My Weblog - Pat Ramadass - emediaIT

emediaIT wins Corporate 20 Overs Cricket League!

emediaIT played in the final of our Corporate 20 Overs Cricket league on Saturday 22nd January 2011 against ADR Distributors. It was the 4th time we had entered the league and had only managed as far as the Semi Finals in previous appearances.

With this curse lifted, we were all very excited at the prospect of finally getting a shot at the trophy. Unfortunately the weather had other plans and the game had a delayed start of 14:30 as opposed to the originally scheduled 09:00. We won the toss and chose to bowl first given the overcast conditions and rather grassy wicket. A few early chances presented themselves in the field, but we did not take these and ADR made a solid start of 53/1 after their first 10 overs. Run rate wise this was fine for us, but the next 10 overs went for over 100 runs despite an amazing 19th over during which we took 4 wickets, setting us 145 for victory.

Our chase started with us losing early wickets in both the 1st and 3rd overs, but we then stabilised to 64/2 after 10, slightly ahead of where the opposition were at the same point in their innings. Good running and some great hitting from the middle order allowed us to cruise through to a 7 wicket victory with 1.5 overs to spare.

Thanks to the entire squad who helped take us all the way as well as all of our supporters, friends and family who made it a great season all round. The next corporate and indoor seasons will be starting soon and emediaIT will there once again!

emediaIT takes Indoor Cricket Gold

We played the final of our Indoor Cricket League yesterday against Smoking Barrels. We had met them a few times during the course of the season and although some of the games had been fairly close, we had managed to beat them on those occasions. All of that has to be forgotten when it comes down to a final though and it was a case of winner takes all.

We unfortunately lost the toss and were put into field first. Our first 4 bowlers kept the scoring rate down by taking wickets regularly and there opening pair were unable to get off to the type of start they wanted. The batsmen after that managed to pull things back a bit, but we again pegged back the last 2 pairs and we were left with a slightly lower than par 74 to chase.

Our opening pair got off to a good start putting on close to 30 before losing a few wickets. Our next 2 pairs put on fairly steady partnerships, leaving our last pair just 16 to get off 4 overs which they passed in the second last over.

All in all it was a great game and a really solid all round season. That makes it 3 out of 3 for our Indoor Cricket efforts and we have been pushed up a good few leagues now. We wont play Indoor again until the end of the outdoor cricket season, but we will be pushing for the double this year by hopefully winning the Corporate 20 Overs Cricket League.

Thanks again to everyone who was involved in this season’s win especially the members of our squad and the supporters we had. Looking forward to next year!

Germany vs Uruguay - 11/07/2010

The final stages of the World Cup were awesome, but unfortunately Germany’s performance in their Semi-Final against Spain was nowhere up to the level of their previous matches. This saw them heading for their second Third vs Fourth place playoff in as many World Cups. This was great from the point of view that game was here in Port Elizabeth, but heart breaking otherwise as it really looked like this might be their year again. It was however awesome to see them play and win again especially as it turned out to be much more entertaining game than the eventual Spain vs Netherlands final.

Well done to Spain on finally winning a World Cup and also to South Africa for managing, planning and successfully hosting the tournament. It really was a “Once in a lifetime” for all of us here and hopefully it will come back to Africa soon.

Netherlands vs Brazil - 02/07/2010

I somehow managed not to apply for tickets for the Quarter Final here in Port Elizabeth, but we were very kindly offered tickets by Microsoft for the match. It was set up to be quite a clash, with the Brazilians looking as strong as ever, but the Dutch had also shown a lot of class leading up to the match. The day started off just after lunch with us meeting the rest of the Microsoft group at News Café for some pre-game eats and drinks. We were then shuttled down to the stadium and thanks to the suite tickets were allowed the easiest of entries which made quite a change from worrying about parking/the train etc.

It was my first time in a suite at the stadium and even though I had already considered the stadium here in Port Elizabeth world class, the hospitality in the suites really took that to the next level. The actual suite itself is well furnished and modern including the advantage of a TV for replays otherwise absent from live games, there was a 3 course meal on offer (As well as a separate meal for closer to the end of the game), loads of snacks and the friendly bar staff were always happy to assist with liquid refreshments. The seats themselves were considerably more comfortable than the normal stadium seats, with cushioned leather and we had a great view of the game from quite close to the corner flag.

The game itself started off fairly worryingly with the Netherlands conceding an easy goal straight down the middle of their defence, but this single mistake in the first half must have resulted in quite a team talk at half time as they came back a different side and much to the joy of most of the people around us took the game away from the Brazilians in the second half to seal an incredible comeback.

After the game we were allowed to enjoy the hospitality for a while longer followed by being driven back to the Boardwalk where some of us went to the newly opened Cubana for dinner and the Ghana (They were cheated) game. Still the Semi Finals to go, but a Germany vs Netherlands Final on Sunday would be something special.

Thanks again Microsoft (And Lindi)!

