POOL X - Rankings By Samish - week-5

Rank	Team	Why
1	MegaBytes	Another easy win for Megs. They don't even need to hit the top gear to beat most of the teams. Praveen top scored with 31 and along with Harish and Raghu took the score to 99. That was followed by some tight bowling by Gautham, Binod, Hari and Jeet. They play Juggernauts this week who historically have one of the better records against Megabytes but I'll play it safe and bet on Megs.
2	GLCC	GLCC hang on to their 2nd spot, but barely. Juggernauts gave them a scare in their previous game, coming within 16 runs of what should've been an easily defendable target (109). Kranti was at his best scoring 40 runs - with ease. Abhi and Vijay continued their good form to take the total over 100. Bowling wasn't up to the standards. Most bowlers gave away 4 runs or more per over. They'll have to dig deep if they want to beat Brownstown in what'll be the repeat of last years final. This one is hard to call - 50:50.
3	Brownstown	Played without their captain Yasir (who is blessed with a baby) and beat Stars comfortably - by close to 60 runs. Kamran, who's been in top form lately top scored with 41. With a total of 141 on board, it was a fairly easy task for the bowlers. The star of Dil-Se (Tariq - Shahid Afridi look alike - for those who don't know him ;)) took care of the bowling along with Ifran and Amar. Their next game will settle the debate for the second spot in the regular season. To me, it is the game of the week, so if you're not doing anything, stop by ;)
4	Juggernauts	Gave GLCC a tough fight getting within (16) runs of what can be considered a big target (110) in terms of DCL. Bala and Sriram paced the chase perfectly but fortunately for GLCC both were out when things seemed like getting out of control for GLCC. Anand, Ramesh and Sundar bowled beautifully and kept most GLCC players in check. Ramesh in particular was consistently accurate in hitting the right areas. They play Megabytes this week. It'll be an interesting game to say the least. Are Juggs the team that'll give Megs their first defeat of the season??
5	Gladiators	Had a bye week. They play Bridges to decide the real LORD of Lansing. Another must watch game. Too bad it is in Lansing. Another tough game to call but I'll go with Glads, just for their experience. 55-45 Glads.
6	Strikers	Moved up a spot after beating RBCC in a tough game. Classy Uday top scored with 35 and was well supported by Ashok (13), Jegan (14) and Tushar (10). Bowling was as expected with Abhijeet, Shailesh, Parthiv and Tushar sharing the wickets. They're a deep team both in batting and bowling and are expected to go deep in the playoffs. Hope they live up to their promise. They've a BYE this week.
7	Bridges	Have beaten some good teams including Brownstown but have lost to GLCC and Megabytes. They are a good unit - Very high on energy but low in experience. Kishan, Aditya, Shashi and Phani are the most experienced players in the team and they need to act like it. Kishan (r.o.), Aditya (r.o.) and Shashi(loose shot) gave away their wickets unnecessarily. It was then left to the rest to chase 100 against a bowling attack of Megabytes - which was not going to happen. In big games, the top 4 need to look to play out the whole inning. A mere 10 runs won't do it. They're however quick learners and I'm sure will come back strong. Next up Glads. If top 4 click in batting, only God can save Glads. If not, it is Glads game to take.
8	RBCC	There isn't much to say about them. Still looking for their first Pool X win. And coming week is their best chance. They're playing Stars and I pick them over Stars. Let's see if RBCC manages to surprise us again.
9	Stars	Were missing some of the bowlers that kept GLCC in check. However a Pool X team is not expected to allow 140 odd runs. The best of the Stars have to play their best to beat any of the top teams. They are playing RBCC and should look to win this game.