Match Reports

RV Vs Spartans
Venue: Central Broward Regional Park ground 1/2.
Date: 06/18/2011
Guests: Mrs Ajay Kumar ( Royal Vikings Jonty Rhodes Ajay’s wife).
Pitch: Dry quick and bouncy pitch.
Weather: cloudy and overcast conditions, helpful for pace bowlers.
Toss: WFS Spartans won the toss and elected to bat first. Vikings lost the toss for the first time in this tournament.

Viking’s defeat against FPL in their 4th match, raised lots of questions referring to RV’s captain’s decision on field. Though facing lot of allegations, Viking’s captain brought the whole team together to play their 5th match which is a very crucial one. If Vikings win this match they will go to knock out stage.
WFS spartans so far in the tournament won one match out of three they played. Still alive in the tournament, Spartans should win this match to keep themself safe.
This match is a war between two most greatest warriors mankind ever knew.

First innings:
RV’s made few changes in their team, RV’s god father ( Nagendra ) is out this match along with Mr dependable ( Rajesh ) and chennai super star Giri ( Mr. Unlimited ).
Prasad and Sriram opened the innings for WFS Spartans. VK’s Mc Grath ( Mr Sridhar )
opened the bowling attack. Sridhar in his first over with a good surprised yorker which trapped Prasad plumb in front of the wicket. An easy decision for umpire. Prasad got out scoring only 2 runs. A good start for RVs but an unexpected start for Spartans. RV’s captain Chummar started the bowling attack along with Sridhar. Spartans new batsman Karthik along with Sriram stood strong and launched their counter attack. RV’s plan to try Chummar open the bowling attack failed. Chummar ended his first spell with 0/21 in 3 overs. RV’s launched their second phase of their attack with Charminar Express ( Habeeb ) and RV’s Twister ( Manoj ). Spartans were knocked down with a good line and length bowling by Habeeb and Manoj. Spartans lost 5 wickets in this spell, Sriram for 22, karthik for 8, Tigulla for 5, Daya for 5 and Mishant for 0. Habeeb ended his first spell with 3/16 in 3 overs, best bowling figure for him in this tournament. Manoj ended his first spell with 2/14 in 3 overs. Spartans lost all their key players including their Captain Daya. RV’s launched their final assault to wipe out the last remaining Spartans. Karachi express ( Salman ) along with Sreeni ( the wicket keeper ) executed the task. Salman bowled the fastest ball for RV’s. Unfortunatly Salman struggled to control the pace and ended his short spell with 1/25 in 2 overs. Sreeni bowling for the first time on US soil surprised everyone with his bowling. Though struggled in the first over but ended his spell with 3/15 in 3 overs. Sreeni knocked the last Spartan with the help of acting wicket keeper Manoj. Spartans Vinay gave some fight at the end to take Spartans to some respectable score. Every counter attack by Spartans was crused down by agreesive Vikings. Spartans were totally destroyed by Vikings with 2 overs to spare. Spartans managed to make 122 runs in 18 overs.
Spartans 122 all out 18 over ,Kartheek 22, Vinay 20.
Sreeni 3/15, Habeeb 3/16 and Manoj 2/14.
Good team work and performance in the first innings by RV’s. Spartans need to play well to beat RV’s.

Break Time: Some good music being played at the ground. Crowd was celebrating the fathers day weekend. It was one of the best weekends.
Second innings:
Spartans who were totally over run by Royal Vikings in first innings entered the ground with a new plan lead by their captain Daya. RV’s Mr cool guy Srini Surram and Sridhar opened the batting for Royal Vikings. Spartans bowling attack was launched by Raghu and Mishant. Raghu was successful in sending RV’s Sridhar back to pavillion with out scoring. Good start for Spartans. Royal Vikings Jonty ( Mr Ajay ) came in to face Spartans attack. Both Srini Surram and Ajay gave a good stand for RV’s. Rotated the strike well. The second phase of attack from Spartans was carried by Vinay and Captain Daya. Ajay got out in this spell edging a ball from Daya. This was a second close call that went in favor for Spartans. RV’s captain replaced Ajay. Srini Surram and Chummar retaliated to Spartans assault with a good stroke play and shots. With no more loss of wickets RV’s reached the required runs with 6 over remaining. Srini Surram playing a good knock of 55 not out(8X4) along with Captian Chummar(5X4,1X6) who scored valuable 40 not out.
Final score was RV’s 124/2 in 14 overs,Srini Surram 55* and Chummar 40*.
Raghu 1/12 and Daya 1/27.

