Bowling: Ramee’s experience against new bees, a lesson on how to pick wickets at the start and end. Excellent opening spell combo with Ahmad. Both Ahmad and later by Joel made batters fear with few raising deliveries. Joel was unlucky not to pick but it will soon happen, matter time. Then Shreyans out-spinned them at both spells finishing off their innings. Bhavesh provided support by picking a wicket.

It was a testing day for bowlers after 6 down probably due to reverse batting order but our guys kept pushing and eventually finishing them off. So score slightly higher by 30 odd runs.
The opponents are tennisball players transitioning into leather ball. Extras indicate their struggles but their good balls was unplayable hitting at right areas, some giving extra bounce. That reflects the good resistance showed by our top order lead by Rutu. Going forward we continue to build on this approach plus perhaps few learning’s from this game both for batters (more acceleration by singles) and bowlers (ways to break partnerships), reduce the catch drops. I will continue to welcome all the support and suggestions on improving our game.

Special thanks to

• Gaurav for scoring and especially for his trademark (2nd time so it can be called now ) Aloo-Gobi. It was aplenty for 40ppl. So if you are hungry at tea time you know where to land
• ⁠Jan, Manish, Anirudh and Advik for supporting the team
• ⁠Arnav and Rishi for their fielding giving much needed break to 4-5 players. Good job and we continue this formula going forward.
  PoM: Yuvraj
  Signed off with a round of drinks.

– Maddy

Ashish won the toss and decided to bat first, and looking at the lack of hesitation, it was as if he had taken the decision already last year. The message was loud and clear, bat for 50 overs, extras will come through with every extra, comes an extra delivery. The order was set, the roles were set, the target was set, and the match was underway.

Sharif and Sunil started the innings carefully, before Sharif perished to a skidder, but not before setting a reasonably good opening partnership. Ashish joined Sunil and together they set a solid platform for 12 Stars. Mixed with some lovely leaves, simple singles, decent drives and calculated cut shots, the runs column was kept busy on the Scoreboard. The partnership was flourishing when “it” happened. Pat Symcox, also known as Kalimullah floated a ball towards Ashish, who came across the stumps, waited for the ball, knelt and missed a mighty sweep. Hold on, there were no official umpires and so JD was sent with specific instructions from Ashish that he should not give unless it was 100% out. but this was different, this was 200% out and with a great dilemma, JD gave Ashish out and no points to anyone for guessing what happened next

Deepak couldn’t get the score ticking and got out followed by debutant Rahul who perished to an uncharacteristic shot leaving the Stars suddenly reeling from 83 for 1, to 86 for 4. In came “Steady” Sameer to stabilize the ship with Sunil and together they made sure the target was in sight. Sunil completed a glorious 50, his first in a looooooong time and he was literally the “Mainstay” of the Stars, He perished soon after his 50 and Sameer joined him after a well made 21 and Ahmed couldn’t add much before Jimmy tried to up the score and was out having played only 23 balls out of the possible 78 (something for the Stars to think about). JD, Manoj and Devang could manage very little but were able to get the Stars a run over 200.

With some good score on the board, thanks to Sunil, Ashish, Sameer and Jimmy, JD started the proceedings with Jimmy on the other end. The tight bowling was rewarded with a wicket on the 3rd over for JD and a misunderstanding between the batsmen and a quick thinking and acting from Ashish got Syed back to the pavilion. Jimmy wasn’t done yet, his swift action coupled with a solid shoulder produced a short ball that the
batsman used his bat to avoid any bodily injury resulting in a tame catch to Rahul. Captain Aman lost his patience and charged Manoj only to see a swift work behind the stumps by Rahul. In walked 19-year-old Abdul Wadood who tried to calm down the otherwise roaring 12 Stars. Ahmad started a rather difficult spell with the wind “wide”ning the gap between the batsman and the ball. Out of nowhere in this difficult spell, Sunil took a lovely, composed catch and this was followed by a breathtaking jumping catch by Clinical Manoj at the slips, who was as elated as anyone else on the field and promised a round of beer then and there . Ahmad missed his hat-trick but nevertheless was happy with the 2 priceless wickets. A dry spell of overs lasted before JD was brought back specifically to remove the comfortable Abdul and JD did deliver, thanks to a good catch by Deepak at gully. It was all over for the Gents, when big hitting Abdul was run out by some good work by JD/Rahul and Jimmy came back to break the timber and seal the Victory for the Stars.

Though it was a super collective effort, the knock of Sunil and the bowling of Jimmy stood out with decent contributions from Ashish, Sameer, Ahmad, Manoj and JD in addition to the wonderful work on the field by the entire team. Special note on Rahul, who took 2 catches, 2 run outs and a stumping on his debut match

The Journey to a thousand miles begins with one step, and the Stars have taken the first one. Hopefully, this will be a meaningful Step towards the “Championship” journey.

– Judson Daniel

The extended Juniors Match gave invaluable time at the Nets for the Senior Stars.

