Upcoming Match: Sunday, 30 September 2012

IISc Gymkhana vs Spartans Sports Club
50-overs KSCA Group-I, IV-Division Super League Match
9:30AM, Sunday, 30 September 2012
Venue: IISc Gymkhana Ground

Congratulations Prof. Arindam!

The IISc Cricket Club takes great pleasure in congratulating our champion cricketer Prof. Arindam Ghosh on being awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize for his exploits away from the cricket ground. Among this year's eleven awardees, three are from IISc. 

Newspaper Reports:
The Hindu
Business Line
Deccan Herald
Business Standard

While the majority of the media, quite rightly, focuses on his research work, here's an archived interview that reveals the sportsman behind the scientist.

IISc rout Vikram CC

Varun struck telling blows in his spell of 8-2-26-3

23rd September, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: Team IISc moved one step closer to securing a semifinal berth by winning their second super league match on the trot in KSCA Metro Shield 2012. Vikram CC was shot out for a meagre 158 that was ruthlessly chased down with six wickets and close to eighteen overs still to go.

Batting first, Vikram CC started in extremely circumspect fashion. Varun had Satish caught behind in the fifth over. The very next over, Debajit trapped Benedict plumb in front for a duck. The IISc bowlers largely hunted in a pack as they kept chipping away on the wickets reducing Vikram CC to 31/5 in the thirteenth over. 

Manoj Thapa (31 off 64 balls) and Nikhil (33 off 42 balls) stabilized the innings with a 58 run sixth wicket partnership before Alok got the latter stumped. Towards the later stage of the innings Rohit contributed 39 runs off 37 balls while the rest of the batsmen perished. Varun ended with impressive figures of 8-2-26-3.

Chasing 159, IISc lost both openers cheaply and had to go through a tricky phase of nine overs before the lunch break. Skipper Ashith (57* off 70 balls) and debutant Satya Rungta (29 off 59 balls) shared a crucial 60-run third wicket partnership that put IISc back on track. Vikram (25 off 27 balls) played a typical cameo before holing out in the deep. Ashith finished off the chase with Varun (14* off 11 balls) at the other end. With this undefeated innings, Ashith has already slammed 296 runs in the tournament at a Bradmanesque average of 98.67.

Having already bettered their performances in the past sixteen years, team IISc is just one step away from the semifinals as they face Spartans Sports Club in their last super league match coming Sunday. 

Brief scores: (50 overs match)
Vikram CC - 158 all out in 41.1 overs
(Manoj Thapa 31, Nikhil 33, Rohith 39;
Varun 8-2-26-3, Alok 9-0-35-2)
IISc - 159/4 in 32.1 overs
(Ashith 57*, Satya 29, Vikram 25)

Result: IISc won by 6 wickets
Man of the match: Varun Raturi

In the newspapers:
"Deccan Herald"

BEL RC beaten

Kiran scored a run-a-ball 56, his fourth fifty

in this edition of the KSCA Metro Shield. 

16th September, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: Continuing the pattern of the past two seasons, team IISc won their first match in the Super League stage of the KSCA Metro Shield this year as well. After Sirur Park Sports Club in 2010 and Young Challenging Cricketers in 2011, this time the victims were arch rivals BEL Colony Recreation Club.

After a lot of diligent practice in the nets, skipper Ashith finally managed to win a toss and put the visitors in to bat. Suresh Babu and captain Harsha started cautiously for BEL putting on 38 runs in eight overs before Vikram drew first blood sneaking through the latter's defence and rearranging his furniture. Vikram then had Beerappa caught by Kiran thus reducing BEL to 58/2 in the seventeenth over. Rajeeva (20 off 40 balls) came to the wicket with agressive intent and built a 52-run third wicket partnership with Suresh Babu (82 off 109 balls) who was batting solidly at the other end. 

Arindam broke the alliance castling Rajeeva as he attempeted a wild shot across the line. The BEL middle-order then collapsed spectacularly. In a matter of eleven overs - from the 31st to the 42nd over - they went from 110/2 to 152/8. Guru (31* off 31 balls) and Nagasimha (18 off 23 balls) played sensibly, albeit with some calculated risks, taking BEL beyond the 200-mark. Vikram's 7-0-14-2 and Arindam's 10-1-27-3 were the standout figures for IISc. The final total of 203 happens to be the highest any team has managed to score against IISc, until now, in the KSCA Metro Shield 2012.

