29/10/05

The Inaugural Auckland Match!

Eden Roskill versus Cornwall Crowe on Keith Hay Park #6 October 29 2005.

A better class of cricket greeted us than we had been used to but to be fair, had we performed better in the field we would have taken this first up game with ease. As it was, it was a very competitive game and could have been won by either team.

We won the toss and put them in. We should have backed that decision up with some accurate bowling, but, it took 7 overs and 26 runs before we had our first wicket, caught and bowled by Jay Vaddagiri. Little by little we made inroads but our fielding effort left much to be desired with many spilt catches and half chances going begging. When Brett and Shyam came back for their second spells and we had 4 quick wickets it was too late, they had their runs in the scorebook and we had to score 111 to win from 27 overs.

They struck in the 3^rd over and then, took care of, first Pranil and then Mitch in the same over that brought Brett and Shyam together who began to build a little partnership until a silly call and Shyam had his stumps thrown down. That brought man of the match, Shreyas to the crease but, another silly run and Brett was caught short of his ground by centimetres. I’m sure the replay would have given the batsman the benefit of the doubt.

What followed was a really good partnership from Shreyas and Amit who seemed to have settled in for the long haul and then when Amit was caught and drinks were taken Shreyas settled in again with Rohan until Shreyas finally lost the line of the ball and his stumps. Shortly after, Rohan took one big swing too many and lost middle and off. Jay went to a brilliant catch by their keeper with the score at 95 and it was just matter of seeing out the time with our remaining 2 batsmen at the crease.

Time ran out with 2 overs left to bowl so the game finished without result.

Player of the Day was Shreyas Mishra who scored 23 off 40 balls.

Notable achievements by Rohan Modak with 3 catches and

Shyam Mehta with 3 for 10 from 4 overs.

Kim Randell (Coach)

5/11/05

First Grass Wicket!

Another fine morning greeted us but it was a little overcast and windy so with a pitch that had quite a lot of grass on it, our first ever game on a grass wicket by the way, Brett put the opposition in when he won the toss for the 3^rd week in a row. With the ball moving around in the air and off the wicket our fast bowlers were put to the sword a bit, but Shyam struck with the last ball of his first spell with the score at 27 from 7.

The captain brought on our number one spinner who took a wicket with just his 2^nd ball and the score was 27 for 2. That brought their best batsman to the crease but 5 runs later Pranil had a second when he dismissed their opening batsman with a clever piece of deception that even Warney would be proud of. That heralded a partnership that cost quite a few runs because the batsmen applied themselves even though the bowling was reasonably accurate. With the score at 57 we snared the 4^th with a brilliant keeper’s catch in front of the wicket by Amit our substitute keeper. Six overs went by with some accurate bowling and Pranil bowled his 3^rd of the day with the score at 65.

Another partnership ensued but we struck again when Aditya had their 6^th caught by Brett with the score at 83 for 6. Four runs later Aditya threw the stumps down at the bowlers end and they were teetering.

Something special was required to rid us of their top batsman and Rohan obliged with an absolute blinder of a catch at square leg off Joshua. This catch belongs in the catch of the summer category, Rohan had to make some ground to his right, dive to his right and take the ball with two hands less than an inch from the ground. The score was now 91 for 8 and just 3 balls later we dismissed their last batsman.

At 11 minutes past 10 we set about opening our innings with an over of 10 runs thanks to some extras from their opening bowler. It was the first time Amit had opened the batting and with the trusty Munsarim at the other end we set about building the score required for victory. They struck in just the 4^th over when Munsarim played across the line and lost his stumps with the score at just 13. Pranil strode to the wicket full of confidence and together with Amit they raised a partnership of 46 before Pranil stepped back to a ball he should have defended and the bails went flying.

With the loss of that wicket the captain, Brett, had a quick chat with Amit and together; they began dropping the ball into gaps and running between the wickets like a couple of startled hares. With the score at 78, Amit retired having scored opening debut 30 runs from 47 balls, which brought Shyam to the wicket. Together, Brett and Shyam wiped off the remaining 15 runs in 4 overs.

Franklin Plumbing Ellerslie 92 from 27.2 overs

Eden Roskill Yorkers 97 for 2 from 19 overs.

Player of the Day Amit Dhadwal; 30 retired, 1 for 5 from 1, 2 catches.

Notable achievement: Pranil Ranchhod; 3 for 13 from 4, 18 runs.

Kim Randell (Yorkers coach)

12/11/05

A ‘Friendly’.

With a weather forecast for rain today it was with thanks to God that we awoke to a gloriously fine day. There was some dew on the grass but as the game was to be a ‘friendly’ we thought we might like to bat should we win the toss. We lost, but thankfully Howick/Pakuranga Grey sent us in.

Chris Khouri and Amit Dhadwal strode to the # 4 wicket on our home ground at Keith Hay Park and began a great opening partnership of 24 runs before Chris was caught at square leg trying to go over the top. Today was a chance to experiment so we sent Joshua Curran in to see how he would go against top order bowlers, what resulted was a lovely little cameo in partnership, first with Amit until he was replaced after retiring, by Rohan Modak who was runout after facing just 3 balls, and then with Brett Randell. Then with the score at 49 Joshua was caught inches short of his ground trying to get a second and sent back to the shed to be replaced by Pranil Ranchhod. 15 runs later Brett chased one down leg and was bowled. That brought Player of the Day, the left handed Aditya Dhadwal, to the crease who also set about chasing the ball until he got his eye in and a couple of overs later Pranil was replaced by Shreyas Mishra who, with the score at 107 was also bowled, but not before he was joined by Mitch Cooper when we retired Aditya. Our swashbuckling Munsarim Ahmed joined Mitch and they took the total from 26 overs to 110 for 5.

Brett struck in the first over having bowled an almost immaculate over but for a first ball no ball. Again, experimentation was the order of the day and we bowled spin from the northern end. Pranil is bowling legspin well enough at the moment to deserve the nickname of ‘Warney’, having taken 3 wickets last week he followed with a double wicket maiden in the 4^th over having gone for just 3 in his first. Unaccustomed to bowling at number 3 Munsarim went for a few today but the plan of mixing pace with spin paid off when Aditya took 2 for 4 from his 2 overs. As if we weren’t making it tough enough for the batsmen as it was, Shyam came to the crease and bowled 2 perfect maidens while Chris at the other end took a wicket in his first over.

Rohan bowled fairly quick today as usual but was a little wayward and Joshua at the other end bowling slow/medium took another 2 wickets to add to his tally of 3 from the last 3 matches. That just left Shreyas and Amit to bowl with a wicket each we sewed up the game with a 63 run win in the 18^th over.

The bowling partnerships seemed to work really well today and overall it was a good team effort. The boys have worked really hard to get where they are and I am proud of them.

Scores were:             ER Yorkers 110/5 from 26

                        Howick/Pakuranga Grey 47 from 17.4

Player of the Day: Aditya Dhadwal, 18 retired, 2 for 4 from 2.

Notable Achievement: Joshua Curran, 2 for 5 from 2, 7 from 19.

Kim Randell (Coach)

19/11/05

Early Start

One needs to be honest, waking 30 minutes earlier than normal to make it to a ground on the other side of town certainly takes it out of the coach, but the boys seem to just take it in their stride. After a light jog and stretching we got down to some well tuned fielding practice. It was just as well because we lost the toss and were asked to bowl.

Brett Randell opened as usual with an over that had the batsman playing and missing and then a purler that caught him in the solar plexus but, their opener refused to be intimidated and hung in there until Munsarim Ahmed rocked the off stump with the very first ball of his spell. Three balls later and their number 3 was walking for nought and they were 19 for 2. What followed was some very tight bowling and fielding but the batsmen hung in for a 30 over partnership until Chris Khouri had his first wicket with a catch to Brett at short cover. Six balls later Brett had his second catch from Shreyas Mishra. Soon after Papatoetoe’s other opener retired having score a well-compiled 31. Just a few runs later at his second attempt in 2 balls Brett backhanded the ball to Mitch Cooper who whipped the bails off and they were 81 for 5. 30 balls and 21 runs later Munsarim had his third wicket caught by Jay at Mid On.

With 119 runs to chase down Chris and Munsarim began in typical fashion taking every run that was on offer, but with the score at just 5 Munsarim played the wrong line and lost his stumps. Pranil Ranchhod was next and had to head back to the shed after being caught with the score at just 11. It was time for the Captain to steady the ship and he did until the 41 run partnership came to an abrupt end when Chris’s much smaller legs refused to stretch out far enough to make the run they tried for. Enter the Vice Captain, Shyam Mehta, who after a cameo 7 from 11 was also caught short after a lack of communication.