“Captain” Chris (Sounds cool, isn’t it ), in a very typical and traditional RBCC manner asked JD, the skipper of 12 Stars to have the choice either to bat or bowl. JD politely requested to bat, as anyone would, on a hot sunny day.

Jahanur and Sarath started the innings, with Jahanur, particularly in a rampant mood. He raced to his 50 in no time with some swashbuckling boundaries that caught the opposition completely off guard. Jahanur lost his “Jaan” trying to make the most of it, since the skipper requested him to retire at the end of the over. Amit joined Sarath, who was silent until then and then began to let his bat talk. Some sweetly middled shots mixed with scintillating sixers carried Sarath to his 50 before he retired. Shreyans joined Amit who was enjoying (only he can explain what he went through ) his time in the middle with some lusty blows and healthy leaves. Shreyans could not get his rhythm and was out for an inside edge while Nagesh made a quick visit to the pitch and left

Abhishek Tanvi stabilized a bit with Amit before the enduRUNS was over. KTR started anchoring the innings with amazing resilience and resoluteness. AbhiT’s wicket brought another collapse which saw the legendary Gannu aka Ganesh Leuven, Santhosh and Pavan lose wickets in quick success(or failure)ion…..JD joined KTR and played a little cameo before bringing back Sarath for a well composed 12 Stars innings, which ended in 250 Runs (off 35 overs). Sarath was unbeaten at 67.

Typical English Teas (or Sandwiches) were served before RBCC opened with Taha and Afzal who looked like they meant Business. JD and debutant Santhosh started the proceedings with Santhosh finding it a bit difficult to control the swing in the windy conditions at RBCC, thereby giving keeping drills to Jahanur. JD drew first blood by bowling a perfect outswinging yorker to Taha which brought “Young” Danish (not to be confused with Danish Senior, who would play a great part later in the game). Pavan tried his luck with no gains and Shreyans was introduced at the other end to disrupt the otherwise comfortable batsmen who were running away with the game. AbhiT bowled some amazing leg spinners that puzzled the batsmen but yet without any success.

When RBCC crossed 100 for the loss of 1 wicket, threatening to run away with the game, Shreyans loopy offie tempted Afzal to slog one to long-on towards Sarath, who initially seemed to have misjudged, only to pull a spectacular catch at the end. This brought Danish Senior to the crease. JD brought himself back and got the younger Danish to nick
one to the Keeper. While everyone heard the nick, the man of the moment Manoj said he didn’t hear anything. I suspect his beard covered his ears imp”hear”ing him. JD “appleaded” and finally, feeling sorry for the bowler, the batsman walked (Frankly he had no choice ).

With the change in batting, the skipper made a bowling change Nagesh, who bombarded Arun with 4 wides to start with, a tactic which would pay off in the next over when Arun gaped while waiting for the wide delivery, only to be bowled straight on. A very jubilant Nagesh was so happy to be taken off the attack, content that his job was over with that breakthrough. Jawad (also known for this slowest innings in 2014 when he and his team scored 66 in 45 overs) entered the field and he along with Danish gave the much-needed hope for……… 12 Stars. Every close miss was applauded by Gannu, who requested all the bowlers not to take the wicket of Danish lest 12 Stars should lose . Sarath with his leggies made sure that he consistently beat the batsmen to keep the chase in check. With 55 needed in 5 overs, the starters Santhosh, Pawan, JD, Shreyans and AbhiT came back and ensured the win for 12 Stars by 28 runs.

Sarath was the Man of the Match (unfortunate that he had to know this through this Report ) for his lovely 50 and for his catchy catch. The day ended with hugs, handshakes, pics and beers, beers and lots of beers.

– JD

Match 1

After winning the toss, the Brussels Strikers elected to bowl first. The 12 Stars had a shaky
start, losing both openers early. However, the innings was steadied by Nemish, who
anchored the middle overs with a well-compiled 45 off 37 balls, featuring seven boundaries
and a six. He was supported by Bhushan, who contributed a valuable 27 runs. Later in the
innings, Raunak, Rajiv, and Ravi chipped in with 22, 14, and 14 runs respectively. Extras
played a significant role in boosting the total, with the opposition conceding 26 runs,
including 23 wides. In the end, the 12 Stars posted a total of 166 runs.

Defending a target of 166, 12 Stars’ bowlers came out firing. Brussels Strikers lost their
captain for a duck in the very first over and never recovered. With no significant
partnerships, the batting order collapsed, and they were bowled out for 79 in 18.1 overs.
Srikant stood out with the ball with 3 for 13 in 4 overs and was well supported by Ani with
1 wicket in 4 overs. Shreyans also did well and took 3 wickets for 16 runs in his 3-over spell.
Nemish and Ravi cleaned the rest. The fielding was sharp, backing up the bowlers for a
comprehensive team performance.
Match Summary:

• 12 Stars CC: 165/7 in 20 overs
• Brussels Strikers CC: 79 all out in 18 overs
• Result: 12 Stars CC won by 86 runs

In the end, 12 Stars began their BCF T20 Cup 2025 campaign with a dominant 86-run
victory over Brussels Strikers Cricket Club. This win showcased 12 Stars’ balanced effort
across both batting and bowling departments.

