Saturday September 25, 2004
Match# 04-120: Microsoft Reds beat Microsoft Blues by 40 runs
At Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA
Microsoft Reds (toss): 221 for 9 in 40 overs
[Sanjay Rama (MoM) 85*, Bhargava Vadapalli 32, Naveen Kumar 23, Siva Nagalingam 2/36, Vijay Beniwal 2/38]
Microsoft Blues: 181 for 9 in 40 overs
[Karthik Kalyanaraman 30, Ketal Patel 25,  Nikhil Patel 21, Sanjay Rama (MoM) 4/35, CJ Venkataraman 2/22] 

Microsoft Reds Innings:
Microsoft Reds won the toss and decided to bat first (mostly because of the wet outfield and the fact that the ball would become soggy and would be difficult to bowl with). It seemed like a good decision when Naveen Kumar got things underway with 9 runs in the first over. He seemed to continue from where he left off in the semis as he hit three sweetly timed boundaries in the first three overs. However, Siva Nagalingam landed a big blow when he bowled Naveen Kumar through the gate with a lovely off cutter. Reds lost Nishad and Sameer and were soon reduced to 45 for 3 in 8.2 overs. Bhargava Vadapalli and Sanjay Rama started re-building the innings. At this stage Blues were on a high and did a very good job of restricting the two batsmen. It was only after the 15th over when Bhargava and Sanjay started scoring freely again. Even then Blues did a great job of cutting the boundaries and forcing the batsmen to run for everything. At the 20 over mark, Reds were 90 for 3 - a relatively safe position and a position from where they could launch a big attack in the remaining 20 overs. After a steady 67 run partnership (the second consecutive 50+ partnership between the two batsmen), Bhargava was run out trying to steal a quick single. Sanjay, who seemed to be in awesome touch, continued to get singles and doubles easily and put on three consecutive 25+ partnerships with Rajesh Dadhia, Nazeer and Shahz respectively. Shahz provided the late innings burst by hitting two huge 6's off one Karthik over. The Blues suffered from lack of good 5th bowler. The combination of Karthik and Sumit went for 64 runs in 8 overs. Otherwise, they looked poised to restrict the Reds to 200 or less. With Sanjay carrying on till the end and remaining unbeaten on 85, Reds managed a challenging 221 for 9 in 40 overs. Siva Nagalingam, Vijay Beniwal and Nikhil Patel were the pick of the Blues bowlers with returns of 2/36, 2/38 and 1/31 respectively.

Microsoft Blues Innings:
Microsoft Blues needed to chase at 5.5 runs an over, and they started their innings on a cautious note. The Reds opening bowlers, Rajesh Dadhia and CJ Venkataraman , were on song and restricted Nikhil and Sudhakar to 3 runs per over. With Nikhil going down with cramps and having to retire early, Blues
intention of a quick start were seriously hampered. In addition to that, superb seam bowling from Rajesh Dadhia, CJ Venkataraman and Naveen Kumar made sure that the required run rate increased steadily. Rajesh Dadhia's 5 over opening spell was almost unplayable as he swung the ball both ways prodigiously and beat the bat consistently. CJ bowled 8 overs on the trot with the kind of discipline that is rarely seen at this level. He was able to generate good pace and bounce and bowled a lethal just-outside-off line and a good length. Naveen, after being pulled by Sumit in his first over for a boundary,
zoned in on the perfect line and length and bowled a fiery 6 over spell. At the 20 over mark, Blues were restricted to 63 for 2 and Reds were firmly in the driver's seat. But their optimism was well guarded because they knew anything could happen with Vijay Beniwal still in. However, they averted any major Blues comeback when Sanjay struck in his very first over by having Vijay caught at point by Bhargava. From there on, it was an uphill struggle for Blues as the asking rate increased steadily. While Manish Prabhu and Karthik focused on singles and doubles, Reds were intent on cutting the boundaries and made sure the innings run rate never got close to the required rate. Ketan Patel once again show cased his ability to score some quick runs late in the innings when he scored 25 quick runs with couple of boundaries. However, with nothing more than stump to stump bowling needed, Reds got the wickets steadily and won the game by 40 runs. Sanjay Rama was name the man-of-the-match for his all-round performance: 85* with the bat and 4/35 in 7 overs.

Notable player/team achievements:
• This is only the second time teams from same club competed for the league championship (MSCC-Reds and Blues - 2004; SCCA and SCCB- 2000)
• A Microsoft Cricket Club team has won the league championship for the third time in a row (2002 - MSCC2; 2003 - MSCC Reds; 2004 - MSCC Reds)
• Sanjay Rama and Naveen Kumar have now been part of three consecutive championship teams (MSCC2; 2003 MSCC Reds and 2004 MSCC Reds). These two players join Rajesh Dadhia (1997, 2002, 2004) as now having been part of the THREE championship teams playing for the SAME club - Microsoft Cricket Club. 
• Bhargava Vadapalli  (2001, 2002 and 2004) has also now been part of THREE Championship teams, but one of these teams was Drugstore Cricket Club. A few other players are also part of this elite list, but like Bhargava they played for more than one club and they achieved the feat in the early years of the League.
• Nazeer Mohammed and Tanmay Waghmare were also part of the 2003 championship Reds team
• Sanjay Rama won as Captain in two consecutive seasons (2003 and 2004)
• Sanjay Rama repeated last year's man of the match performance in the finals again this year. It is his third consecutive MOM award in the deciding game of season (2002 - shared with VijayB; 2003 finals and 2004 finals)

2004        Microsoft Reds
2003        Microsoft Reds
2002        Microsoft 2
2001        Drugstore
2000        Seattle A
1999        Seattle B
1998        Beaverton
1997        Microsoft
1996        Portland
1995        WSU