Monday, September 13, 2010

Fancied Malleswaram SC surrender to IISc

12 September 2010, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: Spurred by Ashith's all-round heroics, team IISc thumped fancied opponents Malleswaram Sports Club by a resounding six-wicket margin thus completing a hat-trick of victories in the ongoing KSCA Metro Shield. They are now strong contenders for making it to the super-league stage of the tournament for the first time in fifteen years.

Malleswaram Sports Club won the toss and spontaneously elected to bat with the confidence of two totals in excess of 300 behind them. Against an eager and committed IISc side they could barely manage 213 as they were dismissed before completion of the stipulated quota of overs. Teja's first over set the trend for the match as he made Alok Deshpande - who came into this match having scored back-to-back centuries - dance to his tunes beating him repeatedly with pace and bounce. The rest of the bowlers, not to mention the fielders, too stuck to their task admirably. Ashith's spell of 8-2-19-2 was the crucial one. Debajit and Shimjith also picked up two wickets each. Janathan (72) and Kiran  (51) scored fighting fifties for Malleswaram SC.

IISc's innings was off to a contrasting start when as many as 18 runs came in an erratic first over. Though a couple of early wickets were lost, Shimjith (32) played a useful hand to guide the chase during the initial overs. Then Ashith (70*) and Vikram (52) put together 77 runs for the fourth wicket in a partnership that killed any fight left in the opposition. While Ashith was clinical and assured, Vikram played the role of aggressor to perfection. Vikram's departure with the score at 147/4 might have given some glimmer of hope to the visitors, but the captain and the vice-captain efficiently erased any such hopes with an unbeaten 70-run partnership.

Three wins in four matches is good. Four in five is better. That's what IISc will target when they face Rajajinagar Colts on 10th October.

Brief Scores:
Malleswaram Sports Club
- 213 allout in 47.2 overs
(Alok Deshpande 26, Janathan Hiremath 72, Kiran Kumar 51, Lakshminarayan 28, Debajit 2/44, Ashith 2/19, Shimjith 2/5)
IISc - 217/4 in 43.2 overs
(Shimjith 32, Ashith 70*, Vikram 52, Sounik 26*, Janathan 3/61)

Result: IISc won by 6 wickets
Man-of-the-match: Ashith Shyam

Newspaper reports:
"The Hindu"
"Times of India"
"Deccan Herald"

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Upcoming match: Sunday, 12 September 2010

IISc Gymkhana vs Malleswaram Sports Club
50-overs KSCA Group-I, IV-Division Match
9:30AM, Sunday, 12 September 2010
IISc Gymkhana Ground

Varun, Vasanth star in facile win

5 September 2010, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: A stunning five-wicket haul from newcomer Varun and an aggressive unbeaten 89 from guest player Vasanth helped IISc drub BEL Colony Recreation Club by five wickets in a 50-over friendly match.

Teja and Debajit were as stingy as ever in their opening spells. Debajit (4/62) continued his rich vein of form claiming yet another four-wicket haul. The standout performance of the day came from rookie medium-fast bowler Varun whose figures read 8-2-10-5. On the sheer weight of the numbers, it would easily count as one of the most devastating spells in recent memory. The BEL innings folded for a meager 167.

IISc started cautiously in the absence of regular openers. Shivu (27) played a handy cameo featuring some audacious strokes. Vasanth's swash-buckling and solid innings of 89 was the cornerstone of IISc's chase. His 60-run third-wicket partnership with Vikram (23) - who curbed his usual attacking instinct in favor of a responsible and calculative approach - clinched the match for the home team.

Brief Scores:
BEL Colony RC - 167 allout in 43.3 overs
(Santosh 21, Rajiva 22, Manjunath 33, Varun 5/10, Debajit 4/62)
IISc - 169/5 in 36.3 overs
(Shivu 27, Vasanth 89*, Vikram 23, Manjunath 2/31, Sudhir 2/34)

Result: IISc won by 5 wickets
Man-of-the-match: Varun Raturi