bowling was a bit tricky on this pitch as well and their batsmen came strongly at us. Their batting and our bowling seemed closer to a boxing match. Where both boxers are strong and landing punches on each others faces. A six there, a 2 run over here, a few boundaries there and a wicket here. That continued for most of the match till in the end our punches were more frequent and more lethal.

Anees Bhai and I started the bowling. Anees Bhai was a bit expensive as he came up the slope and against the wind to bowl, whereas I too had a mixed early spell, but managed to get a wicket. The wicket was courtesy brilliant fielding from Khurram which allowed me to give away only 2 runs in my 2nd over. This made their lethal opening batsman to play squarer which is more risky. In the end he tried to pull a ball, which he could have easily played in the covers, got a leading edge and was caught behind by Rizwan. A lesson to all, that how important good ground fielding can be when it comes to taking wickets.

Wicky and Nisar were first change and did manage to keep things under the lid, but the honors stayed even between bat and ball as at all times their batsmen were close to the required run rate. Their other opening batsmen who seemed to have only one boundary shot, kept playing it to perfection and kept on getting boundaries for his team. But Nisar undid him with his wiley spin and caught him off his own bowling. Meanwhile their 1 down batsmen who also was playing very well on both sides of the wicket, mistimed a full toss from wicky and Nisar took a simple catch. Both Wicky and Nisar bowled 5 overs each on a stretch and kept on dishing variety to the batsmen to prevent things to get out of hand.

Akmal and I, took the bowling from them, and kept things simple, prevented boundaries to build pressure on them, which made fall deeper into abyss. Anees Bhai and Bilal finished off the bowling for us and prevented any further jitters. Rizwan kept well on a tricky pitch, although there were momentarily lapses.

Agility Thunders into Finals

Agility stormed into the finals of the Lawson Memorial Cricket Cup after beating the seasoned Shaheen CC. The closely contested match was a big win for the Team Agility which is less than a year old. But what they lacked in experience they covered it with Team Work and application.

The match started early Friday morning on 22nd February, with Captain Waqar explaining the game plan to the team. Amad and Anees started the bowling and pegged the experienced batting line up of Shaheen with two wickets in the first four overs. Anees (1/29) accounted for the experienced Ishtiaq as he brought one in and wrecked his stumps, while Amad (1/30) accounted for the dangerous Ateeq by moving one away from him.

Whatever plans Shaheen CC had for counter attack were overturned by a fast inswinger from Waqar (1/31), who came first change, and got a wicket in his first over. From then on Shaheen tried to consolidate rather than attack and Agility applied more pressure with nagging line and length from Ahmed, Nisar and Akmal. Nisar (0/25) spun his spinning web on Shaheen's batsmen and they seemed to play him with little or no clue. Ahmed (0/19) and Akmal (1/16) both used their minds and skill to ensure that the pressure stayed on Shaheen's batsmen. Rizwan kept the wickets smartly and took a brilliant catch to remove the dangerous Ateeq.

With energy and team work Agility Cricket Team gave all on the field and kept on backing each other up. In the end Shaheen, who fell at least 30-40 runs short of the standard score in these matches, ended their innings with 171 runs in 25 overs.

Agility's reply was initiated by Nisar and Akmal. Shaheen applied all they had in terms of guile, pressure and experience to outsmart them. But they persevered. Nisar (58 off 48 balls) was the more belligerent of the two as he spanked 6 boundaries and a towering six.

A mini collapse was prevented by Rizwan and Waqar with 21(16) and 29(23) respectively. Shaheen tried to come back into the match with 3 quick wickets but Ahmed squashed their hopes with his 21(24).

In the end Team Agility won the match with 2 wickets in hand and with 4 balls to spare. In the finals they would meet KAICO on 14th March 2008.

Winning the Friendly Against Kothari XI

We restricted the score to 172 in 20 overs, giving ample chance and practice to all possible bowlers. Also such a paltry total allowed us to experiment with our batting order. The captain gave chances to people who felt they should be given one. Lets see how we chased the target in pictures (courtesy Khurram)


Adnan requested the captain to be sent to open the innings. The captain obliged.

