Post Match:
It was a good match, both team displayed some good cricket, at the end it was Royal Vikings who performed better than Spartans.
Royal Vikings crushed Spartans and made it to knock out stage. Spartans have to win their remaining 3 matches to reach the knock out stage.
Man of the Match:
It was a tough to decide the man of the match for this match. Sreeni 3/15 in his first ever bowling on US soil and Srini Surram with 55 not out with bat and safely guiding the team to victory, but Habeeb’s 3/16 which destroyed the top batting lineup of Spartans and turned the game in favor of RV’s, wins the Man of the Match title for him. Great going Habeeb.

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Vikings Vs Hurricanes
Venue: Central Broward Regional Park ground 1/2.
Date: 05/28/2011
Pitch: This is a flat pitch with a consistent bounce. Good for batsman and tough for bowlers.
Weather: Cloudy overcast conditions. Chances of rain 50%.
Toss: Vikings won the toss and elected to bat first. This is Vikings three consecutive time winning the toss.
Special note:
Vikings Vs Hurricanes is one of the most anticipated match in TFC “C” tournament. Lot of families and friends came to witness this event and to cheer for their teams. Food was served at ground for all players and guests, courtesy of Amita singh.
It is a very important match for both teams. Both the teams started the match on time.
First innings:
Carnival Hurricanes have one of the best bowling attack in the TFC “C” tournament but Vikigns were prepared for a category 5 Hurricane. Vikings started their innings with Mr dependable Rajesh opening with royal’s Mcgrath Sridhar. Carnival Hurricanes started their bowling attack with hurrican sandeep and hurricane Ravi. Vikings openers advanced through the pace attack with some good hitting by Rajesh and sridhar. As Carnival Hurricanes bowlers struggled to get the line and length initially, Vikings openers were about to launch for a bug score, unfortunately they lost both their openers. Good bowling by Sandeep and Zaffer, good fielding by Carnival Hurricane’s captain Ramesh and wicket keeper Mohan.
Hurricanes ( bowlers ) picked its strength and turned to category 5 and Vikings hulk Manoj fell victim to this super fast bowling attack. A big blow for Vikings, losing 3 quick wickets, but Vikings cool guy Srini Surram stadied the innings by batting well with good shots on both sides of wicket. All Vikings needed is someone to keep their wicket on other end and give most of the strike to in form Srini surram. Vikings captain Machha decided to send TNT Amit to blow out hurricanes. Amit as in previous game showed confidence by hitting some big hits, but soon got out playing a wrong shot. Vikings captain Machha replaced Amit, both Srini and Chummar played well and slowly moved up Vikings run rate above 6. Hurricanes captain Ramesh introduced their spin attack to disturb vikings flow and eventually, Srini got out playing a wrong shot, and another Vikings batsman got out playing an unneccesary shot. This is what Carnival Hurricanes wanted. Vikings Godfather Nagendra got his chance to show his skills with the bat. He was waiting for this for a while. He rotated the strike and made sure the scorer was busy. A huge six by Nagendra proved that when required he can go after the bowlers. Again Vikings lost wicket of nag, good fielding and bowling attacked planned by hurricanes captain. Vikings faced the hurricanes outer circle losing 6 wickets and scoring over 7 runs per over. Now the hurricanes eye was crossing the pitch , Vikings took this calm conditions and went after carnival hurricanes bowlers. Chummar and Vikings Keeper Sreeni, their partnership made sure they got 40 plus runs in last 5 over to reach a respectable score. Vikings ended their innings scoring 170 / 6 in 20 overs. Srini surram’s innings, Chummar’s big hitting at the end overs, Sreeni’s quick running between the wickets helped Vikings to reach a big score.
Carnival Hurricanes needed 171 to win.
Innings break:
Players enjoyed the food arranged by Amita singh.
Second innings:
Carnival hurricanes need 171 to win and they started their batting with Captain Ramesh ( Dhoni ) and Wicket keeper Mohan. Vikings bowling attack was spearheaded by Sridhar McGrath and Hulk Manoj. Vikings missed some of their inital chances to be on top of the game. Vikings wicket keeper Sreeni missed a close caught behind and a stumping chance of Manoj’s bowling. This could have proved costly for Vikings. Vikings bowler maintained good line and length but consistently bowling one bad ball which Hurricanes openers gave right treatment by sending it to boundary. Vikings McGrath Sridhar and Charminar Express Habeeb bowled well in first 10 overs. Hurricanes needed 10 plus run per overs to reach the target. Ramesh and Mohan carried their run chase smoothly. If this partnership continues, hurricanes can easily reach the target. The match was very interesting Hurricanes on top, Vikings desperatly needing a wicket to break this partnership. Vikings captain Chummar joined the bowling attack. A close stumping by Sreeni of Chummar’s bowling was given in favor of the batsman. This decision ignited some arguments between both sides. Both captains brought their team under control and game progressed. This break in the game caused Hurricanes captain to lose his rhythm and got out the very next ball of chummar’s bowling. The very good catch taked by Rajesh at long on. Soon the hurricanes opener got out trying to take a quick single. Finally some contribution by Vikings keeper with keeping gloves. Hurricanes could not face the reverse swing of Sridhar and Habeeb in the end overs and ended their innings 26 runs short of the target.

