Omaha Cricket Club

NCC won one and lost one match at Kansas T20. In first match against Pak XI, NCC scored 157 in 20 overs, Opposition scored the required runs in 19.4 overs.

In second match NCC chased 180 runs in only 15.4 overs. This performance gives us a pretty higt net runrate and a chance to advance to Semi Finals of the tournament.

Last friday OCC under Bhaskar Krishna and other volunteers organized a cricket clinic at Beveridge High. The students participated with much enthusiasm and look forward to more organized cricket matches.

Great Work Guys !!

Nebraska Cricket Club lost to Elite Cricket Club in CLIA finals on 21st September. NCC made 170 in allotted 30 overs , Nirmal 59 and Bala 30 were top scorers. ECC chased the required runs with 7 balls to spare. A close match where the better team won on the day. A great season for NCC comes to a close with some commendable performances. Apart from ECC NCC beat all teams throughout the season.

NCC beat Iowa Bulls to reach finals of the Iowa Cricket League. Chasing 167, NCC chased in about 27 overs in the 30 over a side game.

NCC v/s IBL at Des Moines Saturday Aug 23rd ....

Match started with LT loosing the toss and IBL deciding to field. We had a beautiful start again with Bala firing all guns with Bhaskar giving him able company. We were about 50 in 5 overs when Bala got out. Middle order kept going and we were cruising at 8-9 an over for most part. What hurt us more after this was the casual approach of our well set batsmen, Jatin and AB took their time to settle and then threw away the good start - once more, both are getting into the habit of loving the 20's.

Nirmal was very casual in running and it was actually funny the way he got out running while looking at Bhaskar's end when the throw was at his end. That did not put any brakes on the run rate though as Bhaskar kept the score board clicking. We graudally came from 9 an over to 8 an over and at one point we were about 7 an over, but towards the end there weren't enough batsmen and in the end it looked we will be all out as both JJ and Muthu perished while accelerating the run rate in the last overs.

But 215 in 30 overs is always commendable score. Bowling started and as expected IBL came all guns firing. They lost two wickets rather quickly but then their captain Utpal and Mihir started firing cannons, the middle overs were very crucial and we lost momentum , shoulders dropped and heads hanging down as every over saw 2-3 boundaries and average cruising at about 9-10 an over, even the most destructive and choicest abuses by Chinta Mani Siddhartha - Manish were not able to check the micky mouses.

Just then as usual Damian got his trump card and his Midas touch worked - once more, this time it was Kamakatzi Jr - Mamakatzi ( Senthil ), his offspinners were amazing and he was able to contain the batsmen well and that put some pressure on them. Utpal was first to perish caught brilliantly at Deep Mid wicket by Na(n)Dun,

After that heads were up and we came all guns firing, Bhaskar taking one of the best catches of the season at mid wicket running about 40+ yards and taking catch just inside boundary ropes to get rid of well settled batsman.

Jatin and AB bowled brilliantly and wicket kept tumbling our best was after 24th over. At this point the sun was setting low and we suspected foul play that IBL will play some dirty tricks and call bad light if they lost wickets, and that is exactly what happened, wihtout either batsmen compaining their captain just walked in with utter disregard for umpires on field and litereally forced his batsmen to say it was bad light, we had no option but to repect the game as decision on light is batsman's decision, on the hindsight had they not lost 8 wickets they probably would have gone for 11 runs in 2 overs but the last wicket changed dimensions of the game. The cry baby came out of box and in the end helpless Damian had to settle for a tie/ draw.

It was a sorry end to a fairytale ending that we were scripting after their knights had done a fabulous job, but those are they ways of this game. In the end it was a big morale victory for NCC, we remain on top of the ladder and assured of a home semi-final now. It was stupendous effort and NCC showed what team game is with everyone chipping in with their contributions and efforts, at this point i can say for sure that this trophy is ours to take and we will bring it home.

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As seen from long on to long on .............

OCC finally manages to keep the cup at home beating Lincoln Cricket Club. Electing to field first, OCC restricted LCC to 132 in 20 overs. OCC chased the total with Man of the Match Jatin scoring a well crafter 50. Nirmal from LCC was adjudged man of the series.

As of now OCC is leading charts in CLIA,Its been a great team performance through the last few matches. We lost the game against Elite Cricket Club early in the season and that shock inspired us to better things and we never took things lightly henceforth. Except for the tied game against ISU, we have won all games we have played.