Match 2:

After a short break for refreshments, the second match of the day saw 12 Stars choses to
bat first after winning the toss. Batting first, 12 Stars set the tone from the outset. Sazzad
provided fireworks at the top, hammering 58 off just 23 balls with 8 fours and 3 sixes.
Sandeep Saila followed with a steady 52 off 36. The real carnage came later, with Nemish
smashing 65 off 27 and Rajiv Sharma blasting an unbeaten 41 off only 14 balls. The onslaught,
along with 29 extras, powered 12 Stars to a massive 285/6 in 20 overs. Brussels Strikers’
bowlers had a tough outing. Despite taking six wickets, they couldn’t contain the aggressive
batting. Ramakant (2/37) and Venkatesan (2/41) were the only bowlers to show some
control, while Suraj bore the brunt, conceding 62 runs in his 4 overs.
Chasing an enormous 286, Brussels Strikers faltered again. They were bundled out for just
89 in 17.3 overs. Only Manish (16) and Bhushan (15) reached double digits. The bowling unit of 12 Stars was relentless. Ahmad led the attack with 2 for 19 in 4 overs and was well
supported by Sharifullah with 1 wicket in 3 overs. Following-up, Jimmi, Ravi, and Manoj, also
did well and took 2, 1, and 3 wickets respectively. Fielding was also top-notch, Sazzad took
some outstanding catches, including a couple of impressive juggling efforts.

Match Summary:

• 12 Stars CC: 285/6 in 20 overs
• Brussels Strikers CC: 89 all out in 17 overs
• Result: 12 Stars CC won by 196 runs
  

This win not only underlined 12 Stars’ dominance but also gave their net run rate a boost, a
possible advantage in the tournament. Their all-round performance serves as a great
confidence boost ahead of tougher challenges over the coming weekends.

Overall, it was a perfect day for cricket, and the 12 Stars performed exceptionally well with
two well-executed wins. These victories will surely help the team build momentum for the
rest of the games.

This is a huge milestone in our club’s journey, and the overwhelming number of registrations speaks volumes about our shared enthusiasm. We are beyond excited to host you all—in fact, we ALL will be the new hosts of our home ground!

Given the large turnout, we kindly request everyone to adhere to certain rules and protocols for a smooth and enjoyable event.

Event Details & Agenda

Arrival Time: Please ensure you arrive before 14:30 on Sunday.

Parking Instructions

Parking is available at the designated location:

Do not park near the ground.

Fun & Games for Everyone!

There will be games for kids of all ages, including a bouncy castle!
Exciting games are planned for families and adults as well.

Food & Drinks
Starting 14:00, a snack counter will offer tea and small snacks at highly discounted prices. A variety of drinks will also be available at our canteen.

Important Guidelines – Dignitaries Attending

We are honored to welcome Ambassador of India, Mr. Saurabh Kumar, and his family. To ensure a respectful and smooth experience for everyone, we kindly request:

No personal questions to the Ambassador or the Embassy delegation.
No crowding around them; no requests for personal photos.
Respect keynote speeches – no interruptions, but be generous with applause!
Maintain decorum during the keynote speeches and the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

STRICTLY NO SMOKING

Smoking is prohibited at the event. Anyone found smoking within the campus will face heavy penalties and additional club sanctions.

Buffet Dinner – FREE!

A complimentary buffet dinner will be served by the club. Please maintain decorum while queuing up – volunteers will be present to serve.

Raffle Tickets – Support Your Club & Win Big!

To support our club’s growth and have a chance to win amazing prizes, we request you to purchase raffle tickets at the entrance.

Ticket Price: €10 per person
3 Big Prizes Up for Grabs!

We Need Your Help!

Setting up and wrapping up OUR home ground is a collective effort. Any assistance before and after the event will be greatly appreciated. Let’s all pitch in!

Looking forward to an unforgettable celebration!

https://www.crichq.com/matches/1025491/1st_innings

Maiden fifty as a captain for Asijit. What an innings to watch! But was it not enough for the 12 Stars to chase the score of 219?

It was a bright, sunny and pleasant day – a great day for cricket. Gent CC won the toss and chose to bat first. Captain Asi had set the strategy clearly and gave the team an inspirational prep-talk. He asked the team to stick to the strategy and not worry about the result of the game.

12 Stars got in with a poor start with opening bowlers failing to get the line properly. One of those bad days where you start off with 16 runs in your first over. The runs kept leaking from the start. Credits to the opposition batsmen who were aggressive from the beginning. 12 Stars were not converting the chances too. There were close to 4 catch drops. Some of them were difficult, but those were crucial ones considering the batsman. Is the catch drop infectious? All they need is one good catch to be back in the game. 12Stars knew that if they take the top 3 batsmen out then the opposition will crumble. Since the opening bowlers were leaking a lot of runs captain decided to bring in Srini and Ravi. They did a fabulous job to control the runs. From 58-0 in 6 overs Gent CC scored 79-0 in 10 overs. End of powerplay. Srini’s spell was crucial, he bowled 6.0 overs and gave only 24 runs. He controlled the runs in one end that made the batsmen to make mistakes in the other end.