Over All Score:

Royal Vikings 170/6 Srini Surram 31, Chummar 68* and Sreeni 23* Sandeep 2 wickets and Jaffer 2 wickets.

Hurricanes 143/2 Mohan 38 , Ramesh 60 and Sandeep 22* Chummar 1 wicket.

Man Of The Match:
It was a great match, both teams played some good cricket. All the guest who attended the match enjoyed it very much.
There were some good performance shown by several players ( Srini surram, Chummar, Mohan and Ramesh with the bat ) .
Chummar’s unbeaten 68 and crucial wicket of Hurricanes captain Ramesh fetches him another man of the match title. Good going Machha.

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Vikings vs Incredible Indians
Venue: Central Broward Regional Park ground 3/4.
Date: 04/30/2011
Guests: Baby Sharmitha ( cheer girl ) , Mrs Suram and Mrs Arcot.
Pitch: Dry and hard with good pace and uneven bounce. Seam bowler will dominate on this pitch.

Weather: Clear sky, wind blowing east to west.
Toss: Vikings won the toss and elected to bat first.

First innings:

Vikings started their innings with in-form players Mr dependable Rajesh and cool guy Srini Suram. Rajesh from the word go, started attacking PRC’s bowler which was equally supported by Srini Suram.With 33 in 4.5 overs, Vikings thought they got a good start but unfortunately Srini got out to a superb delivery of Balaji. This was the right moment for PRC to bounce back into the game. Manoj started the innings with two consecutive boundaries. PRC’s captain Vishwanath did not lose his confidence and bowled out Manoj. Manoj’s loss was another blow to Vikings. PRC’s captain bowled Vikings captain Chummar of the first ball he faced. PRC’s captain on a hat-trick. Vikings debutant Bijay faced the ball and made sure he did not lose his wicket. Vikings lost quick wickets. Bijay was under pressure, it was a big match for him. Vikings dependable Rajesh watching the whole drama from other end of the wicket wanted to bring back Vikings into the game but Balaji’s accurate line and pace got Rajesh out. Bijay soon fell to PRC’s captain Vishwanath. Vikings were 57/5, and vikings TNT Amit and wicketkeeper Sreeni were batting, both faced the top bowling attack from PRC and gave vikings a valuable 50 runs partnership. This was the key partnership that brought back vikings into the game. Amit played well for 32 and Sreeni got a valuable 26. Another Vikings debutant Prashanth with the help of Habeeb took Vikings to repectable and defendable score of 151 with a good hitting and running between wickets.

At the end of first innings, Vikings score 151/7. PRC needed 152 to win.