Salil (17 off 21 balls) inaugurated the chase with a couple of boundaries in the very first over but perished in the sixth over with the score at 24. Kiran (56 off 56 balls) and Ashith (31 off 48 balls) played with minimum fuss while being easy on the eye as they put on 78 for the second wicket. Both were dismissed to bizarre runouts - the former was 'Mankaded' by Kishan while the later fell to a horrendous mix-up. Varun (21 off 61 balls) and Teja (36 off 46 balls) took over the unfinished job with aplomb and looked every bit like taking IISc home. But some late drama and hara-kiri ensured that the home team lost four more wickets with the finish-line a stone's throw away. Nonetheless, the target was duly achieved in the 47th over with three wickets to spare.

Brief scores: (50 overs match)

BEL RC - 203/9 in 50 overs

(Suresh Babu 82, Rajeeva 20, Guru 31*;

Debajit 10-0-48-1, Vikram 7-0-14-2, Arindam 10-1-27-3, Roy 7-0-35-1)

IISc - 207/7 in 46.3 overs

(Kiran 56, Ashith 31, Varun 21, Raviteja 36;

Ajay 5-1-26-1, Kishan 10-2-31-1, Nagasimha 6.3-1-21-2)

Result: IISc won by 3 wickets

Man of the match: Kiran Gangadharan

In the newspapers:

"Deccan Herald"

Upcoming Match: Sunday, 16 September 2012

IISc Gymkhana vs BEL Colony Recreation Club
50-overs KSCA Group-I, IV-Division Super League Match
9:30AM, Sunday, 16 September 2012
Venue: IISc Gymkhana Ground

Both the teams know each other very well because of the umpteen practice matches played between them. But to face up in a high pressure KSCA Super League match is a totally different ball game. Team IISc gets back to business after a hard fought league stage - where they mustered four wins in five matches - followed by an exhilarating team trek to Kudremukh peak.

IISc Cricket Team conquers Kudremukh peak (1892 m above MSL)

Rajajinagar crush IISc, top pool

25th August, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: With both teams coming into the match having pocketed four straight wins each, this match was supposed to be the clash of the titans in the pool-C of the KSCA IV Division league 2012. But Rajajinagar Cricketers simply outplayed IISc Gymkhana in all three departments to win the match by a resounding six wicket margin thus topping the pool. However, both teams make it to the Super League stage which starts tentatively in mid-September.

Rajajinagar won the toss and again resorted to their familiar strategy of putting the opposition in. The initial overs produced some absorbing cricket that included some hits and misses interspersed with some classic strokes from Kiran (59 off 66 balls) and Ashith (14 off 21 balls). But Ashith fell in the eighth over to a freak dismissal when a Kiran straight drive flicked the bowlers fingers before hitting the stumps on the non-strikers end. That opened the proverbial flood gates as wickets fell in a pile including a couple of close calls that went against the home side. In all the previous matches, IISc's top four batsmen had been doing the job, with the lower-middle order batsmen hardly getting a hit in the middle. And when they did finally get the chance, they were found woefully short of the mark, barring the glistening exception of Raviteja, who was stranded on an unbeaten 47 coming off 59 deliveries.

The visitors were rocked early in their chase when Varun castled Bharath in the very first over with one that swung in. But Fahad (23 off 19 balls) and Mudassir (71 off 65 balls) kept attacking the IISc bowlers thus scoring at a fast clip. Fahad edged one to second slip in the tenth over to revive IISc's hope of a fight back. The third wicket alliance of Mudassir and Sagar (42 off 60 balls) however batted solidly almost taking Rajajinagar home but for a couple of late dismissals at the fag end of the innings. The only bright spot in IISc's bowling was Arindam's luckless spell of 10-0-39-0 where he beat the bat and induced edges on umpteen occasions yet went wicketless.

Brief scores: (50 overs match)

IISc - 157 all out in 35.5 overs

(Kiran 59, Raviteja 47*;

Sagar 7.5-0-27-3, Shree Kumar 7-0-20-2, Balaji 6-0-32-2)

Rajajinagar Cricketers - 158/4 in 29 overs

(Fahad 23, Mudassir 71, Sagar 42*)

Result: Rajajinagar Cricketers won by 6 wickets

Man of the match: Sagar

In the newspapers:
"Deccan Herald"

Upcoming Match: Saturday, 25 August 2012

IISc Gymkhana vs Rajajinagar Cricketers
50-overs KSCA Group-I, IV-Division League Match
9:30AM, Saturday, 25 August 2012
Venue: IISc Gymkhana Ground

Both the teams have already made it to the Super League stage of the ongoing KSCA Metro Shield 2012. They come into this match with identical records - played four, won four. A mouth-watering contest is on the cards.