League round and semi final preview |
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| Venkat Vadlamani (vvkalyan4u@gmail.com) | |
| 09/19/2017 | |
A grueling 15 game season culminated last week as the points table shuffled up its positions a bit. Eagles managed a win against Pitchers to end up in third spot, while Strikers beat Starks in a straight shootout for the top spot. Hawks took up the final fourth spot for the semis. The end of the league games also brought an end to the participation of Pitchers and Panthers in this year’s league and both teams will be disappointed at missing out on the knockouts. Panthers were in a good spot at the halfway stage with 4 wins in 7, but a sequence of 6 defeats in the next 8 matches resulted in a slide down the table as they finally ended up in fifth. Pitchers, who had started by winning their first 2 games, then failed to win any of their next 10. A slight uptick in form towards the end of the season failed to lift up their league position as they ended in sixth. So here are the semi final matchups: Game 1 : Strikers vs Hawks, Saturday 09/23 at 7:30 am Strikers have been in and around the top spot for the entirety of the league. Backed by a strong bowling attack, the team has been churning out wins on a regular basis and were the first team to confirm their spot for the semis. A slight wobble in round 3 of the league meant they surrendered their top spot to Starks, but an emphatic win in the final league game brought them back on top. They have not lost a game against two of the other three semi finalists with 5 wins and a no result out of 6. Their problem? They play against a team that they have lost to not once, but twice out of 3 games. So can they shake off their poor league record against them? They certainly have the team to do so. For Hawks, it has been an absolute roller coaster of a season. A batting lineup that has swung from scoring 100, to struggling to score 50. A bowling lineup that can contain teams to below 50, but can also bowl 21 wides over the course of a match. There is no saying which Hawks will turn up on a given day. A good sequence of three wins in round 3 ensured that they qualified for the semis as they highlighted the strength and tremendous spirit in their team. Hawks boast 4 of the top 5 wicket takers from the league stage and they also have the second highest run scorer of the league in their lineup. A good strong bowling attack then against a team whose batting has not always fired in the tournament. If the right Hawks show up, there is a definitely a lot of potential in this team to reach the final. Game 2 : Starks vs Eagles, Saturday 09/23 at 10 am Starks have been the turnaround team of the league. Bottom of the league after round 1, they roared back into contention by winning 8 of their next 10 games. Only a loss in their final league game prevented them from finishing on top of the league. Crucial to their stunning turnaround has been a team ethic which despite injuries and withdrawals has found the discipline to keep things going game after game. The batting lineup has stood up and taken responsibility for chasing down any target set to them. And the bowling attack has worked with accuracy to keep teams around the 50 mark. There is however an air of predictability about them as the same players have been performing game after game, which is something Eagles will be keen to exploit. The Eagles story has run as a complete opposite to Starks. Round 3 was a complete write off for them as they won just 1 game in 5. An indifferent run of form and a couple of washed out games spoiled their excellent start to the season and they had to win their last game of the season to finish in third place. The crucial cog in their team has been their captain who is also their highest run scorer and their highest wicket taker. An explosive big hitting batting lineup has been accompanied by a pretty standard line and length bowling attack. Their recent downturn in form has coincided with an inability to restrict opposing teams to manageable scores. They definitely showed signs of sparking back into life in their last game against Pitchers and they can take that confidence into the knockouts. Their batting is however more than capable of making up for any deficiencies in their bowling. With big hitters and quick scorers spread throughout the lineup, if the bowling clicks, they can be an absolute handful for Starks. Overall these look to be a couple of cracking games in store between evenly matched sides who have deservingly made it to the knockouts. May the best teams win and progress on to the final. Good luck! |
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