Mitch and Brett then took the score to 92 when at the end of that over Brett retired on a well-compiled 35 from 49 balls. With just 27 runs to win and 7 overs left Amit Dhadwal joined Mitch and they smashed 10 runs from 7 balls and then Mitch was caught just short of his crease by a direct hit that brought Shreyas to join Amit. Amit carried on what he had begun earlier and just 8 balls later the win was complete.

Kim Randell (Coach)

3/12/05

Tight game!

Today dawned gloriously fine with the prospect of playing the formidable foe of Cornwall Sneddon on our home ground and that was something we were quite excited about.

They won the toss and sent us in. Munsarim Ahmed and Chris Khouri began cautiously facing some very accurate bowling, but their patience paid off as the partnership realised 30 runs before Munsarim forgot to use his feet and was bowled. Pranil Ranchhod joined Chris and they seemed to get a bit bogged down so we retired Pranil and let Brett Randell join Chris. That was a good move as the runs began to flow freely again until Chris lost his wicket to a good ball on middle and off having scored 16 well earned runs. We moved Shreyas Mishra up the order as a pinch hitter to increase the run rate with Brett and that was also a good tactical move until Brett was caught centimetres short of his ground by a direct hit. Mitch Cooper was our next designated “BIG HITTER” but just 7 runs were scored before Shreyas walked back to the shed followed very quickly by Mitch and then 2 balls later by Rohan Modak with the score at just 103 for 6. Shyam Mehta was joined by Aditya Dhadwal but 4 balls later the innings was complete when on the last ball Shyam walked down the wicket with the intention of smashing the ball to the boundary but missed it and was stumped.

105 was a very small total to defend but we began with some very tight bowling and fielding, however the first wicket didn’t fall until Jay Vaddagiri bowled their opener with the score at 22. What followed was a mini collapse when in the next over Brett took a catch from Pranil and then a second off Chris in the very next over and in the following over ran out the next batsman who didn’t even face a ball until we had them 56 for 6. It was looking like we might have it in our grasp but a 34 run recovery partnership rescued them and we lost by 2 wickets.

Our boys bowled exceptionally well today and with extras below 20 man of the match had to go to our brilliant wicket keeper, Mitch Cooper who stopped many balls on the leg side from going for byes.

Notably Chris Khouri was top scorer with 16 and both Shreyas and Brett chimed in with 15 each.

Scores were:             Yorkers 105 for 7 from 30

                        Sneddon 108 for 8 from 28

Kim Randell (Coach)

10/12/05

High Score!

I didn’t see that coming was the thought of Pranil Ranchhod as the very first ball of the innings rocked middle stump. When Amit Dhadwal also went for nought off the fourth ball it looked like a nightmare was about to start.

Our captain won the toss and we chose to bat against University Mustangs, but the weather was overcast and the wind was blowing from the northwest. The pitch was another factor we hadn’t taken into account but we realised too late it was quite damp. However, both teams played a good game of cricket.

Mustangs stuck to their task and when Brett Randell lost his wicket to a ball that just took the top of the bail in the fourth over it looked like the rot had set in. That brought Mitch Cooper to the crease to join Shyam Mehta and together they steadied the innings with a partnership of 27 runs until Shyam hit one in the air and the catch was taken to send us reeling at 34 for 4. Extras were fast becoming the top scorer but Mitch tried to do his best scoring runs whist batsmen at the other end were falling around him. Shreyas Mishra tried in his usual flamboyant style to change the pace of the game but was caught out with the score at just 45 and one run later Joshua Curran hesitated and was run out without facing a ball. Rohan Modak was next to the crease, faced his first ball like a professional and swung at the next to be caught at gullypoint with the score at 46 for 7.  Just 2 runs later we lost the top scorer to a fine ball that wrapped the bails and Jay Vaddagiri joined Aditya Dhadwal in the middle. A partnership of 13 ensued before Aditya lost his stumps as well. The rules of this competition allow for a team with less than 11 players to bat the lowest scoring batsman again. This was the case for us today with Munsarim in Pakistan and Chris injured we were able to bring Joshua back and together with Jay they put on a further 20 runs until Joshua popped another ball in the air and a very fine catch was taken to dismiss us for 81 runs from 24.4 overs.

Again, with Munsarim and Chris missing we were forced to change our normal bowling order so Brett opened partnered with Shreyas and we had our first wicket in the second over when Shreyas whipped out the off stump with a full delivery and the score was 2 for 1. The very next over the batsman hit the ground as the ball came in at hip height to take out middle stump; unfortunately the wicket wasn’t given as the square leg umpire called a controversial NO BALL. Ten balls later a piece of brilliance from Mitch sent their number 3 back to the hutch as he took the ball and broke the stumps. A 27 run partnership was finally broken when Amit ran out their number 4 with the score at 40. Unfortunately for us they still had their number one in the middle and after their fourth wicket fell at 57 and drinks were taken it seemed we had a good chance but just five overs later the game was lost.

Scores were:             Yorkers 81 from 24.4 overs with 39 extras high score

Mustangs 82 from 18.3 overs

Player of the day:      Shyam Mehta 10 runs and 2 overs for 3 runs

Notable Achievement: Mitch Cooper 17 runs and 1 stumping

Kim Randell (Coach)

17/12/05

Soggy Seam!

The forecast was not conducive for playing cricket today but the morning dawned overcast and even though it had showered through the night there was no cancellation. The home of Grafton United Cricket Club at Victoria Park was to be the venue for our final meeting of the year. We hadn’t even arrived when the moist air began to develop into spots of rain but they breed us hearty in Auckland and we made the toss a winner and sent Grafton in.

The first over was quite poor with 5 runs in the scorebook and then, after Pranil Ranchhod had tried twice before and failed, he took a great catch at point off the bowling of Shreyas Mishra to begin the demise of their top order.  Just 2 balls later Pranil took another catch to knock over number 3 batsman for a duck and the next ball Shreyas took his first slip catch to dismiss the captain for no score and Brett Randell had his second. Grafton was reeling at 7 for 3. 12 runs later because of some fairly wayward bowling, number 4 was heading back after a regulation runout by Shreyas. What followed was some very average bowling and they scored 31 before Shazy Mehmood who was substituting for the concussed Chris Khouri took out middle stump to break the partnership. 25 runs later, again after a lot of average bowling, Aditya Dhadwal took a sprawling catch at short mid-on from the bowling of Pranil Ranchhod, 75 for 6, and still their opener was there. One over and 3 balls later Shyam Mehta had him caught at slip by Shreyas and number 9 strode out with the sole purpose of scoring quick runs. Aditya had him when he tried to smash one to the boundary but mistimed it to be caught by Joshua Curran at mid off for no score. 79 for 8 was the score when it became necessary to replace the ball because it was deteriorating around the seam with the wet ground.

Back came the strike bowlers who were successful in the 24^th over with Brett Randell holding his first caught and bowled for the season to give him 3 for 14 from his 4 overs. The next 2 overs realised a further 11 runs as the last pair ruined Pranil’s figures.

The change of innings brought about a huge downpour that had us wondering if we would ever feel leather on willow but after about 10 minutes it cleared again and with instructions to keep the ball on the ground we set off after the hundred required to win. With 3 extras and a run from the first over the wheels were in motion as Pranil and Amit Dhadwal settled in. They bowled spin with pace at the other end and after the first spell we were on target with 15 runs in the scorebook. 4 balls later their top scoring batsman had the ball in his hands and 2 for 2 from his first over as first Pranil and then Shyam was bowled. What was needed was a steadying influence and that was realised for 6 overs and 21 runs until Brett was bowled on the back foot to a full delivery.

Mitch Cooper is not known for compiling an orthodox score but rather smashing the ball to all parts of the ground when and however he can. However, he played brilliantly and with a strike rate of over 83

helped Amit to 31 retired not out and a partnership of 23. Rohan Modak joined Mitch at the crease and they smashed another 10 for the fifth wicket with Rohan bowled with the score at 83. Mitch was caught centimetres short of his ground whilst attempting yet another tight run and with just 7 runs left for victory Shazy was also runout after a mix-up with Aditya. That brought the swashbuckling Shreyas in to finish the run chase with Aditya that was achieved in the 23^rd over. All in all a very satisfactory day on the oval and a fitting end to the year.

Player of the Day was Amit Dhadwal: 31retired

Notable achievement: Brett Randell 3 for 14 from 4, 1 catch.

Grafton United 99/9 from 26

Eden Roskill Yorkers 100/6 from 22.5

KimRandell (Coach)

4/2/06

Giant Killers!

Today we played at home against Parnell Styris. When our coach arrived the whole team was already at the ground except Jay Vaddagiri who was able to substitute for the Bouncers on the adjacent pitch instead of being our 12^th man. What a bonus for Bouncers because jay took 3 wickets and 2 catches. Their coach arrived and told us they were unbeaten in six games. We lost the toss and were sent in which was okay because we had wanted to bat first on such a beautiful morning.

