Final Round Match Reviews

2 out of 3 again :(. Here are the match-wise deep-dives -

Merchants defeated Crayditors
This one was truly a waste of everyone's time. In summary, the Crayditors lost. Again. How surprising. Yawn.
The Merchants were always sure to win, especially with HeyRam's return to the team. The Crayditors were always sure to lose, especially without Zen in their team. To set some context, Zen is the only guy in Craydit's team who knows how to play cricket. I'm excluding Peda and Dushman, who should probably be playing in the ARL (Analytics Retirees League) anyway.
For the Merchants, HeyRam shone (as always) with some big hits and some tight bowling. HeyRam2 put in a good performance as well. Peda and Dushman tried to fight back for the Crayditors, but the Merchants eventually won comfortably.
The Merchants end in 3rd place, and will meet the Vindaloos in the semis. However, they'll be worried that the Zen-less Crayditors were able to push the game as far as they did. This "lion" has been looking more and more like an overgrown cat with every game. And let's not forget, this is on their home ground. The other sad part of this win was that it prompted yet another painful note from Radio Bharati. Message for her - beating the Crayditors is NOT an achievement. EVERYONE has done it.
The Crayditors will just be relieved that their participation in the ACL is finally over. They can now relax on the sidelines and enjoy some cricket. And for a change, the loser may not be so obvious.

Anda-Bondas defeated Blackbucks
This was a pretty one-sided game. Supari Gupta starred for the Anda-Bondas, yet again, removing RRC early on. And after B-Shoe fell to a rare rash shot, the rest of the Blackbucks crashed pretty meekly. The Anda-Bondas were left with a ridiculously easy total to chase, and did so pretty comfortably. They were not helped by KaaliZabaan, who'll be embarassed that he mis-read the line of a straight ball. Honorable mention to Betaal - he may not know how to bowl, but he showed that he can field decently.
At this point, the Blackbucks would not have minded so much, and would have been been looking forward to meeting the Vindaloos in the semis. Things were, however, about to take an amazingly shocking turn for them.

Taliban defeated Vindaloos
Yes, you're reading that right. The hapless Taliban, who have been terrible at everything so far - batting, bowling, fielding, sledging etc. - beat the best team in the ACL, and did so in style.
The Vindaloos fielded first and played in their normal rude, mean, intimidatory style. They were on top of things, until the Taliban's Shikari Shambhu decided to take charge. He has been in good nick lately, and decided he would hit pretty much everything for 6 so that he wouldn't have to run for 1s and 2s. Just-Any-OtherBun had a bad day - first dropping a crucial straightforward catch, and then getting out first ball - his second failure in a row. The Vindaloos were clearly in a hurry to finish up and head home - Scoobo and Daffy both perished trying to hit big shots, when even singles would have won the game. PaanParag was out off a freak delivery, and that was just the excuse the Vindaloos needed to practice their umpire-intimidation. Rumor has it that they have a special aggression coach from Australia, and it definitely shows in their game. The decision stood, however, and eventually, the Vindaloos crashed out for 32 (or 33, depending on who you ask). And while I don't have all the stats available, I do believe that is the lowest total for any team in any innings against any opposition in the ACL. Clearly, the Vindaloos are a record-setting team.
Honorable mention for the Taliban's Babbar Pasha - his Murali-style spin completely bamboozled the Vindaloos batting, facilitating yet another top-order collapse.
On a sad note, it seems that the Taliban have followed the Merchants in setting up their own radio station. Radio Anindigo has apparently sent out a Radio Bharati type email, although this was apparently sent to a select, unfortunate few only.
The magnitude of the loss means that the Vindaloos drop to 2nd, and will now face the Merchants in the semis. The last time these 2 teams met, the match went down to the last ball. In the other semis, the Taliban knock the Blackbucks out on run-rate, and will face the top-of-the-table Anda-Bondas.
Take a moment to sympathise with the Blackbucks - the team with the best sporting spirit should leave the ACL with their heads held high. They've proven that nice guys don't finish last - they finish second-last.

Finally, these are my last post-match reviews - my final post will be on the day of the semis and finals, so I won't review them. That final post is also where I'll reveal my true identity. Speaking of which, if you haven't already voted for who you think I am, what the hell are you waiting for? Please do so on the top-right of this page right away. Poll remains open till 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.