Irvine Willows

We had awesome couple of games this past Sunday. Due to the ongoing CG tournament and tooth extractions our regular folks were missing in action, but we were joined by 2 newcomers, who helped save the day enabling us to play on either side of the pitch. We hope they continue to join us Sunday after Sunday. We had to change our venue, but this time we were slightly better prepared, as Abhijeet had already scouted the Stonegate ground and informed us of its availability, thus we were able to start the game by 8:30. Team A: Abhijeet S, Abhijeet J, Amit, Rishi and Shashi (new guy, Rishi's friend) Team B: Senthil , Chandru, Rajesh, Tharendhu (new guy , walk-in, nicknamed T) and Anand While the first match was kind of predictable, second match turned out to be quite interesting. Team B batted first and made about 30 runs. I think everybody contributed with the bat, especially Senthil who was responsible for some fireworks. T, the new guy, showed some promise and

The day did not necessarily begin on a joyous note. Yet again we got kicked out of our new homeground and we had to go ground hunting while keeping an eye on the watch. Quite understandably we didn't want to waste a lot of time looking for a ground. We first went to the College Park ground. We thought maybe we could play an informal match with the team which plays regularly over there, but with 16 players showing up for the game from our side and the other team having 9 of their own it quickly got scrapped. Playing on a nearby diamond also did not seem practical out as it was too close. We then decided to retrace our steps to last week’s ground at Stonegate . Last week we had overturned the sign requesting/demanding patrons to stay away as it was under maintenance. Love of the game revealed our devious side and we turned the board upside down. To be fair, like good citizens, we put the sign back where it was so that no further damage would be caused in case others came l

Team A: Pankaj, Partha, Siddharth, Chandru, Dharmendra and Abhijeet S Team B: Venki, Pratik G, Vamshi, Abhijeet J, Pratik and Anand Team B batted first. The highlight of Team B’s innings was a proclamation made by Pratik G right in the beginning when he demanded to open. It seems last time he played Venki suggested that he stay in the middle a bit more. Pratik G took that to heart and wanted to prove a point. So the two Pratiks opened the innings. They started cautiously but the combination didn’t last beyond the first over. Trying to get rid of Pankaj’s nagging deliveries Pratik tied to hit one, but it went straight down to Pankaj who took a beautiful low-lying catch. He was modest to suggest that it just stuck in his palms, but you can tell when they are difficult … trying to pick a low lying one on your follow-through at the end of the over is never easy. With setting Team B back by one Pankaj had accomplished his task. On the back-foot, Team B had to tread cautious

We had two awesome matches this past Sunday. After a long time we saw two very well balanced teams pitched against each other. The weather was perfect too, quite sunny but the sun was beating down as much. In fact it was quite pleasant. Another great thing was most of the players were on the ground by 7:40, we are definitely making some progress here. After some catch practice Rajesh and Pankaj stepped aside to form teams and after the toss the winning team took center stage and the game began. Team A: Venki , Siddharth , Pratik (new guy), Rajesh and Abhijeet J Team B: Pankaj , Amit , Partha , Chandru and Anand - Vamshi was common player in the first match. - In the second match Rajesh left and so Vamshi played for Team B and I played for Team A I think Team A won the toss and elected the bat. Amit and Partha opened the innings. I am not sure how they both got out, but I think one of them got out within the first two overs and I went in as a replace

In preparation of the upcoming Battle Royale with SoCal Knights, we played three matches this past Sunday. Most of the players were already on the field when I got there at about 7:50 AM. The first game wa s already underway. Then few more folks joined and by the time second match began we were 11 with 5 a side and Chandru as the common player. All the three games were quite interesting where both the teams played to their potential. The weather was not bad. The sun was out in its full glory, but wasn 't beating down as much, at least not in the first two games. The third game which began at 9:30 was slightly tiring but we agreed to play in the hope of preparing ourselves for some redemption next week. Team A: Abhijeet S, Siddharth , Vamshi , Partha and Dharmendra Team B:   Venki , Amit , Rajesh , Abhijeet J and Anand Common player: Vamshi in the first match and Chandru in the second and third match I am a bit hazy about the first match. I am not sure of the te