Our first over was full of dot balls except one run but that was okay because we weren’t in a hurry and by the tenth over the opening partnership between Munsarim Ahmed and Amit Dhadwal had realised 40, a great start. Unfortunately that was the end of it with Amit hitting a catch to dismiss himself. That brought Shyam Mehta to the crease and a new partnership ensued with Munsarim reaching 30 before retiring. Brett Randell joined Shyam but was caught for just 6 when he didn’t go though with the shot. Two balls later Pranil was back in the shed without troubling the scorers and Shyam was caught out on 14 with the score at 85 for 4. Another run was added before Rohan was caught without scoring leaving Mitch Cooper and Joshua Curran to complete the innings at 97 for 6 from 26 overs.

With such a small total to defend the very first ball of their innings was crucial when Brett had their vice-captain hit the inside edge to knock out off stump. Six runs later Brett took a catch off Munsarim

to send their number 3 back to the shed. It took a further 25 runs before we had the other opener out, runout brilliantly by Aditya Dhadwal. As long as their number 4 was there they were scoring at a reasonable rate and it looked as though they would romp home but Amit had him sky one in the air that Mitch secured in the gloves and their captain strode to the crease to face one ball and be caught and bowled by Pranil Ranchhod. They were falling quickly now and 3 runs later Joshua rattled the woodwork to keep his reputation of one wicket per match intact, 52 for 6. Just 3 more runs were added when Pranil took his second catch, this time off Chris Khouri’s bowling, but then a little partnership began and when Rohan Modak dropped a sitter caught and bowled chance he had to follow up with the very next ball smashing into the stumps and they were 66 for 8. Most of the bowling had been too short today but Aditya got his reward for bowling everything full when Joshua caught number 9. It only took a further 3 balls before Brett took his second catch of Rohan’s bowling and they were all out for 69. A comfortable win in the end.

Scores were: Eden Roskill Yorkers 97 for 6 off 26 overs.

Parnell Styris 69 all out off  21.3 overs

Player of the day:                  Rohan Modak 2 for 2 from 1.3

Notable Achievements:            Munsarim Ahmed 30 from 60 Retired 1 for 8 from 2 overs.

Special mention:                         Jay Vaddagiri 3 wickets 2 catches.

Kim Randell (Coach)

11/2/06

Shut down!

Last night around 9.00pm the heavens opened and the downpour that followed had us worried that the ground we were to play on today might be closed, but although the fog had descended early morn, by 8.00am the sun was drying the outfield.

Captain Brett Randell was very happy when he lost the toss and was put in. You see with damp ground we think it’s better to hit the ball on the ground and so make it difficult for the fielding team with a slippery ball, but Parnell Martin are a very good fielding unit, probably the best we’ve faced.

Today we experimented with the openers and because Munsarim Ahmed, our usual opener, was carrying an injury we put our identical twins in to face the pace of the opening bowlers. The first over realised just a single and a wide but the next was a gift to the Dhadwal twins with 6 runs in the book including 1 run and 5 wides and then they took 5 runs off the next before Aditya was brilliantly caught behind from a great piece of keeping. Chris Khouri at number 3 was the next experiment and he was off the mark with the very first ball he faced, but next ball Amit had his castle knocked over and both twins were back in the hutch.

The Captain faced the last ball of the fourth over and it took another 6 balls before we scored again. What followed was a very fine partnership between Chris and Brett realising 28 runs before Brett was adjudged caught behind from the pad for 15. 11 runs later Chris was bowled with the score at 52 for 4 from15.3 overs and it seemed a tactical rethink was needed. Munsarim joined Vice Captain Shyam Mehta in the middle and immediately took a run off the first ball he faced. Shyam had been there for 7 balls before he cracked a boundary and together they began to turn over the strike for a partnership of 12 before Munsarim was needlessly runout from a mix-up on the back of excellent fielding. Still the coach saw the need for the change of tactics and sent in Shreyas Mishra who, with a lump of well-fashioned willow in his hands can be lethal. Dot, smash (4), smash (4), 1, 1,1, nicked behind for the keepers third catch for 11 from 7 balls. Pranil Ranchhod has been sorely out of form this past season so a huge responsibility rested on those young shoulders and he steered the innings home with, first Shyam and then, when Shyam was run out, Joshua Curran finishing with 8 from 10.

With just 108 runs scored for 7 wickets from 26 overs we needed an exceptional effort in the field, and without our regular wicket keeper

even more pressure was put on the bowlers to keep it tight. No sooner had we moved Mitch to cover than their opener hit the ball straight down his throat and Munsarim had the first wicket in just the second over with the score at 8. Rohan Modak is bowling really well at the moment so he took first change with Shyam at the other end who was being uncharacteristically smashed to all ends of the park Then when Pranil bowled his first and went for 9 it was looking as though we were staring at a hiding but next over Jay Vaddagiri took out middle stump to send their number three marching and they were 40 for 2. Parnell seemed to be doing this in their sleep but a fantastic piece of keeping by Amit in the next over stumping the second opener and they were 54 for 3 and drinks were taken. That brought their Captain to the wicket who set about compiling a long innings sharing in sharing in 5 partnerships. First ball after drinks saw Pranil runout their number 4, 54 for 4. Shreyas bowled immaculately in his first spell with just a leg bye from his 2 overs. Undoubtedly this turned the match for us.

The next partnership was 11 before Brett took a magnificent overhead catch off Aditya’s bowling and 4 balls later Amit took his first catch behind the stumps as stand in keeper. A double wicket maiden. 65 for 6. Still the Captain was there, back came Brett for his second spell and bowled first number 8 and then deceived the Captain with a change up. Another runout to Pranil at 86 for 8 with just 3.1 overs to go and 23 runs to win it looked as though we had the game won, but not being complacent back came first Jay for 1 run, then Rohan for 3 and finally Shreyas for 5 runs to carry out a well fought win.

Parnell Martin fell 14 runs short and Eden Roskill Yorkers have another scalp in the cabinet this season.

Scores were:             Yorkers 108 for 7 from 26 overs 

Shyam Mehta 24, Brett Randell 15

Parnell Martin 95 for 9 from 26 overs

Aditya Dhadwal 2-1-3-2

Brett Randell 4-0-8-2

Man of the Match: Shreyas Mishra 11 from 7; 3-2-6-0

Kim Randell (Yorkers Coach)

18/2/06

Look out worms!

This last week was very interesting and different because neither the Captain nor the Coach were at training so today the Vice Captain, Shyam Mehta, stepped up won the toss and chose to bat.

Hmmmn! Interesting decision after inspecting the pitch that was cracked, but quite green and damp, and conditions cloudy overhead. Of course with every game of cricket, time tells. So Munsarim Ahmed and Amit Dhadwal strode to the crease to begin the innings. When the second ball pitched on a good length and didn’t bounce at all the worms ducked for cover, and the keeper used his gloves like a spade to scoop it up into his hands. Two balls later Munsarim managed to get bat on ball for the first run of the day and then a dot, and last ball of the over another worm ducked as the ball rolled past the keeper to effect a bye. That first over set the tone for the whole match but one end was lower than the other so runs came a little more freely from the north end. Amit and Munsarim have developed good understanding with each other and quick singles were run quite often until Munsarim was caught at short cover, 38 for 1. Not long after Chris Khouri came to the wicket Amit was caught short of his ground and we were 40 for 2 after 10.3 overs.

With the Captain not playing Shreyas Mishra was moved up to number 4 and in his usual swashbuckling fashion coupled with some lovely cricket shots he and Chris moved the score to 65 at which time Chris had his stumps rocked back to bring acting Captain Shyam to the crease. 13 runs later Shyam was run out by a clever bit of cricket, 78 for 4 from 18.5 overs and a run rate of 4.2. Shreyas was caught out just 6 runs later and Mitch Cooper began to up the run rate whenever he could in partnership with, first Rohan Modak, then Aditya Dhadwal and finally with just 3 balls left Pranil Ranchhod joined him to complete the innings. After 25 overs we had scored 111 for 6 at a run rate of 4.4.

Rohan took the new ball for the first time ever and bowled a good first over for 4 runs and his second for just a single. On occasion the worms were hurried back underground in this innings also but as the sun burnt the pitch dryer the ball bounced a little more, but as mentioned earlier in this report, runs came more easily from the other end so that after 10 overs Howick/Pakuranga Black had 63 runs in the score book for the loss of 2 wickets. That called for some tightening that Pranil kindly provided with a maiden for the eleventh over that began the squeeze that enabled us to make inroads in their lineup when first Munsarim took a great catch in Joshua Curran’s second over. What followed was some marvellous bowling from first, Amit with 1 run from his first over, and then Chris with a maiden and then a wicket for 2 runs so that we had them needing 27 runs from 5 overs with 5 wickets in hand.