Second innings:

PRC’s started the innings with Arza and Vijayan. Vikings Mcgrath aka Sridhar started the bowling. Sridhar with perfect line and pace, struck in 4rth ball of first over. Arza was gone for duck, caught and bowl by sridhar. This was the perfect start that Vikigns captain wanted. Manoj who failed to perform with bat did well with ball, he grabbed another wicket for vikings. PRC 38/2 in 5 overs. Vikings bowler Charminar express aka Mr Habeeb with his new malinga action bowled Balaji for 1. Soon Suresh followed his with an unfortunate run out due to knee injury. Vikings were successful in taking wickets at regular intervals. PRC’s needed a good partnership to win the match or atleast come close to the target. Vikings captain took 2 wickets and TNT one wicket . Finally PRC ended their chase at 103/8. Vikings bowled well and fielded well. Two high catches in deep long on by rajesh and two run outs by Bijay and Nag are worth appreciatable. PRC playing their first match as a team, needs some time to get into form.

Vikings won by 48 runs.

Consecutive victories for Vikings. Vikings still need to improve their fielding. PRC has lot of talent and for sure they will bounce back in their next match.
Man of the Match:
Vikings TNT Amit with 32 run from his bat and 1 wicket of his bowling.

Special thanks to Nagesh for making scoring easy with a click on IPad.

Thanks,

Kalyan

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Royal Vikings vs The Riders

By : Sreenivasulu K Arcot

Royal Vikings Wicket Keeper and Software Engineer
Information Technology
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Venue: Central Broward Regional Park
Date: 04/30/2011
Chief Guests: Vinod Gulati – President TFC, Amita Singh – Vice President, TFC

Other Guests: Mounika ( Royal Viking’s wicket keeper’s wife and coach )

Pitch: Carpet, green in color, nothing special about it. Out field is dry and quick.

Weather: Cloudy and windy. A perfect weather to play a T20.

Toss: Riders won the toss and elected to bowl.

First innings:

Vikings opened their innings with full force, Rajesh and Srini the most deadly batsmen from Vikings team started the innings. Vikings got a big blow early when Srini got out edging to slips. Rajesh who is always in form, started showing some great batting skills. Hitting every ball to all areas of the ground. Rajesh scored the first six of the tournament. Unfortunately Rajesh got out at his unlucky score of 31. After Rajesh it was Manoj and Vikings Captain Chummar who gave a solid foundation for Vikings to launch a big score. Amit the gaint with his massive six scared the car owners to park there cars far from boundary, he contributed some important runs along with another 6’1 gaint Salman also know as the Karachi Express. With middle order contributing some runs at the end Vikings ended their first innings scoring 169 in 20 overs. It was a good batting performance shown by Vikings. Vikings bowling attack missing some key bowler needed to bowl well to win this game.

Second innings:

Riders are know for chasing big totals, chasing 169 was a achievable target for them. This was Riders third consecutive chase against Vikings. Rider started with their key batsman Norman and Raja. Viking’s V6 powered Habeebur started the bowling. Habeebur with his good line and length got the first break through for Vikings. Rajesh taking a beautiful running catch of Rider’s Raja showed a positive signs that Vikings are going to win this match.
Another achievement of this tournament was Sreeni (The wicket keeper) got his first stumped out of Riders another opener Norman. This is his first on US soil , thanks to captain Chummar for making this happen.
After losing two early wicket, Rider bounced back. This fight back was lead by Rider’s captain Rajan and Rider’s Great wall Mr. Khan. Riders captain with the luck on his side, almost got his team to victory. Riders needed 17 runs in 24 balls with 7 wickets remaining.
Vikings Captain brought back Vikings McGrath aka Sridhar. Sridhar in his second spell, bowled exceptionally, with perfect line and length and controlled swing. In this over, Riders captain got frustrated and succumbed to a run out, great fielding and effort shown by Habeebur brought back the whole team back to track. Vikings captian bowled the 17th over and took couple of wickets to put more pressure on Riders. Riders needed another 12 runs in 6 balls. Habeebur bowled the last over under pressure and Riders fell short by 6 runs.
It was a great come back at end overs by Vikings. Vikings Captain played a good captains role and got his team to victory. It was a good match and great team work.

Man of the Match: Chummar with a good all round performance in batting, bowling and fielding.

Vikings have lot of talents, hopefully we will get chance to see them in action in coming matches.

Over and out.

Sreenivasulu K Arcot

Vikings Wicket Keeper and Software Engineer
Information Technology
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.