But he got confused on whether to play or leave the first ball he faced. Confusion is often deadly for openers. Eventually he gave an easy catch to the keeper. Who accepted it willingly.


Bhayya arrives at the crease, with the team requiring another masterly innings from him.

















At the other end 'The Crouching Tiger' looks to build a vital partnership with Bhayya.
















Rizwan played all around the ground to ensure that a solid foundation is laid between him and Bhayya.






The straight drive and the pull were a treat to watch.














Finally he missed a straighter one and was bowled and walked back.

In the end he failed to convert a good start into a big score.



Ahmed too had asked for a raise in batting order. Which was granted by the captain as he was sent on the number which he requested, which was 2 down.



The outcome can simply be told in four images. He came in, blocked one, hit a splendid flat six (which was a treat to watch) and was caught on the 4th ball he faced.









Nisar was the next man in and with cool calm and concentration he tried to take the match till the end.

But luck ran out, confusion set in and he was run out.



Experimentation brought the team in a spot of bother.

And Bilal was the next man in. He was required to stay at the wicket and give a partnership to Bhayya, who was playing magnificently at the other end.

He defended when the required runs in the over were achieved and hit when hitting was required.

The image on the right, went for a boundary, showing him the benefit of having just a simple back lift and offers him a suggestion of leaving his expansive wind up.

But as confidence grew, the expansive 360 degrees wind up and back lift came back again, causing him to miss the ball and he was clean bowled.









The captain came in next, with the requirement of an innings to save the match. He played both safely and took calculated risks when the situation required so.

But the star of the match was Samir Bhai, who played another rock solid, back bone innings. He cut, flicked, pulled and drove the ball with utmost ease.

He blocked and took risk as the situation demanded. In the end, things turned out wonderfully well for him. Hard work paid off and he saved another match for us.










The chase was a total team effort and even my padding up ensured that we didn’t lose another wicket ;)



























After the match the captain announced penalties, while Rizwan figured out a new Bhangra Step.





And congratulated Ahmed on yet another broken promise.








At the end Bilal wondered ‘yaar itnee bureee fielding bhee nahee kee thee'






















Khurram proved his ‘team player’ skills yet another time. And through photography ensured that the batsmen learn from their mistakes

Akmal was the only threatening player from Kothari XI. His coming down the order ensured that we saved at least 30-40 runs and restricted the Kothari XI to a paltry 172 from 20 overs. This allowed us to do experimentation with our batting and try to discover hidden talents. Although we discovered nothing that has not already been established months before. ;)

Akmal, meanwhile, would need to motivate his team mates to improve their batting skills. As through good batting you have 80% chance of winning matches on cement pitches.

Agility VS Burhan XI

This time no written blog only VDO blog. Check it out and decide for yourself.

Ahmed's Baazee

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4072162205419525918

For people who cannot access internally

http://agilitypanthers.blogspot.com/2007/12/ahmeds-baazee.html


Whole Batting

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2986433662495360587

Ahmed's Baazee

I won't write anything........

Failed Attempt of inswing yorker

:(

In the match between Acasia in the Lawson Trophy I tried to ball an inswinging yorker. A powerful delivery to have in your weaponary. Since it starts from outside off, which is always a good line. As if the ball doesn't swing in, it will be difficult to dispatch for a boundary.

Here are some words about my failed attempt.

After a dropped catch, I attempted to bowl a yorker, the batsman tried to heave it on the leg side but missed and was bowled. During the time when the next man was coming in and the umpires attempted to erect the wickets once again, I kept on shining one side of the ball. I threw the ball with seam up, but on confirmation with the keeper it didn't swing in :( I tried it again but no luck. The third ball I tried once again with the seam pointing towards the leg slip, but still no success. Anyways I would go back to learning mode to learn about inswinging yorkers. I guess I would have to increase the speed, the rip and also try to pass my bowling hand by my right thigh after the release of the ball.

Lets see how it goes.