They began to throw the bat at each delivery and in the 21^st over Mitch took an absolutely magnificent catch from Shyam’s bowling but Pranil went for 6. Now they needed 22 from 3 overs. A boundary was taken from the fourth ball of Shyam’s last over but that was all and Mitch had his first stumping from Chris’s in the next so Joshua came back to bowl the last. Dot, 1, stumped, bowled, 2, 1, run out.

Win by 7 runs to Eden Roskill Yorkers.

Scores were: Eden Roskill Yorkers 111 for 6

                            MVP Chris Khouri 3-1-4-2, 1 catch, 7 runs

                            Joshua Curran 3-0-8-3

                            Mitch Cooper 2 stumpings, 1 catch, 13 not out.

    Howick/Pakuranga Black 102      

Report compiled by: Kim Randell (Coach)

25/2/06

The miser’s touch!

Overcast conditions, a light zephyr blowing from the south, a good toss to win that Captain Brett Randell did well and yes, sent University Broncos in. It was December when University Mustangs thrashed us and only last week we saw them thrash another good team so, with some inside knowledge we thought it would be a tough game.

For the third time this season Brett knocked the off stump out of the ground with the first ball of the day to remove one of their best batsmen. For the next 10 overs and five balls our bowlers were very tight and we had the Broncos restricted to 30 runs but the over before drinks a poor over released the shackles with 8 runs off it and then Chris Khouri struck with 1 from 2 for 4. Joshua Curran, Jay Vaddagiri and Amit Dhadwal followed up with just 17 from 6 overs and they were now 65 for 2.

Back came Brett, Pranil Ranchhod, Shreyas Mishra and Joshua and between them they effected a further 5 wickets for only 20 runs. To be fair, today was a really miserly bowling performance and when time was up we had kept them to 84 for 7.

With just 85 to win we began with our usual batting order with the instructions to play off the front foot to negate the uneven bounce. For the first 3 overs they were adhered to but Munsarim Ahmed was caught on his crease to lose our first at 11. Chris came to the block and was run out when he seemed glued to the non- strikers end, 15 for 2. The very next ball Amit was also bowled while still in his crease, 15 for 3. Come the Captain and Joshua for a partnership of 5 before Joshua walked outside leg stump once too often and Mitch joined Brett to star in a well contrived 39 run partnership when Brett retired to give our usual # 11 a chance at the bowling up the order. With the retirement of Mitch there was need to have a more senior player join Jay and Pranil filled that requirement. Both batsmen applied themselves well but Jay spewed one straight back at the bowler and Rohan arrived with only 6 runs to win from 5.2 overs but four balls later Rohan stayed in his crease when called for a run and Pranil was badly run out, five balls later the game was in the bag.

Statistics will show that University Broncos reached 84 for 7 from 26 overs and Eden Roskill Yorkers replied with 90 for 6 from 23 overs.

Man of the Match was Brett Randell - 3 for 7 from 4 and 22 from 30 balls retired.

Notable achievements:             Mitch Cooper - 22 from 38 retired

                                    Shreyas Mishra - A superb catch at silly mid wicket.

Kim Randell (Coach)

4/3/06

Run Over!

We lost the toss today and were sent in, not what we desired but after Munsarim Ahmed and Amit Dhadwal had set themselves they shared a 45 run partnership before Munsarim was bowled for 21 after some very fine shot making.

Pranil Ranchhod hadn’t batted at 3 for some weeks while working his way out of a form slump but, today was the day we needed him to step up and with some restored confidence he set about a quick fire 5 runs from 7 balls until he knocked one straight back at the bowler.

Enter the Captain, Brett Randell who faced one dot and then began running twos at will helping Amit to his 35 retired with the score at

87. Shyam Mehta came and went after trying to up the run rate at the   coach’s request and just one run later Brett chased a high full toss only to sky it and make his way back to the shed. Mitch Cooper swung his bat at everything but couldn’t seem to connect this week and Aditya Dhadwal mistimed a strike and walked. With the score at 114 for 5 and just 4 balls left, Shreyas Mishra strode out and smashed a quick 3 runs to give us 118 to defend from 25 overs.

Brett and Munsarim began superbly with the first an impeccable maiden and after 4 overs we had not one but two back in the hutch for 10 runs. What followed unfortunately were some costly misfields as we let them get away to 45 before two more wickets fell. Usually the Yorkers are a very tight fielding unit but today the ball seemed to escape our grasp so when Shreyas threw the stumps down to dismiss number 6 at 80 for 5 there was some relief in the camp. Another quick three wickets for only 22 runs gave a lot of hope to us that we could actually bowl the opposition out and then after their ninth went the scores were tied with 10 balls left. One ball later when a full toss was smashed to the boundary our five match-winning streak had ended but we held our heads high for a very competitive game and lots to work on at practice.

Score were: Eden Roskill Yorkers 118 for 5 from 25 overs

Amit Dhadwal 35 runs retired; Brett Randell 26 and Munsarim Ahmed 21

Howick/Pakuranga White 122 for 9 from 23.3 overs

Munsarim Ahmed 2 overs 0 maidens 8 runs 2 wickets, 1 run out.

Shreyas Mishra 2 overs 0 maidens 13 runs 2 wickets, 1 run out.      

Kim Randell (Yorkers coach)

11/3/06

Bowlers do their stuff!

6.30am. It’s pitch black but time to get ready for the next battle with Cornwall Cricket Club. We were told that Cornwall Hadlee was unbeaten so, with a plan and a purpose we readied ourselves for the conflict.

After arriving at Keith Hay Park # 6 at 8.00am it was very evident that the ball was going to get quite wet if it was hit on the ground because there was a lot of dew, so the plan was to win the toss and bat first. It’s all very well to have a plan but if you can’t control the flip of the coin then you have to rely on the opposition giving you what you want. That is exactly what happened, they won the toss and sent us in. What a disaster, just eight balls into the match Amit Dhadwal didn’t quite get onto the ball properly, spooned it in the air to short mid wicket, 4 for 1. A miniature partnership of 23 runs between Munsarim Ahmed and Chris Khouri resulted before Munsarim also mishit a shot to be caught also and 11 runs later Chris smacked one straight back at the bowler who, to be fair, had to make quite a lot of ground before taking the ball with one hand just inches from the ground. 38 for 3.

This meant that once again the Captain and Vice-captain were in the middle together. Slowly, but surely they set about compiling a score that we might be able to defend, turning the strike over at times and running lots of twos to reach 83 for 3 when Brett Randell retired not out after accelerating his score to 24. Aditya Dhadwal came and went quite quickly being centimetres short of his ground trying to push the pace which meant that Shreyas Mishra, as so often happens, had only 3 balls to face. Dot, four, 2, change of innings at 102 for 4 from 24 overs. The rules stipulate that all overs short of 25 overs shall have 5 penalty runs added to the batting teams score so that meant Hadlee must score 108 in 25 overs to win.

Oh no, the very first ball gave two runs and an extra ball to be bowled because it was wide, but that dismay was short lived as Chris took a good catch at short cover on the very next ball. 2 for 1. Munsarim began his first spell almost impeccably when he had a wicket with his sixth ball for only one run from the over. Two balls later after some very poor fielding the batsmen had run 4 from a shot that only deserved one at the most. Still we stuck to our plan and by the time the first change had come they were 10 for 2. Unfortunately after some very wayward and costly bowling we let them off the hook and it wasn’t until the score was 42 that Jay Vaddagiri, with Dad shouting encouragement from the boundary, bowled his second over as a wicket maiden when Amit Dhadwal whipped off the bails for a superb stumping.

The very next over Pranil Ranchhod finally took out their opener with a peach of a delivery that spun through the gate to rattle the stumps and they were 42 for 4. Only 14 balls later he had his second with a similar delivery, 46 for 5.The new batsmen settled in a little until Aditya fired a rocket in to run out the sixth wicket. The next pair fought hard to increase their score to 94 at the end of the day but falling 14 runs short.

So, Eden Roskill Yorkers add another scalp to the belt and look forward to playing our next match, a return against Grafton United, but this time on our home ground not theirs.

