Justice League @ Incredibles, July 29 2015:

• Scorecard
• Points & Stocks

Match Summary:

Incredibles won the toss and chose to bat. Justice League bowlers kept the Incredibles batting unit in check with a steady stream of wickets – two ducks in the top-order had the Incredibles at 14/3 after 5.2 overs.

Small partnerships, with batsmen playing around Nachiket, took the Incredibles to 54/5 after 12 overs. However, a dramatic collapse of 3 runs for 5 wickets in the space of 9 balls meant the Incredibles folded for 57 in 13.3 overs – leaving 3 balls on the table.

Incredibles got a wicket off the first ball, as they began their defense of 57 on the right note; they got the second wicket in the next over. A run-out followed by a middle-order collapse that included Hari getting out hit-wicket, had the Justice League in trouble at 20/6 after 7 overs.

The lower order attempted to resurrect the inning, and chase down a relatively small target. However, the damage proved too much to recover from, as Justice League folded for 46 runs in 12.4 overs – leaving 8 balls on the table – a 11 run loss.

Justice League and Incredibles have now both played six matches, and have four points each. Justice League stay in the third spot in the MPL 2015 – Team Standings, marginally ahead of Incredibles, on NRR: -0.083 to -0.19.

Player Spotlight:

Sriram played anchor for Incredibles, while Nachiket stood tall and played a captain’s knock. Anuj and Chaitanya played key supporting roles as the Incredibles posted a slightly under-whelming 57. Sriram, Nachiket, Anuj and Chaitanya made 11(21), 22(22), 8(8), and 5(7) respectively.

Anand R, Mayank, Rafeeq and Arun stood tall with the ball for Justice League – 3-0-6-1, 2.3-0-10-2, 3-1-7-1, and 3-0-15-3 respectively.

Hari, Ashish S, Rafeeq and Shalyajit were the only Justice League batsmen to put up a fight, making 7(16), 5(9), 6(16), and 6(8) respectively.

Rahul, Sriram, Sachin, and Chaitanya stood out with the ball for Incredibles – 3-0-11-1, 2.4-0-12-4, 3-0-10-2, and 3-0-7-2 respectively.

Key Stats:

Legend:

Dot Ball Count (DBC): Dot balls faced by all batsmen in the given team for this match. Includes any deliveries not faced on account of being all-out prior to the 14 allotted overs.

Extra Deliveries (ED):The total number of wides and no-ball bowled by the opposition, during this team's batting.

Effective Dot Ball Count (EDBC): Subtracting the sum of wides and no-balls bowled by the opposition, from the DBC.

Runs in Boundaries (RiB): The total runs scored in boundary hits.

The Incredibles’ batting consisted of five ducks.

Sriram, Nachi, and Anuj – now with 59, 59, and 60 runs respectively – join the ‘batsman with 50 plus runs in MPL 2015’ club – Rohith, Anuj, Anil, Yashwanth, and Yeshwanth being the others.

Rafeeq joins Mayank, Dipesh and Chirag, in the ‘bowlers with 10 plus wickets in MPL 2015’ club. Rafeeq has exactly 10 wickets. Mayank’s two wicket haul gets him back to the top of the highest wicket-taker – now with 12 wickets.

Plays of the day:

1. Sreeram was part of the playing XI, but couldn’t make it for the match. Former captain Priyank, soaking in the match as part of the audience, strode out at the fall of the eighth wicket. With his right palm in a cast – he came out to bat with one good hand in Sreeram’s place (and name). A run-out of the first ball he faced didn’t make a difference to the scorecard – Sreeram may not be too happy about the impact of this to his points and stock-price reevaluation.

Player Rankings:

Mayank, Rafeeqm Sriram and Chaitanya moved up in the Player Rankings, now in the fourth, sixth, ninth and tenth spots respectively.

Arun continues to push upward, and is at 12th overall. Nachiketh is at 15th, while Priyank on the back of only his superman like performance in the Incredibles’ season opener, is now at 14th.

Stock Review:

Sriram, Anand, Nachiketh, and Chaitanya’s stocks posted significant gains – up by $6.87, $4.35, $3.48, and $2.57 respectively.

Sriram, Rafeeq, Chaitanya, Nachiket, Arun and Mayank’s stocks are now valued at $23.35, $21.49, $19.93, $19.56, $16.63, and $14.68 respectively.

* Scorecard, and 'Points & Stock Price Reevaluation' links are now available off the Schedule page

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Transformers @ Justice League, July 28 2015:

• Scorecard
• Points & Stocks

Match Summary:

Transformers won the toss and unsurprisingly, chose to bat. Justice League bowlers had Transformers in trouble at 33/5 after 8 overs – Transformers were only 10 players for the match.