    

Germany vs England - 30/06/2010

We watched 2 matches at Soccer City in Johannesburg last week and it was pretty awesome. Planned to come back to PE on Friday, but was then offered tickets for Germany vs England in Bloemfontein (Which is essentially on the way home) and couldn’t resist watching one of the oldest rivalries in football and in general! We struggled to get accommodation, but in the end ended up at an awesome guesthouse, Zanchieta Wild Cat Farm (http://www.wildcatfarm.co.za/). They have lions, cheetahs, karakals, great accommodation and awesome friendly service. We arrived a short while before their shuttle was leaving for the stadium and were given a tour of their animals including meeting Elsa, a lioness who had been reared by Mickey who works at the guest lodge. She had back problems and required multiple operations to even survive which Mickey had to find donations for (literally begging on the street) and now she is almost fully rehabilitated and so tame and loving that we were able to play with her (All 120kgs+ of her!).

After that we left for the stadium and in all honesty I was a bit underwhelmed after seeing both the PE and JHB stadiums. It’s still a good stadium, but the others put it to shame. There was a lot more English support as expected, but there were people flying the German flag dotted around. The first half alone lived up to all the hype and being able to see the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and even Beckham, albeit on the bench, was a real honour. The Germans played well and deserved the win, but something has to be done about TV based verification of close call decisions as realistically the English (not even taking into account the times they hit the bar) could have brought themselves back to 2-2 within a few minutes and that would have changed the game completely.

After the game we were picked up just outside the stadium and were back at the guest house not even 20 minutes later which was awesome once more. This was followed by drinks around a raging fire, braai with some of the best steak I have had in some time and hitting the sack early before driving back to PE.

Germany vs Ghana - 23/06/2010

Our second game up in Johannesburg was Germany vs Ghana. For those that don’t know, I have been a German supporter since I was a kid, initially the West Germany team and then the teams that followed included Matthaus, Sammer, Bierhof, Khan and the awesome Klinsmann. Days, weeks, perhaps even months of playing FIFA further solidified my obsession. Agreed they haven’t lived up to their previous greatness of late, but they are certainly starting to show a great deal of strength again including a solid showing in the last World Cup which was obviously on home soil.

This game was poised to be a cracker, with both teams needing a win to be 100% sure of going through. Both sides had great chances and Ghana really played well again some dicey defence at times. In all honesty I would say that they had the better chances, but just failed to convert (As has been the case with other African teams this tournament). In the end the single goal that separated the teams was scored in the second half and we had an awesome view from close to the corner flag. As the full time whistle was blown news of the incredible Australian victory over Serbia came through meaning that both Germany and Ghana would go through, making Ghana the only African country to make it through to the second round.

 

Brazil vs Ivory Coast - 20/06/2010

We came up to Johannesburg last weekend for some meetings and of course World Cup Games. I had some tickets and so did a friend we were staying with (Thanks Steve) and one of the games was Brazil vs Ivory Coast at Soccer City. After seeing the Ivorians in PE I was pretty excited and positive about their chances and although they had some opportunities early on, Brazil’s class and clinical finishing shone through.

It was however an awesome game to watch, great atmosphere and Soccer City is without a doubt one of the more impressive, modern man made things I have seen in a while. It was also my first trip on a train in South Africa in years, maybe even ever and it is definitely the way to go for the Soccer City/Ellis Park Games. Park at Park Station, 15/20 minute train ride right into the stadium basically. What a pleasure. Great organisation.

Portugal vs Ivory Coast - 15/06/2010

Left work a little earlier today to catch this much hyped clash of "Drogba vs Ronaldo". We were lucky to get parking just on Main Street/Govan Mbeki really close to the stadium considering that we only left the office around 14:00 and the game started at 16:00.

From the colour of the clothes and flags, there definitely seemed to be a lot more Portugal support and the stadium erupted when Christiano Ronaldo ran out onto the pitch. I don’t agree with his man of the match award (I suppose someone had to get it), but his turn and shoot early in the game that rattled the bar was quite awesome to see. Both sides had some good chances, but Ivory Coast definitely had the best of them thanks to some great attacking football and skills. The score was still 0-0 and Drogba came on with 20 minutes or so to spare with a huge welcome from the supporters. Unfortunately even with him on the scoreline remained unchanged, but it was a hard fought and great game to watch in the group of death. Ivory Coast flew their flag high for the African countries and they are a side to keep an eye on in this tournament.

    

Greece vs South Korea - 12/06/2010

The first game of the World Cup that I had tickets for was Greece vs South Korea. With the honorary greek badge I have, there was only one side to support, but unfortunately they didn’t seem quite hungry enough and were outplayed. Was my first visit to the stadium here in PE as well though and I have to say that it is very impressive, excluding the time that the food stalls opened and their total disorganisation. After the game we all made our way back to the Hellenic hall for food, the remaining games of the day (Argentina vs Nigeria and England vs USA) and of course some breaking of plates. They really went out of their way to accommodate all the visiting supporters.

Looking forward to the next few games!

  

FIFA Fan Fest at St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth - SA vs Mexico - 11/06/2010

We left work early on Friday to join in the festivities at the FIFA Fan Fest at St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth. The capacity was said to be 25 000 people and with the amount of emails from suppliers etc received to say they were clocking off early as well, combined with the cars on the road, we were worried that we actually wouldn’t get in. Luckily we got there before the rush and got decent seats with a view of the stage and the big screen.

The atmosphere was awesome and everyone really got into the vibe for the World Cup as a whole and of course Bafana Bafana who were playing their first game against Mexico. Haven’t seen such unity since the World Cup Rugby was here. We were unlucky not to clinch a 2-1 winner, but overall the 1-1 draw was probably a fair reflection of the game and an incredible start to the tournament.