Scores were Yorkers: 107 for 4 from 25 overs

Brett Randell 24 retired not out

Cornwall Hadlee: 94 for 6 from 25 overs

Jay Vaddagiri 4 overs 1 maiden 10 runs 1 wicket

Pranil Ranchhod 4 overs 1 maiden 14 runs 2 wickets

Kim Randell (Coach)

18/3/06

Return Match at Home

We had faced Grafton United once before and been victorious so when we realised we were drawn to face them again it gave us opportunity to experiment and have some fun. Usually if we get to choose we prefer to bat on a damp outfield, which is how it was today, but Brett Randell, Captain, after discussion with the coach, won the toss and put them in. Amit Dhadwal took the new ball and Joshua Curran shared it but the first change of Jay Vaddagiri was what brought the first breakthrough when he wiped out middle and off to start their demise. Of course we hadn’t figured on their number 3 who put up quite a lot of resistance sharing in the next three partnerships before he was finally out when the score was 57 for 4. Aditya Dhadwal bowled their opener for 11 and Rohan Modak had the third wicket when Munsarim Ahmed took a great catch at backward square leg.

Shyam Mehta has been quite dry of wickets recently but Chris Khouri helped him out not once but twice taking 2 great catches at short cover. Munsarim and Brett usually share the new ball so it was quite unusual to find them bowling overs 17 and 18 as maidens and then each of them took a wicket each in their 3^rd and 4^th overs combined with a runout by Rohan in the last over Brett bowled to reduce Grafton to 77 all out from 23.5 overs.

Now Pranil Ranchhod and Aditya are reasonably proficient with bat in hand so they were chosen to open our innings. They managed to begin at a reasonable clip of nearly 4 runs per over before Pranil sent one in the air to be caught at short cover with the score at 18. That brought Joshua to the middle and he and Aditya set about taking their opportunity with both hands to score a 60 run partnership and win the game with nearly 6 overs to spare.

Scores were: Grafton United 77 all out.

Shyam Mehta 2-1-2-2; Brett Randell 4-1-6-2;

Munsarim Ahmed 4-1-10-2

Eden Roskill Yorkers 78 for 1

Joshua Curran 25 Not Out; Aditya Dhadwal 23 Not Out.

Kim Randell (Coach)

25/3/06

Seasons End!

Last game of the season has come upon us and it is with some sadness that we must disband for the winter but not before completing a very close game that was concluded in the final over of the day.

We lost the toss and were sent in. My instructions to the opening pair of Amit Dhadwal and Munsarim Ahmed were, “We’ve beaten them before so just go and have some fun.” They began as they usually do, quick running between the wickets and after 3 overs they had 10 on the board but Munsy swung too early at a ball in the very next and had his stumps rattled. What followed was quite humorous for me to watch as Amit was caught out with the score at 23 then 9 runs later in the eighth with the score at 32 we lost first; Shreyas Mishra and then Brett Randell in consecutive balls. It seemed that 9 runs was to be the average partnership at that point because Shyam Mehta was stumped with the score at 41. That brought Mitch Cooper to join Aditya Dhadwal and the pair set about a much-needed 34 run partnership Aditya went when he was bowled and the score read 77 for 6. Joshua Curran joined Mitch who was retired not long after reaching 21 from only 29 balls with the score at 90. Chris Khouri joined Joshua and together they moved the score on to 100 at the end of the 24^th over. We then retired Joshua and Pranil Ranchhod ran 5 more runs from Chris’ batting to complete the innings at 105 for 6 from 25 overs.

The Parnell Styris innings began with amazing bowling from our front liners, first Brett and then Munsy bowled 2 overs each for 3 runs, then Shyam and Jay Vaddagiri shared a wonderful partnership also when they went for just 12 runs from their 4 overs. This was a coach’s dream come true. They were followed by Pranil who went for only 5 off his 2 overs but, as sometimes happens, a couple of bowlers in the middle spell were carted around the ground but Mitch got the first batsman’s wicket with his last ball, not bad when you consider he hasn’t bowled a ball in a match for about a year. The remaining bowlers bowled really well also but it was that middle spell that cost us and when they had just 11 to win from 12 balls their number 7 and 9 batsmen smashed 8 runs off Munsy’s last over to leave 3 for the last. A close finish and while we went out to have fun primarily we played as a team and learned some valuable lessons.

In the coach’s opinion cricket won on the day and we can beat anyone if we discipline ourselves and stick to a game plan.

Player of the day was undoubtedly Mitch Cooper with his 21 runs and 1 wicket. Guys who need to be mentioned are: Amit Dhadwal, 2 wickets for 8 runs; Shreyas Mishra, 2 wickets for 9 runs; Aditya Dhadwal, 2 brilliant catches; Joshua Curran, 1 caught and bowled for 10; Pranil Ranchhod, 0 for 5; Shyam Mehta, 0 for 5, 1 catch; Jay Vaddagiri, 0 for 7; Chris Khouri, 0 for 10, 11 from 17; Munsarim Ahmed, 0 for 13 from 4; and Brett Randell, 0 for 6 from 2.2 and great captaincy.

Kim Randell (Coach)