Our last two matches remain to be played after the OCC tournament and hopefully we should be at top of tables as we go into semifinals.

After some hard fought matches, Minneapolis, Linclon Cricket Club, North Dakota and Omaha cricket club advanced to semi finals of OCC challenger 2008 T20 tournament.

Iowa and Legends 11 were the other two participating teams.

The Omaha Cricket Club (OCC) is thrilled to announce the commencement of the OCC Challenger Series 2008. The tournament will be held over 2 weekends starting August 9th, 2008, in Omaha and Lincoln, NE.

This year, the 3rd edition of the OCC Challenger Series 2008 will feature league phase matches to be held on the 9th and 10th of August in Omaha and Lincoln. The Semi-Finals will be played on August 16th and the Finals on August 17th in Omaha.

We will arrange food and lodging for players and invited Guests. There will be a Saturday night Banquet with lots of food and fun focusing on the development of cricket in the United States. Each team’s spokesperson would take the stage to talk about their vision of cricket for future generations. Trophy presentations for Man of the Matches and Service recognitions will be done. Depending on the venue, the event may be a mix of Music, Dance, (and possibly alcohol) and Fun to celebrate our friendship and Cricket. Players’ families are also invited for Saturday night’s banquet. While we will provide accommodation for players, family lodgings will be your own responsibility. TV and Local Newspapers will cover the Challenger Series as in the years past. This year the proceedings will be started by the throwing of the first ball (pitch) by the Honorable Mike Fahey, the Mayor of the City of Omaha on August 9th at 8am at N.P. Dodge Park.

Match: Season Starter
Date: 04/20/08
Time: 9:00 pm

Report:

Hello everyone! 2008 Cricket season is here!! The weather was on the chilly side to start off, with dew on the grass and a soggy ground. There were a lot of new arrivals to the club and everyone was in a cheery mood.

After introductions, the two captains, Damien and Nirmal chose their teams. It was supposed to be a 25 overs per side match. Damien won the toss and decided to bowl. With J.J and Jatin in his side, he might have felt confident, but Nirmal had his own trump card – Bhaskar!

Abhi and Bhaskar opened the innings, Jatin opened the bowling and the season was officially underway. The first four overs were sedate. Abhi hit a couple of nice straight drives but was run out.

As the sun came out, the day warmed up and the blitzkrieg started. Bhaskar tore into the bowling, hitting sixes and fours. Even the trees fell down at it. By the 13th over he had reached his fifty. The next over, he was caught first ball off Swarit, launching a full toss to deep square leg.

This slowed down the score as Shankar and Bala, a pair of newcomers, steadied the innings. Bala had introduced himself as a hard hitter. We all saw why. Two towering sixes and a few fours later, the run rate was back up. In the end it was left to Nirmal and Francis to finish off the innings in grand style. Almost 40 runs were scored in the last two overs. Nirmal XI scored 197/8 in their allotted 25 overs.

A short break later, the second innings started. J.J. and Jatin opened the batting and Abhi got the ball. Nirmal’s bowling options were few, but he seemed to have a plan.

The plan wasn’t working thou as the pair cruised to almost 70 runs in 7 overs. Dropped catches and mis-fields didn’t help. Then Jatin got lazy and looped a catch to cover. A steady doze of wickets later, JJ was in danger of running out of partners. He managed to strike along and scored a well deserved fifty. Trying to open up the run rate he was caught by Bhaskar off Malki.

Malki, bowling his version of medium pace, was brilliant again in getting Ramki bowled. Next, Damien hit hard but was out to a sharp catch at short cover. This left Devkanth and Raj to try and get the innings back together. Raj was his usual self – anything on leg and he smashed it. Once he was out, bowled by Bhaskar, the match was back in balance.

With 30 needed of the last 4 overs, things were a little tense. Apurva and Devkanth were at the crease and Damien’s team was getting restless. They wanted to finish the game of quick and were hollering for sixes. The batsmen couldn’t find the boundary due to some tight bowling and the match was won by Nirmal XI by 12 runs.

It was a great start to the season and everyone involved had a great time. See you all at the next practice.


Teams:
Damien XI: Damien, Raj, J.J., Jatin, Swarit, Jai Ganesh, Muthu, Devkanth, Ramki, Wes, Apurva, Jayapradhaban

Nirmal XI: Nirmal, Bhaskar, Malki, Francis, Jegan, Shankar, Kumaraguru, Bala, Sridhar, Sudhir, Abhi, Muthu