However, a 19 run 12th over gave the Transformers’ inning momentum and more, as they accelerated from 47/5 after 11 to 86/7 in their allotted 14 overs.

Justice League got a good platform in their pursuit of 87 runs for the win – they got to 29/1 in 6 overs.  However, scoreboard pressure coupled with good bowling and fielding derailed the chase, as Justice League fell to 52/9, and eventually finished at 65/9, falling short of their target by 22 runs.

Transformers, with an MPL record sixth win in a row, are sitting pretty at the top of the MPL 2015 – Team Standings, while Justice League stay at third (four points), ahead of a key clash against the Incredibles (two points) tomorrow.

Player Spotlight:

Chirag the tailender went AWOL, as Chirag the batsman opened the batting. Chirag and Neel played steady knocks as they setup a platform for the push to a competitive score.

For a second match in a row, a player to the name of Y[a|e]shwanth stole the show.  Yeshwanth made 27(16)* on the back of three fours, and some strong running between the wicket, playing out only two dot balls in the process. Coming in at 33/5 after 8 overs, he finished unbeaten.

Srikanth and Madhu ably supported Yeshwanth, as they played valuable cameos. Chirag, Neel, Srikanth, Yeshwanth, and Madhu made 8(12), 9(18), 12(19), 27(16)* and 6(4) respectively.

Rafeeq was impressive with the ball for Justice League, and found support in Arun – 3-0-14-3, and 3-0-13-1 respectively.

Anandan and Ashish S  got the chase of 87 off on the right note – Justice League were 29/2 after 6.1 when Anandan was out. Ram G got a huge six over the square-leg boundary in the last over of the inning – the only six of the match. Anandan, Ashish S, and Ram G made 13(22), 15(21) and 12(7)* respectively.

Ganesh K, and Dipesh lead the Transformers’ bowling, while Ashish U chipped in with a key over – 3-0-8-1, 3-0-10-3, and 1-0-4-1 respectively. Ganesh K also took two catches and effected a run-out to cap off a memorable day’s work in the field.

Key Stats:

The number of dot balls played out by the Transformers – Dot Ball Count (DBC) – was 39 or 46.43% of balls faced. However, factoring in the 8 wides and 7 no-balls bowled by Justice League, the Effective Dot Balls Count (EDBC) is 24 – 28.57%. Three four’s meant 12 runs came in boundaries.

The DBC for Justice League was 42, or 50% of balls faced. However, factoring in the 3 wides and 2 no-balls bowled by Transformers, the EDBC is 37 – 44.05%. One four and one six  meant 10 runs came in boundaries.

Yeshwanth becomes the fifth member of the ‘batsman with 50 plus runs in MPL 2015’ club – Rohith, Anuj, Anil, and Yashwanth being the other four. With 75 runs to his name, Yeshwanth is second in the runs chart only to Yashwanth, who in turn has 85.

Dipesh and Chirag joined Mayank in the ‘bowlers with 10 plus wickets in MPL 2015’ club. Dipesh, with 11 wickets is now the highest wicket taker this season. Mayank and Chirag are at 10 wickets a piece.

Plays of the day:

1. During the Justice League chase, Ankit D was the umpire and scorer. On noticing the score at 44, Ankit pulled a David Shepard – hop, skip and jump – or so it looked. An inquiry later revealed that he was merely stretching.
2. Mayank and Rafeeq both ended up at the striker’s end, as a run-out was attempted at the non-strikers end. Mayank assumed he was out, and walked off. The fielder having broken the stumps prior to collecting the ball cleanly, then proceeded to pluck out a stump with ball in hand to get the run-out. Rafeeq had stepped out of the crease by now, and was declared run-out, as Mayank was called back.
3. Anil joined the Transformers after finishing a softball game in the adjacent ground. However, on account of joining the match around the half-way point, he didn’t bat or bowl. His throws from the boundary had a little extra zip on them, probably from wanting to get into the thick of action.

Player Rankings:

Yeshwanth has tied Yashwanth for the first spot in the Player Rankings – both with 421 points for the season!

Anil, Dipesh, Mayank, Chirag, Ganesh K, and Rafeeq are third, fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth and tenth, respectively. Arun is at twelfth.

Stock Review:

Dipesh, Ganesh K, Yeshwanth, Rafeeq, and Ashish S’ stocks posted significant gains – up by $7.82, $6.66, $4.56, $3.45, and $3.2 respectively.

Yeshwanth, Rafeeq, Dipesh, Arun, Ganesh K and Mayank’s stocks are now valued at $22.66, $21.39, $19.54, $17.90, $17.39, and $15.33 respectively.