Greater Auckland area Junior Competition

24/2/07 A fivefa!    Today, a milestone was realised. Having declared last Saturday at 122 for 9 we needed quick wickets and as Brett Randell and Munsarim Ahmed had already bowled their maximum 5 overs each in their first spell on the first day we had to rely upon the rest of the team to do their job on the second day. Shyam Mehta chimed in with one from his second over of the day and now it appeared that the opposition was reeling at 54 for 7 but they defiantly ‘dug in’ so that the next 8 overs cost us runs we couldn’t afford but Shreyas Mishra broke the partnership that had realised 32 runs. Some very fine containment was the next order of the day when Jay Vaddagiri went for just 4 runs from 3 overs and Joshua Curran had the very fine figures of 1 for 4 from 2.2 when Marcus Barfoot took a really fine nick into the gloves, but, before Joshua could take that wicket, the last of their innings, Brett brought himself back with great success to snare number nine batsman and get his first ever 5 wicket bag and his best figures to date of 5 for 10 with 2 maidens including a double wicket maiden from just 6 overs. We stopped their innings at 106 from 33 overs in two minutes less than two hours. Time for the batsmen to do their job! With little time left, only about 2 and a quarter hours, our game plan became urgent, move the hitters up the order to give us a good chance of setting them a target and time enough to bowl them out. Shreyas Mishra has the top strike rate in the team and is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with, so he joined Munsarim as the opening pair. 16 runs were in the book off 17 balls when Munsarim played the ball on and walked back to the shed with head hung low and Brett joined Shreyas who realised 40 runs from 47 balls but was caught after mistiming one as he tried to go over the top once again. The partnership was very valuable having scored 71 runs. Hamish Kumar, who usually bats at 10 or 11, was next to prove he could score quickly so he and Brett saw us home in on our target of 120 runs for 1 wicket in 84 minutes. Job done! Number six wicket for the match came Brett’s way when in his first over he trapped their opening bat plumb in front for the second time in the match. Munsarim followed up with one blemish off his first over and Brett snared 2 more as first Shreyas reached full stretch to his left about wicket height off the ground to cup the ball and dismiss number 2. The very next ball, a Yorker, got through the defences of the fourth batsman to trap him on the back foot in front of middle. Now it was Munsarim’s turn when he smashed the ball into middle stump and the score was 4 for 10. At this point Parnell Gower came to their senses and our opening bowlers were somewhat expensive over the next 6 overs as 25 runs were scored. The last over of the match was more testament to a great bowling attack when Shyam sent number 3 back to the pavilion with his first ball. We missed out on the outright but this win took us up the points table significantly. Bring on the next opposition I say. Player of the day was Shreyas Mishra: 40 runs 1 wicket and 1 superb catch. Special note went to Bhargav Dave for his 27 in the first and a wicket. Marcus Barfoot took another ribbon home for his fielding effort. Brett Randell was Man of the Match: 5 for 2, 3 for 19 and 31 not out.   Kim Randell (Yorkers Coach) 17/2/06 Never Before!   At 7.00am this morning when I opened the Venetians there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I woke the Captain and said when you win the toss you should bat. As we drove to the ground the sun was beaming through the glass of the windscreen so I expected a big score. What followed was amazing. New Zealand Cricket’s latest logo says “Cricket, Anything Can Happen” It sure did! Everything went according to plan, Brett Randell won the toss and with the new opening combination of Rugved Deshpande and Shyam Mehta we were a little nervous but, we began well with Shyam keeping the first very accurate over off his stumps, a leg bye off the first of the second and we were under way. Next ball and a mixup between them saw Rugved only half way down the pitch when the bails were whipped off to run him out for zero. Munsarim Ahmed is seeing the ball like a beach ball at the moment and was immediately off the mark with a single. A mini partnership of 16 runs ensued when Shyam was caught short of his ground, run out. That brought Brett to the wicket but just 10 runs later Munsy nicked and the keeper snared a beauty to send him back to the shed. DISASTER! 26 for 3, regroup, regroup! Shreyas Mishra has been in top form of late so there was a sense of relief in management to know that he was out there with the captain who unfortunately was given out off his thigh pad, caught behind, 36 for 4. Bhargav Dave bats at 6 for us and he immediately set about turning the strike over but Shreyas with the score at 49 chased a bouncer to get a thick top edge that was caught quite easily at third man. We were falling like leaves in autumn. Vivek Vaidya is one of the boys in our team who opens for us at times and he looked really good when he hit a perfect on drive through the field for 4 runs but, he was undone 5 balls later with the score at 58 for 6 from 15 overs. Drinks were taken and Jay Vaddagiri partnered Bhargav to get the score in reach of the hundred when he was bowled through the gate. Enter Joshua Curran, a young man with lots of responsibility on his young shoulders. Unfortunately, undone just 10 runs later when he smashed the ball back at the bowler who held it aloft in his mitt, triumphant. Now was the time for decision making. Do we continue to bat until we are dismissed or do we wrest the initiative and declare? We did the latter. We reached 122 for 9 from 31 overs at a run rate of 3.93. Of course, all this means nothing unless we bowl well.   Brett delivered his very first ball with venom making the batsman play defensively, and then the second brought a similar result. The third strayed onto leg stump and was despatched to the boundary followed by three more dots. Munsarim was also very accurate in his first over and our boys were throwing themselves around in the field cutting everything down to singles so after the first two overs they had 7 runs in the book. Brett’s next ball smashed into middle stump that caused their first drop to stride to the wicket. He took guard on centre and never saw the missile that sent the bails flying in all directions, a golden duck. A sigh of despair was heard as number four defended the hattrick ball, but Brett was bowling brilliantly and two more balls resulted in no further score added, a double wicket maiden. Munsarim searched and probed with his next over but again the over cost 4 runs and Brett bowled another maiden. These two work very well in tandem, Munsarim came back with 2 more runs off his next and Brett went for a single before trapping their opener plumb. This, ……………, was getting exciting! Dot, one, dot, shattered middle again, 4 for 6 from 4 overs, yahoo! Munsarim continued to probe so well that he cost just a single off his next over and Brett also cost a single off his fifth over but the scorebook was blemished by a leg bye and four byes, spell completed! First ever 4 wicket bag, not just for Brett but for the team as well. Munsarim had one over to bowl to complete his spell and he began well with a dot, then a leg bye was added to their total another dot a single a dot and the next ball was driven hard and low into the off side where Shreyas dived to his left to snare Munsy’s first wicket off the last ball of his spell. Now we have them 5 for 24 from 10 overs. Great bowling boys. Now it was Hamish Kumar’s turn to have a go from the south with Bhargav from the north. We searched and probed for that sixth wicket and were finally rewarded in the 16th over when Bhargav rattled the stumps with his last ball of the day. The last over of the day was bowled by Shyam Mehta, which went for 2 runs from the bat and 2 leg byes. Parnell were reeling, 6 for 45 Player of the day was Brett Randell with impressive figures of 4 for 7 for 5 overs with 2 maidens. A mention goes to Bhargav Dave for his contribution with the bat of 27 runs and a wicket.   Kim Randell (Yorkers Coach)     16/12/2006  Comprehensive!   Today was our opportunity to enjoy the wonder of a setting that isn’t too dissimilar to an English common. Surrounded by trees with a terraced bank on one side Three Kings Reserve is a beautiful cricket ground, but the boundaries are very small in comparison to those we’ve been used to. The first day of this match last week was cancelled last week so the rules call for a limited overs match of maximum 30 overs but allowing 25 to be bowled to make a game. The opposition was Suburbs New Lynn who have never beaten us but have more district representatives than we have so it was with some determination we arrived at the ground intending to wipe them off the planet. The start wasn’t good after losing the toss and being sent in we had to rearrange our thinking because we wanted to bowl first. C’est la vie! Vivek Vaidya faced the first ball that kindly sailed outside the wide line to give us our first run and then he found it very difficult for the next four balls to get bat on ball but ran like the wind on the next as it was so wide the keeper couldn’t gather it in. So, Munsarim Ahmed faced the final two balls of the over, kept them out and Vivek faced the next over to take a single off the last ball of the over. The next ball he faced was driven hard across the ground to cross the boundary in very quick time. With a single off the next ball it appeared the training session last Wednesday had paid off and after the next few balls were very wayward we had 19 runs in the book from the first four overs. The opening partnership grew and grew and after Munsarim had smashed two fours and a two off consecutive balls in the tenth over he swung across the line to lose middle stump and end it at 61 for 1. Rugved stepped up with the coach’s thoughts that it was time he made a score and today, he obliged, in first a partnership with Vivek of 7 before Vivek fell to a slow bowler who deceived him with flight and then in a feature of quick singles with Brett Randell until with the score at 94 Brett was bowled having a heave at the ball that had hit him on the leg whilst taking a run just a moment before. Shyam Mehta had the unfortunate experience of walking out and back in one ball that brought Pranil Ranchhod to the middle. Finally Rugved misjudged the one that was not wide and on the wickets so that brought our newest team member, Atmay Goradia to the crease but he was run out after only 3 balls. Pranil scored a swashbuckling 10 before he was caught outside his crease and was stumped by some sharp work by their keeper and we had a mini collapse having lost four wickets for just 19 runs, up stepped Joshua Curran into the arena. Shreyas Mishra replaced Atmay; Swing of the bat, miss, 2 byes; Swing of the bat, 4 runs back over the head of the bowler; Swing of the bat, high in the air, lands safely over mid wicket while Joshua and he run two; Swing of the bat, 4 through square; Swing of the bat, fielded, dot; Swing of the bat, missed, wide outside off; Swing of the bat, wide down leg side over the boundary, 4;  Swing of the bat, fielded, dot; 16 runs off the over. That! ……, Was beautiful to watch. 131 for 7 Both Coach and Manager instructed the boys that they needed to bowl and field very well as it is a small ground. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Brett began well with a bye and 1 run off his first over, Munsarim took a wicket with his second ball and Shyam took care of the other opener with his ninth not to mention Hamish Kumar ripping number three’s stumps out of the ground after bowling more accurately than ever before and Jay Vaddagiri with the only maiden of the day. Our bowling and fielding were very tight so that by the time drinks had arrived they were reeling at 56 for 3 and needing 7.6 runs per over. Pranil gave them a little hope as they smashed him to all parts of the ground but Shreyas took care of that with a wicket from his first ball. Ravikesh Ram knocked over their danger man when he ran him out for 30 and not to be undone Joshua threw the stumps down to despatch the Captain who was beginning to open up. Rugved thought he couldn’t be left out and had one of their “big hitters” caught at mid-wicket in his second over. Once Ravikesh chimed in with the third ball of his third over and Hamish took a second with the first of his fourth it was left to Brett to mop up the tail with the fourth of his third over. All out for 101. A resounding victory and a very, very fine team effort. It was really quite difficult to nominate players of the day but Pranil took out that honour with fielding that might put the Blackcaps to shame. Joshua took a white ribbon for his fielding with 2 catches and a direct hit runout and Vivek grabbed the other one for scoring his personal best with the bat. Well done boys. The day was not yet complete though requiring one more award, that of Man of the Match; Hamish Kumar 4-0-12-2   Kim Randell (Yorkers Coach) 2/12/06  Epic Battle!   So, day two has arrived, and wow what a fantastic day for cricket, the slightest breath of wind, a smattering of cloud and glorious sunshine. Munsarim and Brett began better than they had left last week bowling a maiden each so that after 5 overs we had kept them to just 4 runs. Slowly the batsmen began to collect so that after ten overs they had reached 20 for no wicket. Unfortunately the next 5 overs weren’t quite so good as Cornwall McCullum’s openers applied themselves to rattle up 42 as we took our foot off the choker but suddenly two quick wickets from Joshua Curran that began with Marcus Barfoot’s first catch behind followed by a maiden from Pranil Ranchhod and the score slowed again. The game began to turn into an epic struggle as we got on top and then they rested the initiative from us and they got a valuable 28 runs before we captured another with a diving catch by Brett in gully off the bowling of Ravi Sharma and the score was 70 for 3. 37 runs were taken by the next partnership that caused us some grief because their opener just refused to go back to the shed but finally Brett threw down the stumps at the batsman’s end to effect his run out. One run later we had another when Shreyas Mishra smashed the middle stump so that timber went flying and at the other end Shyam Mehta sent off stump reeling form the first ball of his fourth over, now we were into their tail. By this time Brett was back into his work and after his second spell going for only four runs from four overs we were tying them up again but it took another 13 runs before we had number 8 on his way back to the pavilion from Hamish Kumar’s second spell. Again that struggle of earlier was evident as they began to take our bowling apart and not until they had passed our modest total by 10 runs did we get their ninth wicket beautifully bowled by Munsarim Ahmed. Too late the horse had bolted and 6 runs later with the score at 162 they closed their first innings and we began our second. With ten minutes remaining we thought it important to score as many runs as quickly as we could so we sent Shreyas and Munsarim in to smash the ball to all parts of the ground, good in theory but with the score at 7, Shreyas pulled out of the shot as he hit across the line and popped it in the air to allow Brett to step up and take a well run 3 from a well struck cover drive off the first ball he faced. Munsarim seemed to be there as an onlooker when he finally got bat on ball in two consecutive balls that gave Brett the strike back and the game was over after they had run a bye.   Eden Roskill Yorkers 146 and 15 for 1 Cornwall McCullum                 162 for 9   Player of the day:        Brett Randell 10 overs, 3 maidens, none for 17; 1 catch;                                  1 direct hit runout Notable achievements: Pranil Ranchhod 4 overs, 1 maiden, none for 9.                                  Joshua Curran 6 overs 2 for 22   Special Note:              Munsarim Ahmed is my player of the match having scored                                 41 runs and taken 2 for 20 from 9 overs with 2 maidens                                 plus a catch.   Marcus Barfoot continues to improve each week behind the stumps.   Kim Randell (Yorkers Coach)   25/11/06 Day One!   Finally, ……….. It’s here! For five years the team has been looking forward to playing the longer version of the game of cricket and it arrived today with a little cloud in the sky but otherwise it was fine. We lost the toss and were put in to bat. The team set out to be patient and bat out the time available whilst having a target in mind to declare at. Munsarim Ahmed and Vivek Vaidya strode out to the middle and set about running quick singles putting pressure on the field but with the score on 8 from just 3 overs Vivek was caught short of his ground with his score at just 3. Man of the match from the week previous stepped up and Rugved Deshpande and Munsarim carried on running quick singles. After just another couple of runs a misfield resulted in Munsarim calling Rugved through who was also caught short. The score was now 10 for 2 from only 4 overs. Oh dear! Enter the Captain, Brett Randell and now some certain sense was brought to the middle as he and Munsarim pile on a partnership of 36 before Brett tried to tickle one to fine leg and played on. Ouch! Shyam Mehta at number 5 is one of the senior players in the team and Vice Captain but after playing across the line and playing on also we were reeling at 49 for 4 and only 21 overs gone. Shreyas Mishra has promised so much and he began to deliver together with Munsarim who had been dropped a couple of times and the partnership realised 36 runs before Munsarim popped one in the air and was caught on 38. 85 for 5 from 30 overs. Now another of our senior players has been struggling a little with the bat for some time but at training last Wednesday Pranil Ranchhod showed promise a he changed his approach and began scoring quick singles while putting the bad ball away and he carried that approach into today’s innings combining with Shreyas in a very valuable partnership of 17 runs at which point a great catch put paid to Shreyas with his score at 22 off only 36 balls. Marcus Barfoot was next at number 8 and the coach’s heart was in his mouth as the first ball Marcus faced sailed past the stumps with only a coat of varnish to spare, but he survived and went on to feature in a 15 run partnership before the coat of varnish was not required as middle stump went flying and he was on his way to the showers with the score at 117 for 7. Pranil was still there looking ever like the batsman of old and when Joshua Curran joined him the pair added 28 runs before Joshua nicked one and selflessly walked as he was adjudged not out by the umpire. Management were considering the declaration at 150 or 11.45 a.m. whichever came first. Hamish Kumar joined Pranil but with the score still on 145 for 8 Pranil swung a little early at a good length and lost middle stump. Welcome back Pranil! Last man at the crease was Ravi Sharma who defended the next 3 balls that brought Hamish on strike for the next over who played the ball into short mid wicket for a quick single leaving Ravi to face the next 3 successfully. First ball of the fifty-fourth over Hamish played to mid off and Ravi backing up didn’t get back in time as the bails were lifted to dismiss the final wicket. The declaration decision was taken out of our hands but the timing was just about right. 146 from 53.1 overs in 3 hours and 15 minutes. Brett and Munsarim had just 3 overs at them which were very fine overs as they restricted Cornwall to only 4 runs. All in all, a reasonably successful days cricket with something to look forward to next week. Player of the Day:                         Joshua Curran for his integrity Notable achievements:                Pranil Ranchhod 22 and Shreyas Mishra 22. Well done boys!   Kim Randell (Yorkers Coach)     18/11/06 Walked!   An amazing example was set today, but, wait, let’s talk about the game. For days the forecasters have been telling us it was going to rain the next day, so when we awoke at 6.30am and it was overcast but fine it looked as though they got it wrong again. We set off to a ground we had never played at before and when we drove down the hill and saw the ground below us it was quite a pleasant sight. Some of the team were there already and others got a little lost but did arrive before too long. The captain won the toss and chose to bat because we had discussed the effect the strong winds could have on the bowlers and the thought that it might not blow as hard later in the morning just before the forecast rain would come. Vivek Vaidya faced the first ball that came sweetly off the bat towards mid-off and 5 balls later had successfully negotiated a maiden over. First ball of the second was wide and so called so that gave us our first run to start the day and last ball of the same over Munsarim Ahmed tickled the ball round the corner for a single and he was under way. Two balls later he knocked one past cover and while attempting the second run the ball came flying in from the fielder and wiped the stumps out to catch Munsi short of his ground by inches. Enter Rugved Deshpande, we’ve been really blessed by this young man’s inclusion in the team and when after facing 5 balls he nicked one that the keeper gloved the appeal was almost heard back at our clubrooms 30 minutes drive away. The umpire remained static so Rugved set an example to anyone and everyone who might consider dishonestly staying at the crease; he walked! The opposition gave him a standing ovation and our Captain, Brett Randell, strode out to the middle with the thought of a long innings on his mind. Eighteen balls and 12 runs later the partnership between Vivek and Brett was broken when Vivek smashed one straight back at the bowler who snared it in both hands and we sent in Shyam Mehta to join Brett and the pair set about building a valuable partnership that was interrupted with a rain delay. Finally at drinks with the score at 44 for 3 the heavens opened, we were saturated and the pitch became unplayable.           Man of the Match:           Rugved Deshpande          Superb sportsmanship. Notable Achievements:    Brett Randell                   11 from 29 balls                                     Shyam Mehta                  10 from 28 balls 11/11/06 Caught Out!   