Cruisers continued their run of success with a four-wicket victory over Torpedoes, who found themselves outplayed on a flat but sluggish pitch, and a lightning fast outfield. So now the team has won 6 out of the 8 matches played and is in contention for the top spot.

Toss: Needless to say, Sudip once again lost the toss and Cruisers were put to bowl by the opposition. I recommend the practice coordinator should have a session on this for the captain. I also recommend the captain NOT to go to Las Vegas J

Torpedoes Inning:

On another clear San Jose morning, Satish and Nishant opened and expected to get the same partnership as they had a few weeks back and Sandeep took the new ball. The match started with the first ball going for 5 wides. The right/left combination worked well for them and Sudip bought himself in the 3^rd over. He bowled way short to the lefthander who timidly placed them to point. Seeing that the new ball is not "Phirki lagawing", he bought back Himal from the far end who really was bothering Nishant who edged him atleast thrice. The partnership was building and they were 40 off their 10 over without any loss of wicket. Mohit came in for Himal and bowled well and Rajesh took over from Sandeep. He was right on target from ball one. Bowling with his usual calm and composure, he did not give anything away. First, he bowled a maiden to Satish. In the next over, Rajesh gave a single to Satish and then 5 dots to Nishant who was already frustrated pinned by the accurate bowling. He tried to work a shot off his legs to a moving Rajesh delivery only finding Himal on square leg who took a good catch.

The # 3 batsman looked shaky at start playing Sudip but got a juicy fulltoss which was put away. The batsman struggled to score off Sudip and when he tried to be ambitious, he was found stranded in the middle of the wicket. Anuj got his bails off and ended his misery. From the other side, Rajesh bowled magnificently yet again and continued to bother Satish. The fourth ball of that over witnessed a Classy work by Anuj. It was as close as what we see on television and wonder how they do it….Anuj, who stood up for Rajesh, collected a ball leaving the batsman who JUST lifted his backfoot for a fraction of second and off were his bails. Truly a stumping of international standard. Even in the later parts of the inning, Anuj continued to stand up for every bowler including the pace-man Sandeep. The next one to walk in seemed like a shine-spoiler (just coined in this one!) He was there to do nothing but stand and sweat. He did not move his feet, bat, body not even the scorers. This was frustrating and Rajesh was taken off to save his precious overs and Sandeep was bought in who happily bowled out the shine spoiler. The next batsman in seemed determined but was unable to connect Sudip. He moved everything except the score board. He tried to do something which is beyond the scope of this report and was caught way outside his crease but Anuj, in his excitement, missed the ball as we see sometimes on TV and the guy lived…. Rajesh was bought back again and he bowled a delivery, too good for Rajat who was trapped plumb in front. That ball really moved in the air! Now torpedoes appeared virtually out of the match. Rajesh's opening spell of six overs cost just 9 runs for three wickets. Just one over before the break, Bhavesh was bought in who bowled a decent line. Torpedoes were 46 for 4 in 15 overs after being 40/0 in 10. After the break, Sudip struck when the batsman flicked a sitter to Square leg and Kapil took the catch in style that made the bowlers heartbeat skip. The cream of their batting was whipped but they had some tailenders who could swing wildly and so they did…The guy who was not arrested out side his crease, was playing defensively pushing the ball for singles and giving the new guy the strike. Rajesh completed his quota of 9 overs giving away JUST 13 runs. I think his bowling turned the match when he took the crucial wickets of ninetorians ( Satish and Nishant).

Bhavesh was bought in just before the break and gave a couple off the last ball. Torpedoes were in trouble at the end of 30. The new batsman looked determined. He hit a four just after the break and gave hope to the home team. In the next over, Vikas got the better off him by trapping him in front of the middle stump. The next guy too was a hard hitter. He hit a couple of fours, though Cross batted over midwicket. Sandeep was bought in and bowled on good length but was picked over square and midwicket for boundaries. Sudip deliberately flighted on to the batsman and it was hit just over Bhavesh for a four. The next one moved away and for the third time, Sudip had a batsman fooled who tried to hit his wrong one over midwicket and was surprised that the ball went up over covers and everyone else were surprised too when the ball slid between Anuj's Gloves and the guy lived but dangerously. They put together a valuable partnership and the score board was ticking as they were not even missing the cheeky singles. Vikas was bought in and he struck getting the guy out not before he had made 4dozen runs. A good catch at Square leg taken by Sudip.