* Scorecard, and 'Points & Stock Price Reevaluation' links are now available off the Schedule page

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Transformers @ X-Men, July 27 2015, Ashland Field:

• Scorecard
• Points & Stocks

Match Summary:

Transformers won the toss and chose to bat. Seenu’s much awaited season debut for the Transformers, and against the X-Men at that, was launched right away, as he opened the batting with Anil. Seenu, Prasad, Madhu, and Divakaran chipped in with useful runs for their team – making 9(13), 8(15), 8(13), and 6(5) respectively. Anil and Dipesh played key knocks for the Transformers, making 17(13) including two fours, and 15(9) including one four and one six. The Transformers posted 80 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 14 overs.

Sandeep and Dhruv – 11(10) and 9(13) respectively – provided a strong start as the X-Men began their chase of 81 on the right note. However, a steady stream of wickets kept the Transformers in the game, and the match in the balance. Rohith – 9(7) – played a cameo, as he gave able support to Yashwanth, who was his majestic self. Transformers missed a few opportunities in the field as the match headed for a tight finish.

X-men required seven runs to win in the final over with Yashwanth on strike. However, Chirag, the Transformers’ captain delivered a great over, conceding only five runs – and the Transfomers pulling off a one run win, in a thriller of a match.

 

Transformer are unbeaten this season, with their fifth win a row, and are table toppers in the MPL 2015 – Team Standings, while X-Men stay at second – tied with Justice League on points, but ahead on Net Run Rate (NRR).

Player Spotlight:

Transformers got a strong all-round performance from Anil – 17(13) and 3-0-13-3.

However, Yashwanth stood the tallest among all – 3-0-17-3 and 38(36) not out. Dhruv chipped in the ball and bat – 3-0-14-1 and 9(13).

 

Key Stats:

Transformers played out 43 dot balls – 51.12%. However, factoring in the 5 wides and 1 no-ball bowled by the X-men, the Effective Dot Balls Count (EDBC) is 37 – 44.05%. Five four’s and one six meant 26 runs came in boundaries.

X-Men played out 35 dot balls – 41.67%. Transfomers conceded, an impressive, 1 wide and 1 no-ball alone – the EDBC for the X-Men is 33 – 39.29%. Three four’s  meant 12 runs came in boundaries.

Anil and Yashwanth are the third and fourth batsman this season, after Rohith and Anuj, to get past the 50 run marker. Yashwanth now tops the run-charts with 85. Anil is second with 64 runs.

Player Rankings:

Yashwanth is the highest ranked player, in the Player rankings. Anil, Yeshwanth, Chirag, Koundinya, and Dipesh are second, third, sixth, seventh,  and eighth respectively.

 

Stock Review:

Yashwanth’s and Anil’s stocks are at their season high of $33.88. and $27.82 respectively – up $14.58 and $7.04.

Dhruv, Amar and Sandeep’s stocks also posted significant gains – up by $3.07, $2.48, and $1.97.

Yeshwanth, Chirag, Koundinya, Rohith, Dipesh, Dhruv, and Ganesh K’s stocks are now valued at $18.1, $13.76, $13.76, $11.95, $11.72, $10.79, $10.73 respectively

* Scorecard, and 'Points & Stock Price Reevaluation' links are now available off the Schedule page

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Incredibles @ Avengers, July 23 2015:

• Scorecard
• Points & Stocks

Match Summary:

Incredibles won the toss and chose to bat, en route to posting 85/5 in their allotted 14 overs; highest score by any team this season. Looks like a change in management – Nachiket taking over the captaincy from Rahul, who had taken it over from an injured Priyank – was just what the doctor prescribed for the Incredibles.

Avengers put up a fight and a much better show, but yet another top-order collapse (five wickets for 23 runs), resulted in them making only 70/8 – losing by 15 runs in the process.

Incredibles got their first win of the season, and improved to fourth in the team MPL 2015 – Team Standings, while Avengers drop to fifth, tied on points with Incredibles, but behind on Net Run Rate (NRR).

Player Spotlight:

Incredibles got strong performances from Nachiket and Anuj with the bat – 28(32) and 28(17) respectively – and Sachin, Chaitanya, and Sriram with the ball – 3-0-13-3, 3-0-12-2, 3-0-12-1 respectively.

Kunal and Ankit S stood out with the ball for Avengers – 3-0-13-2 and 3-0-10-0, respectively. Ankit D,  Ankit S, Ono, Ganesh I, and Prabakar, played key knocks for the Avengers, but the pressure exerted by the Incredibles’ bowlers proved too much – 9(12), 8(14), 11(16), 9(7), and 11(14) respectively.

Key Stats:

Incredibles played out 39 dot balls – 46.43%. However, factoring in the 7 wides and 4 no-balls bowled by the Avengers, the Effective Dot Balls Count (EDBC) is 28 – 33.33%. Three four’s and two sixes meant 24 runs came in boundaries.