Asi brought in Nauman bhai. When fielders were spread 12Stars knew catches were coming. JD kept warning everyone in the outfield to be ready for a catch. In fact, he called out names individually before every ball was bowled. And there it came towards Ravi at long on, but wait Ravi was walking slowly. Out of nowhere Rahul ran fast towards the ball from long off. It was definitely not his catch, he had to run farther and not in his reach too. He fell down while attempting to catch the ball and injured his knee again. Oops, uneven ground and a poor call caused him this. Stretcher please. 12 Stars lost their first wicket even before they could get the first wicket of Gent CC. 17 overs 118-0. Drinks break…….

After drinks captain called everyone for a quick chat. “Guys please attempt your catches. We are going to get a lot of catches from now on”. First ball after drinks, catch did come, Nauman was bowling and the batsman slogged towards Amrullah in sweeper cover. What a catch! 12 Stars needed that breakthrough. And then another catch towards deep mid-wicket of Ravi’s bowling. This time a brilliant catch by Srini, he judged the ball so well. It was a crucial wicket. It was Srini’s day with the ball, he was catching every ball. Both the openers gone. 12 Stars were geared up!  No more drops, Ravi took a wicket again in his next over – caught and bowled. He made it look easy. He had to stretch towards his left to dive and catch the ball. Yes, catching is infectious.12 Stars started to convert all the opportunities to wickets. Next was a run out from Subu. Team was overjoyed after that run out.

Ishaq was brought in. He is the new superstar in 12 Stars now. He was hit for few sixes but they were all of full tosses. When he pitched the ball it was unplayable. He took 4 wickets. Yet another brilliant spell. Amrullah bowled really well in the other end to support Ishaq. Amrullah and Sharifullah (sub for Rahul) were brilliant in the field. They stopped a lot of boundaries. Debutante Ankit took a catch too in deep square leg. Ravi took two brilliant catches. For one of those catches, he had to run from long on to long off.  What a catch! I would pay to watch him field. After 2^nd drinks captain planned to bring in Ravi to wrap it up. Like JD’s magical prediction opponents lost their last wicket exactly at 38.2 Overs.

Now 12 Stars needed 219 to win this game. What a comeback and turnaround!

12 Stars has lost their opener, Rahul already. Hope he recovers from the knee injury soon. Asijit decided to send Sunil and Subu to open the innings. Sunil got out of the first ball. It was a quick in-swinger hit on top of the off stump. He didn’t expect that big in cutter. Unfortunate! Ravi came in next and hit the ball out of the park. It was the 2^nd ball he faced. Ravi’s confidence is unbelievable. But he got out too after scoring some shots. 6 overs 16-2. Asijit came in and he wanted a long partnership. With his constant talk and guidance, Subu and Asi managed a 56 runs partnership. After scoring some boundaries Subu got out in 17^th over. It was a suicidal run out. What a blunder!

With Srini and Asi on crease 12 Stars were longing for a big partnership. Hapless dismissal shattered everyone’s hope – Srini got inside edged and bowled. Asi was playing so well in the other end. It was glorious to watch him bat but not even one batsman could stay and support him. While batsmen were getting out in the other end Asi managed to score a brilliant 51. 12 Stars ended 110/9 in 30.4 overs.

12 Stars were short of batsmen and unfortunately missed Rahul’s batting. Overall, it was a good day of cricket with a lot of learning. Great comeback during first innings with brilliant fielding efforts. Great bowling by Ishaq, Ravi, Nauman, Srini and Amrullah. Lot of things to learning in batting too.

Hope 12Stars learn from their mistakes and comeback stronger.

“We will come back stronger!” 1…2…3…12Stars!

https://www.crichq.com/matches/1022286/1st_innings

With a close win against RBCC in the previous game, Stars were looking to continue the winning saga with BGCC to reach the T20 Quarters. Weather was also promising (despite rain predictions till Saturday evening).
Earlier in the week, we got bad news that Nemish (the captain) tested covid positive, so Sazzad (vice-captain) led the team. And on the game day, Sharif who supposed to be in playing 11 could not join due to long DIV 5 game on Saturday, so our new Star Satish Pamnani joined us on a last moment call, thank you Satish for the same however, on reaching to the ground, Ishaq (who was not part of the playing 11) surprisingly showed up and joined us in the game. Satish played the next game in the afternoon.

Brussels Greens (BGCC) won the toss and elected to bat first. Vishal started the first over and a brilliant piece of fielding came from Ravi, who was at the point position, in the third ball of the over. BGCC Batsman Anmol, who was consistently scoring the runs in previous games, was trying to steal a run playing a shot in between point and gully. Ravi premeditated the shot coming from the batsman by looking at his fit movement and instantly ran toward the gully. Batman was in full confidence to steal the run and left his ground. In between, a non-sticker batsman who already left his crease saw Ravi caught the ball and called NO for the run but by the time it was too late for the batsman and Ravi threw a rocket throw directly in hands of Asijit and the stumps were dismissed in quick succession. A brilliant run out. This runout added another level of energy in stars to dominate in the game.