The day dawned with grey skies, the pitch was soft and green, and so when our Captain won the toss it was only sensible to choose to bowl. On practice night we had trained with an older team who batted which gave us the opportunity to change our bowling order to see if we could negate the opposition’s very fine top order. At practice we kept them to 51 from 20 overs so it seemed a positive step, and it proved to be. After the first four overs by Joshua Curran and Pranil Ranchhod we had starved the opening pair for a measly 9 runs and then when Jay Vaddagiri and Rugved Deshpande followed up with 12 from the next four the pressure on the batsmen was beginning to tell. So when Shyam Mehta arrived at the bowling crease it only took 5 more balls before the first batsman was sent back to the shed. Vivek Vaidya followed up with another great spell going at just 4 runs from his 2 overs. We were ripping through the overs so that when drinks were taken the time was only 10 past nine and in the very next over Ravi Sharma had his first Yorkers wicket when Munsarim took a magnificent one handed catch over his head just behind gully so after 15 they were 42 for 2. The plan seemed to be working as Hamish Kumar supported Ravi at the other end for 5 from his 2 then Brett Randell and Munsarim Ahmed combined for 12 off their 4 so that after 20 overs bowled they had scored exactly 60 runs. Round about now the batsmen felt the pressure and began to up the run rate so it was welcome relief when Munsarim threw the stumps down to dismiss the next batsman after they had ravaged Jay’s second spell for 10 runs. We continued to tie them down with Shyam from one end and Munsarim at the other who finally dismissed their number 3 when he smashed one down Shyam’s throat at square leg and was easily caught. It was now that we were faced with the left and right hand combination and this really upset Ravi’s line but he managed to take his second wicket even though he went for 10 off the over. About now overthrows cost us dearly as some of the boys got a rush of blood to the head and began to try and throw the stumps down from all over the park. But Munsarim sent another back to the hutch with a superb throw back to our keeper Marcus Barfoot who whipped the bails off as number 8 ran short of his ground. After Ravi trapped number 9 in front of the stumps he finished his 4 overs with 3 for 16, a creditable second outing for this accurate fast medium. We should have kept them under 100 but as it resulted the score finished at 105 for 7 from 29 overs. We had let them off the hook. One might think this game is looking like a Munsarim benefit and as he took guard to face the first ball hopes were high. He was off the mark immediately and Vivek responded in like fashion and 2 balls later Munsarim had the first 4 of our innings. After four overs we had 19 runs in the bank but Munsi sent Vivek back to his end as he attempted a quick single that just wasn’t there and Vivek was run out. Pranil hadn’t played at first drop for most of last season so when Rugved began the game carrying an injury on his knee I asked Pranil if he would play at 3. He agreed and began to support Munsi but in the seventh Munsi popped one in the air and he headed for the pavilion, 26 for 2. Enter the Captain, very confident with new bat in hand and instructions to simply keep the score ticking over which he did from the first ball he faced with an easy 2 through cover and point. Two balls later Pranil succumbed to popping the ball up to be caught at midon. That brought the Vice-Captain to the middle with the need to keep the ball on the ground but unlike Shyam, he lobbed the ball to square leg after facing just 3 that had us reeling at 28 for 4. Rugved favoured his injury somewhat and Brett at the other end gave him plenty of easy running by defending the ball and then hitting a single to keep Rugved from the strike. The run rate required began to climb so at drinks with the score at 46 the rate had risen from 3.6 required to 4 runs per over but we were struggling for batsmen. Four balls after drinks Brett was brilliantly caught inches from the ground as the fielder dived forward to a ball that was hit hard enough to make the boundary. Tough luck but great cricket. Marcus swung and missed o quite a few occasions before he also succumbed to cupped hands under the ball. Now it was Joshua’s turn at bat who also found it difficult to score but when Rugved was runout with the score at 49 for 7 Hamish and Joshua began a very important partnership realising 11 runs until Joshua skied one to be caught as well. Jay has moved up the order with the introduction of Ravi to the team, so 46 runs required was a large hurdle for Hamish and him to climb over. Hamish tried really hard but couldn’t get bat on ball very often and Jay was caught out of his ground deceived by the flight of a spin bowler to be stumped. Ravi faced the last ball of the over and Hamish scored another 2 off the first ball of the next but 3 dots later it was all over when he was trapped LBW to complete our innings 33 runs short of target.   Kim Randell (Coach)  4/11/06 Not quite!   Another glorious day greeted us so there was a certain good feeling amongst the team especially knowing that we now had a 12th man. Ravi Sharma joined us today. Cornwall Morrison won the toss and chose to bat that played right into our hands. Our first game of the season on grass and the pitch was beautifully prepared with damp outfield from the dew. It all looked and felt really good and what unfolded was a really great game of cricket. Brett Randell took the new ball and proceeded to send down the first delivery to an ex-team member but unusually for Brett he couldn’t find the target and went for too many extras in his first spell. Not to be undone we stayed with our bowling attack and after some extremely tight bowling from Munsarim Ahmed, none for 2 from 2, Hamish Kumar, none for 2 from 2, Shyam Mehta, none for 5 from 2 we had them at none for 21 from 8. They retired our ex-team mate on 8 after 8 so our new team member, Ravi Sharma entered the arena with more tight lines. Jay Vaddagiri attacked the batsmen at the other end and in his second over had the first wicket LBW as first drop was caught plumb playing back, our first LBW was in the book. It certainly was a beautiful ball and the score was 37 for 1. That brought their Captain to the middle and together with the other opener they gained another 13 runs before Joshua Curran had him sky one to cover and Shreyas Mishra held a great catch, 50 for 2. By now their opener was beginning to hit out so it wasn’t until 49 runs later that Hamish with the sixth ball of his second spell had him pop it straight up in the air and Marcus Barfoot, our keeper, raced around took the ball on the bounce and threw the wickets down, 99 for 3. In the very next over Shyam had his first wicket of the season when he got through the batsman’s defence and knocked his castle over, 104 for 4. Two overs later Brett took a brilliant running catch at short midwicket off Shyam to have them 117 for 5. Brett came back for his second spell with fire in his belly and their number 7 batsman copped a perfect Yorker that was stopped by his foot and he retired hurt. Four balls later he had his first wicket of the season as the batsman didn’t pick the pace and the stumps went flying. They set us a target of 120 from 25 overs so with run rate at 4.77 we set a plan of defending the good ball and putting the bad ball away. Joshua was given the task of opening with Munsarim today and the pair set about quick running between the wickets so that after the first 3 overs we were right on the run rate with 14 runs in the scorebook. The very next ball saw a big swing from Joshua at a ball that wiped out middle stump. Enter Rugved Deshpande who had batted so well the previous week with Munsarim but in the 5th with just another 6 runs added Munsarim was drawn into having a go at a full toss that he put in the air and the catch was taken, 20 for 2, regroup, regroup! Out strolled the Captain who promised much with a single off the first ball he faced but Rugved was to lose his patience just 8 runs later. Shyam and Brett have been in these situations many times before, they knew what was needed and set about compiling and collecting that might have seen the Blackcaps into the ICC final. At drinks they had moved the score along to 55 for 3 but then Cornwall put the brakes on so the run rate climbed over 6 an over, so with instruction from the coach they began to swing at everything and with 22 more in the book Brett was caught brilliantly at cover for 20, 77 for 4 and just 7 overs left to get 43. That brought Pranil Ranchhod to the crease who popped one in the air and was sent back to the shed. Up stepped Shreyas, our pinch hitter, but to no avail, four balls were all he could manage this week as he succumbed to a catch behind point, 84 for 6. So next it was to be Hamish and with 9 runs per over needed he had to swing at everything, bang went the middle stump in the second over he faced, 88 for 7. Marcus was looking forward to his turn at bat and he and Shyam put on a quick fire 11 before Shyam was clean bowled that brought Vivek Vaidya out of the hutch to take us through to 103 for 8. Player of the Day went to Shyam Mehta with 19 from the bat and 2 for13 from 4. Performances of note were: Brett Randell, 20 with the bat, 1 for12 from 3 and a catch; Marcus Barfoot, 10 not out and great keeping.   Kim Randell (Yorkers Coach) 28/10/06  Run Rate Too Great!!!   The new cricket season has begun and what a wonderful way to start with a few clouds in the sky a gentle zephyr from the west, heavy dew on the ground and eager boys and parents. Our opposition, Howick Pakuranga White, had beaten us when we met previously so it was with careful planning that we entered the arena at Keith Hay North #5 just on 8.00am. The boys immediately got into their work rehearsing running between the wickets and catching the ball off the bat, so when they won the toss and put us in we discussed our target and how we would set about achieving it. We realised 1 run off the first over but first ball of the second Vivek smacked it straight down the throat of square leg  who pocketed it, and we were 1 for 1. Not to be deterred Rugved Deshpande, (2005 Junior Batsman of the Year) and Munsarim Ahmed set about a well constructed 92 runs before Rugved let one through that he shouldn’t have and his castle was rocked. At the Captains suggestion we moved Shreyas Mishra up the order to do some pinch hitting and with his heavy bat and strong arms he set about lobbing the ball over the fielders heads and helped Munsarim retire on 50 not out. A very fine knock at a strike rate of 58 and the fourth of his short career. With score perched at 109 for 2 Brett Randell entered and backed up Shreyas for the next 6 balls with admirable running between the wickets to take the score to 119. First ball of over 26 Brett realised the consequence of misjudging the length as he lost his off stump. Still with plan B in action we sent Hamish Kumar up the order so he and Shreyas added a further 5 runs to see the innings out. 16 runs short of target was a good effort helped somewhat by wayward bowling as extras were the second highest score. 124 for 3 from 27 overs meant we had to defend 4.6 runs an over so after Brett had set his field he and Munsarim tied the opening batsmen down to 11 runs from 4 overs. Enter Hamish and Shyam Mehta and after a magnificent 4 overs for 3 runs and a maiden a piece Howick/Pak were staring at 5.84 runs per over required. We stayed with our bowling plan and brought slow mediums Jay Vaddagiri and Joshua Curran to try to increase the run rate required and they obliged with the first wicket falling to Joshua in the12th over and the rate increased to 6.47. Next we decided to introduce medium pace at one end with spin from the other with the desired result of 3 wickets for 18 runs from their 4 overs and the required run rate was now 7.18, a tall order for an international side let alone a Year 7 Premier side. Now it was the turn of Shreyas and Rugved. Oops, nearly let the rabbit out of the hutch as they went for 21 off their 4 but the Captain brought back Hamish and Joshua who chimed in with a wicket a piece and then shut them out of the game completely when Brett and Munsarim combined to bowl the last 3 overs very tightly and close out an emphatic win by 37 runs. Our boys held their catches today with 5 of the 6 wickets caught but although this one goes in the record book as a win we have a lot of work to do to make it a perfect performance. There were two collisions between batsman and fielder today with both our guys being sat on by the opposition, so we can only assume this was one of their tactics to try and get the upper hand or is that weight. Scores were: Eden Roskill Yorkers 124 for 3 from 27 overs. Howick Pakuranga White 87 for 6 from 27 overs. Player of the Day: Joshua Curran 4-0-9-2, 2 catches Munsarim Ahmed 50 Retired Not Out Rugved Deshpande 21