Let me start by congratulating everyone for putting out one of the best fielding effort for this season. Even though we lost the match, it was not lost until the last ball of the match was bowled.

After winning the toss and batting first, we could only put a modest 102. It was not our poor batting or running between the wickets, but it was rather the quality bowling from SLC which didn't allowed us to break free and score freely.

Going to bowling, we all knew defending 102 was going to be a tough task and specially after we lost the plot in first four overs and let our opponent score 67 runs for their first skin. After this hammering, we got together and pulled them back in next 4 overs by restricting them to -3. During this skin we saw our best bowling effort, Rahul was pick of our fielders as he had 3 direct hits and runouts in a row. Ashish also chipped in with 2 wonderful runouts. Daniel did a beautiful stumping of Chris and Chris took a spectacular catch behind the stumps of Deepak. There was also a blinder by Divya on the jackpot ball in the 3rd skin. There was also some clever thinking by Deepak and Anuj, especially Anuj who got a runout when the ball was hit for a six. Both of them bowled fast and straight and were right on money, special mention to Deepak who ended up taking 4 wickets for 1 run in allocated 2 overs.

At this point of time, we were right back in the game and we believed that we could win the match. We did ball well in next 8 overs but I think we were 10-15 runs short in the end.

We should not loose any heart from this lost rather think about what we did well and what we didn't. Next week is a very important match for us (semi-final). If we have to win this match, we have to come up with our very best. We all have talent and capability, we just need to believe in our self and play for the man next to you. 

I would strongly encourage each of you to use the comments section to put your thoughts out for everyone. Please contribute in highlighting the positives and on things we can improve.

Some stats for you guys -

• We got out 12 times including 6 run outs . Our opponent got out 15 times which include 7 run outs.
• We made 28, 27, 23 and 24 for our skins whereas our opponents made 67, -3, 10 & 39.
• We made 3+3, 1+1, 1+1, -3+-3 for our jackpot ball, SLC scored 3+3, 0+0, -3+-3 & 1+1 for their jackpot balls.

I still think we played well in patches but couldn't keep the standard up for whole match.

Looking forward to your comments.... :) 

Matches like these makes cricket interesting. Todays match was truly a nail biter (unless you have finished your nails in previous matches). Hash Browns coming from a comfortable win last week started off very well with a solid stand by Anuj and Rahul of 49 runs. Anuj was struggling in last few matches but boy, didn't he came back with all guns blazing. First pair had a combination of Anuj's hard hitting and Rahul's elegant play and ability to nudge the ball in a gap and keep the score board ticking.

After this solid stand, Divya and I went to bat but unlike last week, we found it hard to score as freely as Anuj and Rahul. For first 2 overs we struggled badly and only manage to put 10 runs. Some mindful play and with bit of luck, we managed to make 26 in our allocated 4 overs taking the total to 75 after 8 overs.

In this match, we had a player making his debut, Ashish. For those who don't know Ashish, he is a backyard cricket specialist (oh... you must come and see his batting and fielding class).  He went to bat with one of our hard hitter batsmen Deepak. But, it looked like today wasn't Deepak's day as he struggled from very first ball. For the first few overs, Ashish was only a spectator watching Deepak struggling on the other end, making him more nervous on his debut. It was only the last over where with the help of Ashish's first 7 in Indoor cricket they manage to score 15 runs in their allocated 4 overs.

At this point, we were 90 and we thought a score of 120 will be a winning total, with Sunny and Kshitij to bat for last pair, the score looked within our reach but with some ups and down, we could only score 22 runs in last 4 overs taking team's total to a somewhat defendable 112.

With our premier bowler Sirish not playing this match (but still coming and supporting the team, thanks Sirish), it was a tough choice for me to choose a bowler to start the inning. I decided to start off with Deepak and he surely lived to the expectation by only giving 6 runs. Divya and Rahul chipped in with their useful performances and only gave 9 and 6 runs respectively. On his debut, Ashish did took some time but quickly recovered and ended up with 1/26. Our bowing was tight and one good over could have changed the course of the game. Our opponent were 70 after 8 overs and at this point, the match was in balance. We needed a good start for the third skin but some nasty hitting by their batsmen swung the match in their favour by scoring 20 runs in 9th over. Some tight bowling by Anuj and Chris did brought us back into the game but it was bit too late as they ended up scoring 100 runs in 12 overs needing only 13 in last 4 overs. Sunny, Anuj, Ashish and I tried hard but really, 13 runs was very little to defend in 4 overs in Indoor Cricket. In the end, Strokers manage to score 120 runs in response to our 112, beating us by 8 runs.

Even though, we lost the game, there were some noticeable performances -

• A solid debut by Ashish.
• A wonderful display of bowling by Anuj (3 for 3) and Rahul (2 for 9)
• Top notch batting performances by Anuj (29), Rahul(20) and Sunny (19)

There were lots of positives from this match and we shouldn't loose heart. We'll be BACK so watch out for us :)

Hash Browns were on a roll coming into this match backed by their 5 straight wins, but, I think tonight we took things for granted and showed a somewhat sloppy display of batting, bowling and fielding.

I won the toss and chose to bowl first, we didn't started well and I missed a runout chance in the very first over which can only be described as one of the easiest runout chances you will ever get. Throughout our bowling, we consistently missed the stumps and after 12 overs our opponents were 104. Anuj and Sunny brought us back into the game by only giving 6 runs in last 4 overs, they restricted the opponents to an achievable total of 111.

Divya and I started off our innings but after getting out on very first ball, we never looked like making lots of runs. We did manage to post a somewhat decent total of 20 runs but it was definitely an under par score. Chris and Sirish, our star pair for tonight's match, once again brought us back into the game by scoring 40 runs for their skin. Both Chris and Sirish showed some intelligent batting by placing the ball in gaps and hitting 4s and 6s whenever they got a chance. They showed rest of us that what Indoor cricket is all about. Indoor cricket in not about hitting 4 and 6 on every ball rather it is played well when you construct your inning by placing the ball in gaps and lookout for 1s, 2s and 3s. As history shows, players who use their brain and look for hitting the net for 1s, 2s, score more than the those who try to his 6 on every ball.

After this comeback, match was equally balanced and we needed 50 runs of last 8 overs. Rahul and Anuj, who were our star performers for last few matches, could not play their best cricket and could only manage 16 in their 4 overs quota. After 3rd skin, all eyes were on Sunny and Rakshit to see us through by scoring remaining 34 runs. 

Batting last is always difficult so we knew scoring 34 runs in last 4 overs were not going to be easy but, it was achievable. Both Sunny and Rakshit tried hard but in the end we were short by 11 runs.  

Even though, we lost this match, we can take lot out of it and be ready for a strong comeback in the next match. 

From my point of view, I would encourage each of you to think about your performance in this match and post any suggestion you may have for the team. I would also encourage you all to give bit more thought for your next match and think about how will you go about constructing your inning and what area would you like to target when you get a chance to ball.

In the end, I would like to say that tonight we tried hard but as everyone will agree with me, we are definitely a better team and are capable of playing much better cricket than we did in this match.

Looking forward to next match.