Few catches were dropped in between and then came the 4th over from Srikanth, and a soft dismissal of BGCC’s another opener with LBW wicket. An excellent bowling from both the opening bowlers by restricting BGCC on 17 runs for 2 wickets in 4 overs. And with a second wicket down, BGCC’s dependable batsman Saurabh came in with a determination to play till the end which we saw in the game as well (scored 51 runs). They had a good partnership for 3rd wicket to take the scoreboard to 50 runs in 8th Over.

Next comes Ravi’s 9th over, what an over this was. BGCC’s skipper was looking to pacing up the run-rate and tried to hit Ravi’s good length incoming delivery for the left-hand batsman. He could not connect it well and a skier catch went towards mid-on where Rohan caught it too easily. (With his firm hand, not like Anthony who catches with his firm **** :-). A maiden over with a wicket. Runs flew in middle overs, but to mention, Ishaq saved 3 boundaries in deep mid-wicket. An amazing price of fielding from Ishaq that too in Ramadan. Quickly running and attacking on the ball, putting body behind the ball and throwing it as fast as possible for the direct hit. Ishaq was setting up the new standards in fielding.

Once again, Ravi’s 14th Over, BGCC’s batsman who was rotating the strike thought to score a boundary and played a lofted cover drive towards deep mid-wicket, Ishaq was little back from the catching position and started running forward, sliding under the ball, completed an amazing low catch. As I said before, Ishaq was setting up the new standards . BGCC were 85 runs with 4 wickets down in 14 overs.

After another soft dismissal with an LBW wicket in the 16th over, BGCC were on 90 runs, 5 wickets down. BGCC added another 35 runs in the last 4 overs to make the total of 125 (6 wickets). Amazing performance and dominance by Stars in bowling and fielding. The KPI has been achieved by restricting them to 125. Great bowling by Rohan and Srikanth in death overs. Now it was a batting side show to continue the dominance. Sazzad and Asijit opened the inning, the roles were exchanged due to Nemish’s absence. Asijit to rotate the strike and Sazzad to score the boundaries and indeed that’s what we saw in the first over itself, four and six coming from Sazzad’s bat towards mid-on and long-on, scoring 12 runs in first over. In the next 5 overs, not being much greedy, and with singles and doubles we scored 33 runs in 5 overs with no loss. In the 5th over,
Asijit punched an amazing six towards long-off. The sound from the bat was too good to know the result of that delivery. Everyone was surprised and appreciating the punch-six where Rohan calmly said (like he already knew that this was coming), only Asijit can hit such six (just a punch) and gave some references from the Bilande ground where he used to punch straight drives for boundaries (not to mention, it used to be 60+ meters boundary at Bilande, nice ground it was, good old days

In the next over, pumped up with a six, Asijit tried to accelerate the inning, getting LBW in the 6th over. It was a straight ball but pitch made it slower than anticipated making connection of the ball with pad only. We were on 37 runs with 1 wicket down in the 6th over. Next came in our Goreeb star (Kowshik), started his explosive inning by hitting four and six consecutively in 7th over. The partnership continued till 11th over where Kowshik’s got out by scoring 23 runs in 18 balls. We were at 74 runs on 2 wickets on completion of 11th over.

Next came in Sreeni, played a mature inning with a temperament, rotating strike, scoring singles and doubles. And at another end, Sazzad was taking charge to score a few more boundaries making it an easy look win. We were 10 runs short for a win when Sreeni got out in the 17th over contributing much needed 22 runs. The score was 115 runs on 3 wickets after 17th over. 10 runs were needed in 18 balls, there came in Rohan, scored 5 runs and got out by tying the score and Sarath went in to complete the last winning run. Easy looking but an excellent victory for 12 Stars. Sazzad played a gem of an inning, a captain’s knock and remained not out by scoring 51 runs in 42 balls, the half century was very well applauded by the stars.

With this 4th win in the tournament, 12 stars made its position in the Quarter finals. This match was a great example of dominance in all bowling, batting and in fielding areas. Throughout the game, there wasn’t any such moment where any of us was distracted. Everyone was focused, cheering up and supporting the bowlers, backing up in fielding, aware about their fielding positions for lefty- righty combination and during over changes too. Super planning with great execution.

Congratulations to the Stars for a great victory !!!

https://www.crichq.com/matches/1023714/1st_innings

WARNING TO LIBERALS: This report will contain free flow of inner thoughts and could make some people uncomfortable with the use of pun, sarcasm, also references to BMI etc. Don’t take it seriously, I know you think the same but under the social pressure of being politically correct in todays world……you got my point—MOVE ON!!

