Welcome to the NorthWest Cricket League

The NW Cup is an annual competition among the leagues that comprise of erstwhile NW region (BACA, CCL, NCCA, NWCL), and had a new entrant in Sacramento Cricket Association (SCA). NW Cup'08 was played over 2 weekends - March 29-30 and April 3-6. Full Report Can be downloaded from here NW CUP 2008 Report - By saurabh Verma

North West Kids Cricket (Cricket Coaching for boys and girls interested in learning the sport from the basics)

Friday, November 07, 2008

We would like to bring your kind attention about getting the Kid's cricket coaching started by Vishwa Gaddamanugu and Naveed Deen with the support by North West Cricket League - NWCL (http://www.nwcl.org) as well as American Recreation Cricket League - ARCL (http://www.arcl.org). The group that is involved in coaching thinks that cricket is not just a game. Cricket, with its code of laws has always been regarded as a strong moral educator. It is an essential educational opportunity for youngsters to learn many essential ingredients of social behaviour: personal achievement, team co-operation, ambition, leadership, respect for leadership, respect for rules, respect for one other alongside of the recreation pleasure it brings into our lives. Cricket is an ideal sport for all ages and abilities, apart from the obvious benefits of sporting activity, such as improving hand-eye coordination and increased physical fitness, cricket also has a strong strategy and thinking aspect. The skills learned in cricket can be equated to life skills such as patience, determination, communication and above all, team work. These skills can be nurtured and developed through participation in cricket and be an asset to any young individual in both everyday life and in the workplace. NWCL has conducted coaching sessions a few times in the last 2 years at Evergreen High School as a part of the cirriculam for the school kids to explore different sports of the world. To say the least it was a great success with kids wanting more at the end of the session. There has been plenty of push by parents to get it started earlier this summer but due to ground & time constraints as well as lack of planning we were not able to push it hard enough to get it started earlier. Rather than wait for the next summer to come, we will get some coaching done in the next month or so before winter kicks so that we can start to increase the awareness of the sport in the kids.The plan for this session is get the interested kids get some coaching from the some of the gurus of cricket who have helped cricket grow in the Northwest. Please join this group to get more information about the schedule and activities planned for the kids league. Subscribe to weekly e-mail / announcements / updates at: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthWestKidsCricket

Latest Game Summaries

Bhargava Vadapalli and the resurgent Reds clinch the Division I Championship title in a hard fought game.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Match# 08-53-I: Microsoft Reds won by 22 runs

Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA

Toss won by Microsoft Reds and elected to bat

Microsoft Reds: 146 for 8 in 40 overs

Batting highlights: Bhargava Vadapalli (MoM) 33* (33 balls - 2x4, 1x6), Avinash Upadhyay 29 (65 balls - 1x4), Murthy Pappu 25 (23 balls - 1x4, 1x6)

Bowling highlights: Samarth Shah 8-0-38-2, Srikanth Sundaragopalan 7-1-19-1, Rajesh Ganesan 8-1-21-1, Harish Mohanan 7-0-24-1, Maheshwar Jayaraman 8-0-24-1

Microsoft Greens: 124 for 10 in 35 overs

Batting highlights: Naveen Kumar 15 (12 balls - 1x6), Srikanth Sundaragopalan 14 (21 balls - 1x4), Samarth Shah 14 (50 balls - 1x4), Ashwin Karuhatty 14 (26 balls - 2x4)

Bowling highlights: Bhargava Vadapalli (MoM) 8-2-13-4, Sanjay Rama 8-0-22-3, Rajesh Munshi 1-0-3-1, Rajiv Nandivada 7-1-27-1, Avinash Upadhyay 3-0-18-1

Man of the match: Bhargava Vadapalli from Microsoft Reds

Other notables

• MS-Reds opted to bat first on a day with ideal weather conditions for the season finale. The MS-Greens pushed Reds on the back foot in the initial overs giving nothing away. The initial breakthrough came in the form of Rutwick Bhatt’s wicket off Harish Mohanan in the 5th over. The 2nd wicket partnership of 42 runs between Sandeep Parab & Avinash Upadhyay took Reds to 48/2 in the 19th over when the former was dismissed by Samarth Shah. Greens captain Srikanth Sundaragopalan and Harish Mohanan and later on Maheshwar Jayaraman & Samarth Shah bowled immaculate line and length in the first 20 overs to keep the Reds scoring down to 50/2.

• Maheshwar Jayaraman got the prize wicket of Vijay Beniwal caught in the deep with Reds score reading 59/3 in 23.4 overs. Avinash Upadhyay was next to go when Nikhil Patel affected a run out with a smart piece of fielding and further reducing the Reds to 66/4 in 26 overs. Bhargava Vadapalli joined Sanjay Rama and put on 23 runs inside 6 overs. Sanjay Rama was run out by the bowler Rajesh Ganesan while attempting a quick single leaving the Reds struggling at 89/5 in 31.5 overs. Wickets of Reds Captain Rajiv Nandivada and Siv Nagalingam fell in quick succession with the scorecard reading 102/7 in 34.2 overs. Rajesh Ganesan bowled a great spell and made it difficult for all Reds batsman to score

• Murthy Pappu, with clutch performance in similar situations in the past, batted with great calm and composure and combined with Bhargava Vadapalli collecting runs at will and scoring run a ball from the 35th over to 40th over. The duo of Bhargava Vadapalli and Murthy Pappu put on a crucial 36 runs in 30 balls for the 8th wicket in what eventually turned out to be the match winning partnership. Scoring 14 runs of the last over Reds finally finished with a challenging total of 146/8 in 40 overs. Bhargava Vadapalli remained unbeaten on 33 along with Sairam Kandabhattu

• When Greens started the chase, it looked like the strategy was to get the innings started off with brisk scoring and take advantage of the left and right opening combination. It was evident in Ashwin Karuhatty's batting as he came down the track several times to dominate the bowling attack where as Samarth Shah was happy to block and take the singles.