Himal came back and bowled tidily, not giving away anything. He troubled Aditya who was well set. Their wicketkeeper too could not hit Sandeep but eventually got hit on his head by him. In the next over, Aditya flicked one to square leg where Kapil fielded the ball and seeing their wicketkeeper run for a single, handed the ball to Himal to get Cruisers the first runout which came in very late than it should have because there were atleast 4 to 5 runout opportunities missed considering the fielding standard of the team. After all it had not been a good day for Cruisers as far as fielding was concerned, couple of half chances were missed by Sudip and Bhavesh and Anuj too dropped a simple one and missed a stumping. The ground fielding too was not as impressive but still, Cruisers had never really lost their control and Torpedoes were dangling and had totally lost focus with 9 wickets down and 167 on board. Mohit bowled the last over giving away only a single ending the torpedoes inning at 168/9 in 45overs.

Cruisers Inning:

Cruisers began their reply quietly, almost somnolently losing Amish(0) who failed to score getting out behind the wickets. Mohit was batting well on the other end who was joined by Rajesh. The Torpedoes bowling was not particularly threatening but it was accurate enough to restrict the batsmen going for hits initially. Rajesh(6(12)) played a good shot through backward point for a four standing on his toes but got out in on a similar ball which rose and was timidly played to backward of square. The score was 38/2 in 9 over. Bhavesh(5(!2)) walked in and after a few runs, tried to step out Vibhor and gave catch practise to the substitute mid on fielder. Vikas walked in and what came in next was a really matured partnership between the Old timers (Mohit and Vikas opened for the first few games afterall!)

Vikas worked the ball very well and gave Mohit the strike. He played very straight and looked very composed. Mohit on the other end was batting very aggressively hitting the bad balls to point and cover boundary and working the good ones for singles and doubles. Batting was at it's class with these two determined to carry the bat. and Mohit on the other end hit their bowler #1 for 16 runs. In that over, he hit a four to point and then a Fantabulous SIX over Extra Covers. He reached his half century in style (his second one of the season). A very good knock which really released the pressure and eased the run chase. The score was 85 when the opening bowler was brought back. He bowled a slightly slower delivery to Vikas(18 (31)). The ball stopped a bit and he hit it back to give the bowler a return catch. The crucial 48 run partnership ended and Manish walked in. He took his time to get his eye in. He played the ball around but failed to take singles as it went straight to the fielders. After a few more balls, he hit a nice four off his legs to square leg boundary. The next few overs saw the score board move at a slow pace with Manish taking his time to rotate the singles. Mohit was strangled at the other end and at the first opportunity when he got the strike, hit a boundary to midwicket. The runs either came from boundaries or wides and there was a drought of singles. With 40 runs away from Victory, Mohit tried to slash the left arm spinner and snicked the ball for the keeper to complete the catch. He played a very good inning of 74(84) and lived upto his expectations. A genuine opener's knock was witnessed which comprised of some hard hits to the boundaries and smart singles and doubles which would bother any fielding side as it takes the hopes away from them.

Sudip went in next and tried to push the ball in gaps for singles. Manish was now set and hit one more boundary over midwicket. The score was moving and by now the required rate to get 4 batting points was nearly 4. Rajat came in as the 7^th change and got Manish (29 (57) )bowled off his first ball. Sandeep walked in with 5 runs to win. Sudip 5*(11) stayed with Sandeep until victory was completed without pressure and with more than six overs to spare with a four by Sandeep over Midon.

MoM: The decision was easy this time with Rajesh and Mohit performing par excellence. Rajesh struck with his deadly swing bowling early to hole the torpedoes top order with his marvelous figure of 36-24-36 OPPS figures of 9-3-3-13. Mohit then murdered the bowling with shots all over the ground and hit the match winning knock of 74 off just 84 balls. They both deservingly share the award for this match!

Room for improvement: Although the bowlers did a good job, the bowling could have looked better with good fielding. For the nth time, there was successful slogging by a single guy in the opposition when they were looking to collapse but the blame goes to fielding which is really so very vital! The direct hits too must be taken with a good success rate because nothing is more demoralizing than runouts off direct hits.