May 1st (first) was the day, first game for Nemish as the one-day captain, debut games for Sarath and Satish in the same format. With many first on a happy note there was something which was not first —The opponents. Since ACC is our home ground. We can call it the Antwerp Derby (just to give it an intense feel). The name sounds intense, but 1 team made it a one-sided affair. The following report will depict the flow of events in a chronological order as much as possible but given the authors profound and bold thinking you don’t know what to expect. SIT ON THE THRONE AND ENJOY THE NEXT 5-20 mins (depending on your
reading capabilities –TAARE ZAMEEN PAR).

Bright day with members from 12stars reaching the ground on time. The usual small talk pleasantries, free advice exchanged as the ground was setup. Match was very well organised by the Match manager (special thanks to him). Setup done –> warm up –> catching as part of our process under the new leadership was done in that order #Prathishta, anushasan, Parampara. Only thing we missed before the game was Alok Nath’s blessing (BAUJI).

New leadership new things have started happening. We are winning tosses unlike the previous captain whom no one wants to remember as part of the tosses #EPIC FAIL. Using hashtags as part to get the millennials involved. We won the toss and chose to bat.

Opponents arrived as usual not much of a greeting exchanged, but mutual acknowledgement of their presence. They came with a coach chacha and few supporters. Their captain was injured and sitting out and while discussing with our captain, we came to a conclusion that there is something stuck up his…..(3 letter word with 2 S’s). He never smiles, always looks angry and forever arrogant with the body and face (takes some confidence; P).

Game started with our openers playing cautiously and targeting the lose balls. But with some small error in judgement both the openers were back in the dug out with 18 on board. With Ashish and Arsh on the field we were expecting to see a lot of running and quick singles, to our surprise our sardar started playing some aerial shots to spread the field. This is the kind of intent the previous captain kept talking about ……. At last, they realised or was it a plot in which he was ousted (YEH RAAZ BHI USI KE SAATH CHALAGAYA). Amidst all this our leg umpires told us that our beloved west Indians (GUJJU’s guy…keep up) sledged a lotwith citing the infamous last year saying the rain god saved us and mocking the team on their batting style and shots…and etc etc. I’m not sure if it worked but we lost Ashish with 40 on board. A come back for our gareebo ka Katappa maama…you keep coming back somehow every 2 years like a Fast and furious movie (ONLY thing fast is the title).

Arsh and the REAL GAREEB ( kowshi) came to the field and started rotating the strike. I need to give it the opponents that they are good at bowling one line and length…its commendable (don’t worry each appreciation would come back with 2 put downs..later).

Only way our temperamental sardar can get out is Run out and this is exactly what happened. Partner was fasting so we can say it was the fault of……you guys are smart put 2 and 2 together. Furious sardar came out and threw his bat and then realized it’s precious…I guess he wept a bitͧ ͨ ͩ ͪ . Luckily it missed a team man who was injured by his 2-year-old son a few days back. It is at this point I started thinking my match report is going to be very short, but both you and I were in for a surprise. Now it was the debutant Sarath with a poor partner (not skill wise). They started rotating sensibly and targeted the bad balls wisely and strongly. Our runs rate started climbing 3—4 —5 and we started cruising as kowshi reached his 50 with a Six and then went on to clobber two more in the same over. They hyped a part time bowler to bowl china man—-he was hit to china in his own right. This change in a usually lazy, fasting kowshi was brought in by the visitors. They poked the bear…and quite hard by sledging. To our advantage it kept him awake and talking the rest of the day. We were now 200 in 38 overs and kowshi inching towards his century. He scored the century with a single (overthrow double) the whole team standing, shouting and hooting. I asked him to make 150 now. Now we waited for sarath to reach his 50. In the meantime gareeb ran out of money and got out scoring 109. He was received with warm hugs and wet kisses from everyone.

215 in 40 and now walks in the man waiting for 25 overs with his pads on. It was me. I am not particularly fond of the west Indians residing in the region of Antwerp. These are the games when I let the beast out. I came in and waited for sarath to reach his fifty. What an innings…..if kowshi was KGF 2 box office….then Sarath was Pushpa. If you don’t understand please watch south Indian movies.

We spoke to not target their only good bowler and rest of the overs were bonus where I was waiting to use my hammer. Sarath got out immediately after his 50 then came in Ani…the bowling pair on batting now. I asked ani to stay until 50 overs and let me hit, so I did. 2 big sixes and one massive over cover and 3 boundaries…I’m sure none of the visitors wanted to touch the ball as they would have left without fingers had they attempted. With some injuries in their team due to unstable BMI which resulted in their ankle taking too much weight, they started feeling the heat and started crumbling. Once we reached 250, I
told ani this target is beyond their reach ( in nice Hindi—yeh inki shamta se bahar hai). I got out and We reached 286 with some blows from ani and well supported by satish, vishal and cheeka.
END OF PART 1

Thanks to Subbu for getting custom made Jain food which all of us relished. This was one thing we all agreed on that the food was good. To our surprise the opponent captain had a smile as if the food had released the stuck part from his body and he was at peace.