Avengers played out 48 dot balls – 57.14%. However, factoring in the 10 wides and 6 no-balls bowled by the Incredibles, the EDBC is 28 – 38.1%. Three four’s  meant 12 runs came in boundaries.

Anuj is the second batsman this season, after Rohith, to get past the 50 run marker.

Player Rankings:

Ankit S and Chaitanya, on the back of consistent strong showings with the ball, move to second and tenth overall respectively, in the Player rankings.

Priyank is eighth overall on the back of his superman like performance in the Incredibles’ season opener, and still the top-ranked batsman.

Stock Review:

Sachin, Anuj, Nachiket, and Kunal’s stocks posted significant gains – up by $10.69, $7.93, $6.93, and $5.7 respectively.

Ankit S, Chaitanya, Sriram, Nachiket, Anuj, Sachin and Kunal’s stocks are now valued at $17.66, $17.36, $16.48, $16.08, $12.99, $10.87, and $10.87 respectively.

* Scorecard, and 'Points & Stock Price Reevaluation' links are now available off the Schedule page

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Background

The fantasy cricket game ‘Selector‘ launched last year, had a pretty successful reception. It received some critical feedback, along with sparking off a coding competition to solve the same in your own choice of programming language – it is a knapsack problem.

For MPL 2015, some minor enhancements were made – porting to the new website – and a new feature added, the ability to select a ‘Power Player’.

Power Player

There have been improvements made for the MPL 2015 version of Selector.

The biggest is the introduction of ‘Power Player’. After selecting your squad of 14, within your purse of $110, you can select one out of those 14 players as your ‘Power Player’.

The ‘Power Player’ will earn you double points through the tournament.

You can change your ‘Power Player’ (and your squad) as many times as you like. As the first ball of MPL 2015 is bowled, your squad and ‘Power Player’ will be locked for the duration of the MPL..

Please note that it is mandatory to select a ‘Power Player’. You will not be able to save your squad/changes to your squad, if you don’t have a ‘Power Player’.

Planned Enhancements

Other enhancements that will come online shortly are

1. View the team of other Selectors once MPL has started
2. View the points contributed by each player to a given team

Known Bugs/Limitations

The following are limitations/bugs that I am aware of, and working on fixing the same:

1. As you select player’s while initially forming, and later while updating your squad, the players added to the drop-down are not sorted alphabetically.Note: This is only applicable as you select players. When retrieving your saved team, the list of players in the ‘Power Player’ drop-down, as presented in an alphabetical manner. FIXED
2. After selecting and saving the team, when you revisit the page, the previously selected ‘Power Player’ isn’t selected/highlighted.Note: The same is stored in the database, along with your squad of 14. This is only a display related issue.
   Workaround: If you do make any changes to your squad, please re-select your ‘Power Player’ prior to committing the changes via the ‘Update Squad’ button. FIXED
3. After selecting and saving the team, when you revisit the page, and *only* re-select the ‘Power Player’, the ‘Update Squad’ button isn’t enabled. 

   Workaround: You will need to deselect and re-select a player in your squad of 14, along with selecting a ‘Power Player’, to enable the ‘Update Squad’ button.

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The ‘Fantasy Cricket Stock Exchange (FCSE)‘ in place for the past two seasons, has served a two pronged role – primarily a fantasy cricket platform, and secondarily towards calculating how much each team is charged for the players it retains.

The formula for re-evaluating the stock prices has come under the scanner during the MPL 2014 season, in particular owing to the volatility that the stock prices of some players have been through.

I have taken the feedback received into consideration, and will be updating the formula over the 2015 and 2016 seasons. We have not retro-actively applied any changes to the stock prices for the MPL 2014 season – the formula and the volatility was uniform across all teams, and thus benefits and hurts all teams equally.

The ‘Three Musketeers’ were the three members retained by each team, from among their MPL 2013 season squads for the MPL 2014 season. The ‘Offer Price’ for members of the ‘Three Musketeers’ for each team, for the MPL 2014 season, was the average stock price for the respective player from the MPL 2013 season. The other players in each squad, were obtained in the MPL 2014 Player’s Auction.

As we review performance of players in MPL 2014 from a stock perspective, captured below are some of the key data-points for each stock

• ‘Offer Price‘: Price paid for a  player’s service at the “Player’s Auction” for MPL 2014
• ‘Closing‘: Stock price for the given player after his last match in MPL 2014
• ‘Low‘: Lowest price point for this stock
• ‘Peak‘: Highest price point for this stock
• ‘Average‘: Average price point for this stock
• ‘*’: Indicates a player who was part of “Fantastic Four” of the respective teams in MPL 2014

Continue reading MPL 2014 – Player review from a stock perspective →

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