Question: Lapta is similar to a striking and fielding team game that invloves hitting what?
Context: Palant is a Polish game similar to baseball, played using a wooden stick and rubber balls.  Similar games are German Schlagball, Russian lapta and Romanian oină. Three Lions (The Official England Team Game) is a video game developed by Z‑Axis Games and published by Take-Two Interactive, based on European football (soccer).  It was released for the PC, PlayStation and Game Boy Color on 17 April 1998 as the official video game of the English Football Association.  It was also marketed under other names in other regions.  These names include: "Alexi Lalas International Soccer" (U.S.), "Golden Goal 98", "Bomba:98," "Mundial:98 and Pro Foot Contest 98". In the sport of cricket, an appeal is the act of a player on the fielding team asking an umpire for a decision regarding whether a batsman is out or not.  According to the Laws of Cricket, an umpire may not rule a batsman out unless the fielding side appeals.  On many occasions when a batsman has otherwise technically been out, the fielding team neglects to appeal so the umpire can not declare him out.  An appeal may be made at any point before the bowler starts his run-up for the next ball.  A bowler's appeal combined with the wicket keeper is crucial in umpire's decision. Lapta (Russian: лапта́ ) is a Russian bat and ball game first known to be played in the 14th century.  Mentions of lapta have been found in medieval manuscripts, and balls and bats were found in the 14th-century layers during excavations in Novgorod.  It is similar to cricket, brännboll, Rounders, baseball, oină, (Italy) and pesäpallo. Hurling (Irish: "iománaíocht" , "iomáint ") is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic and Irish origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).  The game has prehistoric origins, and has been played for 3,000 years.  One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players, and much terminology.  There is a similar game for women called camogie ("camógaíocht ").  It shares a common Gaelic root with the sport of shinty ("camanachd "), which is played predominantly in Scotland. Rounders (Irish: "cluiche corr" ) is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams.  Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic or metal bat.  The players score by running around the four bases on the field. Connexion is a Tamil celebrity game show on STAR Vijay.  The game is played by three teams – each team has one celebrity and the other person could be their friend or family.  It is a team game and consists of four rounds.  Before the actual games start, they have a warm up round known as Javvu Mittai.  In this, Jagan starts off with some random word.  Each team should say a connecting word, i.e., if team A says a word connecting to the one told by Jegan, then team B should say a word connecting to what was told by team C.  This is continued until each team had a few chances.  However, this is not included for points. In the sport of cricket a No ball is a penalty against the fielding team, usually as a result of an illegal delivery by the bowler.  For most cricket games, especially amateur games, the definition of all forms of No ball is from the MCC Laws of Cricket, although youth cricket often has stricter rules on beamers, and international cricket has stricter rules on beamers but laxer rules on bouncers. Kaisa or karoliina is a cue sport mainly played in Finland.  The game originated in Russia, where it is still played to some extent, and is a close cousin to Russian pyramid.  Compared to most other billiards-type games, both use similar large 68 mm (2 ⁄  in) balls, small pockets barely large enough for a ball to enter, and long and heavy cue sticks. Kaisa tables are usually 10 feet long and thus 2 feet shorter than Russian pyramid tables which are usually 12 feet long.  It is a two-player or -team game.  As with many carom billiards games, both players have their own <dfn id="">cue balls</dfn> used to shoot at the other balls, and usually differentiated by one cue ball having a dot or other marking on it.  In all, five balls are used: the yellow <dfn id=">object ball</dfn> (called the "kaisa" in Finnish), two red object balls, and the two white cue balls (each of which serves as an object ball for the opponent).  The game is played to 60 <dfn id="">points</dfn> , in a rather elaborate scoring system, reminiscent of those used in snooker and English billiards, with points being awarded for various types of shots.  Like both Russian and English billiards, which are also played on large pocket billiards tables, kaisa is a hybrid of carom and pocket billiards game styles.  Kaisa is principally a recreational game, without professional players.  However, the first kaisa world championship tournament was held in April 2010.  Participants came from 33 countries, and the main tournament was held in Kotka.  A Finnish player, Marko Rautiainen, won the championship title.  Amateur competition in Finland is widespread and popular, with matches being shown on a dedicated Web show on "blip.tv". A media guide is a sports-related press kit, distributed as a book or binder, and published by sports teams before the start of the sporting season.  It features information relating to the team players, history, statistical records and other similar items.  Media guides are usually distributed to sports journalists to assist in their broadcasting of the team game.
Answer: a small, hard, leather-cased ball