Coach chacha was walking up and down and asking himself why he is here and what is he doing, then he realised food was good. We started the proceedings with cheeka. This is how the handover of responsibility happens as I did not bowl the first ball in 9 years. Heart wrenching…..wipe your tears and get back in the story. Nemish left me to handle the unruly, directionless hrithik ( cheeka ) from LAKSHYA. We spoke before the game , during lunch and I asked him to be patient. He will get the wickets but needs to wait like a tiger for his kill at the right time. My voice and arms intimidated him and he did just what the doctor ordered. Good length and making batsman think. From the other end I kept putting pressure and as AICC is, they were scared to get to the ball as the ball was talking to their chests. Shri set it up well and I told him in my 2nd over I will get the first wicket………..ALAS!!! all went well ball to the fielder and where I wanted, and somethings don’t change…..straight catch was dropped. It was SATISH usually a safe fielder….all I could say is that he learnt the tricks of the team to deny me wickets….BAHUT AAGE JAOGE:P :P. in his next over shri took 2 and then 1 in the next. I as usual scared them with my chest and biceps and went wicket less as ball
flew between and over the slips. They had no clue of what we were doing with the ball. All this while Kowshi and slips kept sledging them so hard that we couldnt stop laughing. This continued till the last ball.38 in the first 10 over with 3 wickets down was a good start for them….they could have been 6 down if my teammates were more friendly towards my fading career.

Talking about fading careers. Ani got the ball with sarath as first change. Pushpa, and Vin diesel (stocky version with hair) in his yet another comeback with yet another operation came to bowl. Pushpa bowled an excellent line and length and took 2 amazing wickets with proper leg break. Ani took his first wicket but it was the catch which was the highlight. It was better than any international level catch I have seen or taken ;-). A random shot top edge, ball going high and towards square leg, you hear kowshi saying mine …. moment froze for everyone except him…..he ran and ran and took a plunge….in the air 175 degrees to be precise. Mostly parallel to the ground took the catch in the air…its etched now…….the opponent supporters left after this saying time for chai and kharka…that is better. Rohan kept shining the ball so well…as learnt from the legend Nauman who was also there on the field with his glasses on and swag matching his cute, golu physique of a 6 year old well fed boyͧͨͩͪ . Ani was able to swing the ball…bananasss even at 20th over. As history repeats, I was still applying pressure with the ball literally and Ani taking the wickets. The ball came to me diligently wherever I was to shine from the captain. Ani sung, swung and took 5. Highlight remaining the number 9 leaving the ball and off stump uprooted. Ctrl C + Ctrl V from 2014-2016 era. 5 for ani, 3 for shri and 2 for Pushpa………..nothing more to say…..kind words and appreciation for me. The last wicket is worth mentioning as ani and I came together and set a field and I told arsh you will take this catch and end the game ….2balls later arsh caught the ball with his mouth as it came there….Experience……GAME
DONE!!!

The real Hero of the match was Vishal who even after getting beaten by his son and having a bad back injury came to make sure we didn’t fall short and was supposed to open the bowling and making his debut in DIV 1 supported the team by fielding all day. Hope you get fit for the next match and bowl…and as history goes you will get the wickets!!

Satish opened up, nerves gone as he batted, bowled and dropped my catch as per the process and plan of the captain. First win for nemish, excellent captaincy good field setup and calmness on the field. OF COURSE, he would be calm when he has 2 ex captains playing the game for him!!

The opponents were heard saying “ THIS IS PAINFUL TO WATCH”. Indeed it was meant to be painful. Overall good setup for the season….keep this in my mind the right intent and process will take us places. Skill wise we are good. Only person I missed was maybe sazz but a lot was spoken about him the last 2 weeks…so its OK.

“When things go well you don’t see the real character….when things don’t go well that is
when you need to control your demons”

MOM – Kowshik for his century and catches

Sarath and Ani great performances. These are the days when I feel happy we won but sad that at 35 I have flat abs, great hair and good looks but its worth nothing as the universe conspires against you. So you stop thinking and move on….heart touching yet again.

BABU MOSHAI I HATE TEARS RE…………..for the west Indians
THIS IS MY EID GIFT TO YOU
EID MUBARAK!!!

The 1st game of the double header weekend where the Stars were getting prepared for a gloomy day at office with some clouds around and even a couple of showers to play the spoilsport but to our surprise the weather was picture perfect to play cricket with bright sunshine falling on the field.

Planning to field first against Exiles which is contrary to our general strategy this season, captain Nemish continued his toss winning streak and 12 Stars CC opted to bowl first so that was the first small milestone achieved in the game. We had two debutants in this game Sharifullah and Amrullah and they were welcomed to the club in the team huddle by our veterans Ani and Manoj.