• Reds captain Rajiv Nandivada got the first break through when he got Ashwin Karuhatty LBW. Greens captain Srikanth Sundaragopalan joined Samarth Shah and put on a quick 27 run partnership for the second wicket. Avinash Upadhyay, who came in as first change, got the important wicket of Srikanth Sundaragopalan caught smartly at deep cover by Sanjay Rama when the Greens were cruising along. Naveen Kumar joined Samarth Shah at the crease and batted sensibly for a while

• Sanjay Rama and Bhargava Vadapalli bowled economically in tandem and put the brakes on. From 58/2 the Greens were pushed back to 75/4 when Bhargava Vadapalli got Samarth Shah and Nikhil Patel out caught behind in the same over. At the drinks break, Greens were 83/4 (as opposed to Reds score of 50/2) and with Naveen and Ganesan at the crease they seemed to have the advantage. Bhargava Vadapalli struck another big blow when in the 22nd over he got Rajesh Ganesan out clean bowled. After two overs Sanjay Rama followed it up with the wicket of danger man Naveen Kumar, out LBW to reduce Greens to 88/6 in 22.2 overs

• But after every wicket the Greens consolidated with steady batting and kept themselves in the game. At this stage the match was evenly poised and had all the ingredients of being a thriller. Before finishing his spell, Bhargava Vadapalli dealt another blow when he got Sanjay Tikku plumb in front to further reduce the Greens to 103/7 in the 28 overs. Bhargava’s bowling figures were 8-2-13-4. He bowled his heart out first to ensure that the batsman was never able to dominate and then cashed in to earn 4 important wickets. Sanjay Rama bowling from the other end was supported Bhargava really well and together they bowled the match winning spell for Reds – 16 overs costing only 35 runs and 7 wickets in return

• Sanjay Rama had Aniruddha Daptardar caught behind by Sandeep Parab in the 33rd over to take the Reds within 2 wickets of victory. Rajesh Munshi was introduced into the attack in the 34th over. He responded well under pressure and cleaned up Maheshwar Jayaraman's stumps to take the Reds within 1 wicket of a dramatic victory. It looked like the Reds had won the game when Srikanth Vemparala hit a skier. But Siv Nagalingam misjudged the catch at long on and the drama continued. Greens had one more chance to rally with the last wicket and get to what seemed to be an unlikely victory at that point

• For the Reds the missed opportunity could have been expensive as the fifth bowler was yet to bowl 2 overs. It ended on dramatic note when Sanjay Rama got Srikant Vemparala's bowled off the last ball of his spell. Greens were bowled out for 124 and Reds won the game with 22 runs and with 5 overs to spare. The final game signified the roller-coaster season for the Reds. They were below 500 at one point and faced the possibility of being eliminated from the playoffs. But some great team work and experience came in handy and they won on the days it mattered the most

• Overall, Two MSCC teams have contested in the Division I final for the third consecutive year and MSCC as a club has now won 6 championships in the last 8 years

Central upset Redmond colt and wins Div II Championship

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Match# 08-71-II: Central won by 26 runs

Ron Regis Park, Renton, WA

Toss won by Redmond Colts and elected to field

Central: 171 for 10 in 35.5 overs

Batting highlights: Ashish Kasar 37(56), Tarun Kumar 27(19), Sam Karwal 22(51)

Bowling highlights: Pravin Deshrnukh, 3/25, Venu Belpu 2/29, Balamuruqan Annamalai 1/15

Redmond Colts: 145 for 10 in 36.5 overs

Batting highlights: Mahesh putta 49(51), Kiran Bhaskar 26(46), Pravin D. 19(25)

Bowling highlights: Banti Karwal 3/13, Vipan Dutt 2/35, Lucky S. 1/27

Man of the match: Vipan Dutt and Ashish Kasar from Central

Other notables

• Redmond Colts won the toss and put Central to bat. Central had rocking start with Tarun Kumar hitting couple of sixes and boundaries and Banti Karwal helping along.

• Splendid batting display by Ashish Kasar guided Central to put up commendable score.Banti Karwal and Ashish Kasar put up a 2nd wicket partnership of 44 runs in 36 balls. Ashish Kasar and Vipan Dutt put up a 3rd wicket partnership of 29 runes.

• Sam Karwal and Lucky Singh put up a mini partnership of 31 runs. After that Central couldn’t put a descent partnership and kept loosing wickets.

• Rajesh Kumar hit couple of good sixes and central finished the innings with total score of 171 runs.

• Redmond colts had been batting very well and won their last two games with very good batting lineup. Against Central Redmond Colts started their opening with hitting boundaries and had a quick start. Central fielded well by getting Redmond Colts first 3 wicket as run out, one of them with direct hit by Rishu from boundary line. Other two with Banti and Rajesh throwing the ball right into Jaskaran hands (wicket Keeper).

• Mahesh Putta was batting very well and had cut the central score by half with only 3 wickets down. Before going on to the 20 over break banti bowled the 20th over. On his very 1st ball Banti Karwal took Mahesh’s wicket (caught by Aman Johal). In the same over Banti took another wicket of Kshitij Moghe (caught by Jaskaran singh).

• Kiran Bhaskar and Praveen Desmukh put a mini partnership to make the game interesting. During the final few overs Kiran bhaskar was the only one between central and the Championship. Redmond Colts needed 40 runs of 25 balls and then Lucky bowled Kiran Bhaskar wicket to ensure the central victory. Vipan Dutt took the last wicket.

• This is Central’s first Championship in NWCL.

Team schedule:

Questions or comments: Please contact nwclmanagement@nwcl.org