FIRST INNINGS

12 Stars’ bowling attack is known around Belgium to strike early while bowling and it was indeed a dream start from our opening Srikanth and Vishal where Sri struck a double blow in his very 1st over and second over of the match. Nemish with his safe pair of hands taking a good AUSTRALIAN CUP catch on mid-off and then our youngest member to play the senior cricket Amrullah taking a lovely catch at covers. Vishal was rewarded for his consistent bowling as well when he got a wicket in the very next over reducing the opposition to 5 runs for 3 wickets in 3 overs. I was personally in the awe of the moment as all the pieces of the puzzle were automatically fitting the way we wanted. Rajiv was covering for the wicket keeping position in this game and he made his presence felt in the 5th over of the game where he gathered the ball removing his gloves from a not so good throw (away from the stumps, other than that, all was good about throw) and hitting the stumps and choking Exiles even further.

This brought the best batsman of Exiles to the crease, and we saw partnership developing, where Sarath stepped in with his classic leg spin to get rid of a set batsman, the score now was 63-5 in 15 overs. Since the powerplay got over Ani was keeping 1 end tight without giving easy runs despite of the field been opened. In the 16th over Sulaiman from Exiles played a flashy square cut and our deep point field Satish came in running and took a wonderful popping catch. The evergreen Manoj could not be left out of action when he took a one-handed stunner off his own bowling and running in the whole ground like the famous Imran
Tahir celebration and then realizing that the ball was hit too hard and that may have caused an injury to him. It was a peculiarly hilarious moment for everyone during the team huddle. We saw some hard hits from the lower order, and it was the combination of Manoj and Nemish’ AUSTRALIAN CUP love affair which helped us breaking in to the tail even further where Nemish took a fantastic flat catch at long on. The came in the wonderful and smiling Amrullah to bowl and he impressed everyone on the field with his consistent line and length outside off and did not give an inch to the batsmen to score and was rewarded in his 3rd over with a wicket with Exiles now being at 157 for 9 in 36 overs. The team strategy was to bundle Exiles under 150 which was going well. We were able to get Exiles all out for 182 setting a target of 183 for ourselves.

SECOND INNINGS

So the chase started and Rajeev and Nemish started cautiously as the required run rate was never going to trouble us and it was all about roasting the opposition without giving them easy and early wickets. The runs kept coming steadily and the plan was working nicely until Nemish got an inswinger which clipped off the bails in the 9th over with the Stars at 32 for 1. Rajeev kept playing his strokes as Arshvir stepped to accompany him on the crease and the score was ticking nicely. Unfortunately, Rajeev got out on a aerial square cut with the deep point taking a really good low diving catch. This brought Sarath to the crease where he smoked his 2nd ball off to covers for a boundary. After playing a couple of lovely shots through the off side, Sarath was unlucky to get caught behind on a ball which kept low and getting the under edge of the bat. Ani fell prey to the fiery fast bowling as well and at that moment we were 70-4 in 20 overs. Then came in Mr Srikanth who is really a blend of Dravid and Russell to support Arshvir. Both were going well with an aim to spend 5 overs at a time and the required run rate being modest did not really panic any of the two and Srikanth took his time in the middle to settle and at the same time also playing flamboyant strokes to keep the sledging from Exiles to the faintest level. Srikanth at the start of the innings was blocking the ball
so well that it did not even get off the pitch, picture perfect defence as they say and on a free hit Sri clobbered the ball for aninside out lofted drive over covers for a six against the fastest bowler in the Exiles team giving a stare to the chattering keeper. Till the 2nd drinks break Sri and Arsh had taken us to 115 in 31 overs.

We hear a lot about brain fade moments and we experienced another as after the drinks break, Arsh was just unable to play the ball and time it as he was doing before. According to Cheeka it might be because Arsh got his cap after removing his helmet. Arsh survived a LBW appeal on a full toss and on the same ball also survived a close run out call and the ball after Arsh missed another full toss which caught him PLUM in front of the wicket. As usual, Arsh being Arsh blaming the umpire and giving all sorts of stupid explanations. This brought Vishal on to bat with Srikanth with another 65 runs needed to win in 18 overs. The patience and determination to get over the line which was showed by both Sri and Vishal as commendable.

Another funny moment to capture was on a series of drop catches from Exiles. So, Vishal got a top edge where the fielder just ran entangling himself to judge the ball and eventually was never able to get it where Soheel the captain of Exiles threw his cap in disgust and in the very next over Soheel himself dropped a sitter on mid off and we were looking on the field on who would throwing his cap now. Sri and Vishal indeed capitalized on the missed chances and runs started to come freely and with every run scored the opposition just kept on sinking. After crossed 150 in the 41st over it was just a matter of time as Exiles had given
up and that allowed Srikanth and Vishal to easily score runs. As we got closer Sri completed a very well-played half century, an innings that is a lesson for everyone of us. Unfortunately, Sri was not able to finish the game and he got out with 2 runs still needed. Then went Sharifullah who carefully defended the last ball of the 46th over and in the next over, Vishal scored the deserving winning shot.

It was a sweet victory to cherish as it was a complete team effort with everyone contributing with the ball, in the field and with the bat too. This game would give a strong message out to the other teams of the temperament that 12 Stars is bringing to the table this season. Srikanth was awarded the Man of the match for brilliant all round performance

Let’s keep having fun and enjoy the company of each other as we have been doing so far this season and rest all will fall in place automatically.