Spirits vs ANZA Champs

On a nice cool Saturday afternoon Guarav did what all captains should do – win the toss and bat, first fine avoided so Sprits to bat. At the toss 10 Spirits were there, waiting for Amar and Graeme, Amar lives 500mts away so traffic must have been bad along Holland Road!

Retirement at 35, 12 on the field at all times and 5 overs per bowler were agreed but ANZA champs wanted a 35 over game, not sure if Spirits could bat that long! ANZA champs forgot that they brought a league umpire so the normal social rules would not apply – 33 wides and 4 no balls latter it turned into a 40+ over game! The Dempsey ground was in immaculate condition with the grass cut short ensuring a high score despite 12 fielders per side. After a few too many drinks on Thursday nights function Graeme convinced Guarav that he should open the batting. Good idea but at the start of the game Graeme hadn’t arrived! Luckily before a ball was bowled Graeme arrived and took the opening spot. After the first two overs Graeme mention to his batting partner John that the ball was swinging a lot, strange that with a new ball, isn’t Graeme an opening bowler! Spirits started quickly with 43 off the first 5 overs then John told Graeme to slow down as we shouldn’t demoralise ANZA too quickly. After 10 overs we were 0/65 then Graeme hit himself to retirement with 37 off 32. John retired two overs latter with 37 off 40 balls with the score at 0/101. John Dick brought himself onto bowl with immediate success with wickets of Nick Power (18 off 20), Abhi 14 off 8 and Gaurav 13 off 8. Gaurav wicket was the most impressive with Guarav letting a straight ball go that had his off stump cartwheeling. After 20 overs we were 3/163 with ANZA’a part timers coming on to bowl. Paul Mclean was loving it with a six over cover but that went to Pauls head and he was caught a few balls latter with 18 off 15 balls. In the meantime Akash had his bat shaved down over the Christmas break and boundaries were a plenty when he retired with 36 off 25 balls. Rammy stayed to the end with 35 off 30 balls and even Amar was able to make 12 off 17 including a four off Chiro, who was playing for Anza. Retiree’s came back with Graeme going out for 38 off 35. John got 50 off 51 before Rammy inflicted his second run out of the match. Logu could have been every one of the 4 balls he faced for a duck and Ramakant went lbw first ball off his glove. Final score was a creditable 282 for 10 off 35 overs.

ANZA started on fire with 1/51 off 5 overs but were pegged back when wickets started falling. ANZA lost 7/33 with all bowlers getting wickets during this time Abhi 3 overs 1/7, new men Rob Bradshaw 3/13, Ramant Maggon 1/2, Rammy 1/20. ANZA’s Eshan Ponnadurai (also a spirit) said to Paul McLean (1/9) “show me what you got” and to everyone surprise, even Paul’s, Eshan was bowled. Amar was back to his best with 3/13 when ANZA slumped to 9/94 off 17 overs. One of funnier moments was when Amar was bowling to Chiro and tossed one up in which Chiro played from his crease. Amar then sledged to Chiro “I forgot you don’t use your feet” a few balls latter Amar got Chiro caught by Paul Mclean on the boundary. The last three wickets were very hard to get after Captain Gaurav said we didn’t need a drinks break. Spirits were low on liquids at this stage and the ANZA batsmen, who were out, were drinking all the beer. ANZA kept us out there for another 15 overs and ended up with 166 all out off 31.1 overs. Guarav did set the record books with using all 12 players as bowlers. Nick Power took two good catches and John Sist two stumpings and a catch. Of course there were a few missed catches and some interesting fielding by Ramakant on the boundary but every bowler helped ANZA by bowling a wide or no ball. As ANZA’s captain Geoffrey Forday said “That was an excellent game played in the right spirit. Always an enjoyable day with you chaps” and lots of laughing around the ground. Fines were not done until latter at Harry’s with the six Spirits and all had to pay a bit!

Spirtis vs BCC (Bokka Chodha Club)

In the spirit of continuing the English trend our Skipper from mother England lost the toss and kept the tradition of losing alive for the English. BCC won the toss and elected to Bat.

Ifti and Raj bowled well and kept the score in check. Ifti got the 1^st breakthrough all is well, till our young and upcoming bowler Zak came into bowl and gave away 15runs in his very 1^st over not a bad start for an English bowler considering the current situation. Zak came back well after his 1^st over to bowl the next 2. Gaurav the 2^nd change bowled extremely well and got 2 wickets and gave away only 18 runs in his 5 overs. At this stage we were looking at chasing a total of about 150 runs in 30 over, little did we realize that we were yet to give the skipper and Ravinder the bowl and between them they gave away 86 runs in 9 overs at an average close to 10 runs per over. If that was not enough Satish did not want to be left behind and gave away 19 runs in his 2overs.

The fielding was excellent for a change by Spirits (Except RAJ MOHAN). Sandeep took a great catch only to be awarded to Martyn as per the scorecard. We had 3 run outs one by Rajesh and 2 by Gaurav (While he was sitting out for nearly 12 overs) don’t know how that was possible but I-pad does not lie.

BCC finished at 196 from 30 overs.

Spirits go into bat and start slow but steady till Rajesh gets out early which are now expected. Vivek takes over and hits a few glorious shots. John was in his elements and showed what an old man can do and hits a very well compiled innings of 46 of 49 deliveries. Gaurav got out chasing a wide bowl down the leg side. Akash hit some amazing shots to get to his 25. Sandeep gets a golden duck a rarity but to his credit it was great catch. Spirits are in need of a match winning innings and Ifti the man of the hour walks in as if to say BCC bring it on it is not over yet and by lord did he smack the BCC bowlers to all direction and parts of the ground. He made a well-deserved match winning innings of 53 off 30 deliveries. Ravinder on the other end was of great support to Ifti and in the victory by making sure Raj Mohan does not come in to bat.

MoF: Rajesh for getting the Riot started (Man of the Field)

MoM:- Tough choice between Ifti and Gaurav but Gaurav decides to back down. 

Great all round performance by Ifti (Man of the Match)

Wooden spoon: Sandeep paaji

MoM: Moment of the Match, 2 of them both awarded to Raj Mohan for his 2 drop catches

Spirits vs British club

11 players were named and the mandatory last minute pull out by Ashok Sharma meant that Guarav had to find another player. Tucky was asked Friday night during drinks and he was keen but we all know about Tucky’s Friday night commitments, he doesn’t follow thru! John was put on standby but had to play a Div 2 game on Saturday morning so could only turn up after 2pm. Guarav had tried a few others but John was the only one silly enough to accept.

British club won the toss and sent Spirits in so the batting captain put in the two P’s, Percy and Kalpesh Patel. The instructions from the captain may have been misunderstood as they played out maidens in the first two overs. That was not too bad as we lost 3 wickets in three overs (The Aussies followed suit Saturday night as well) to be 3/8 off 5 overs with the English James Healy (4) and Kalpesh (0) out and Percy only managing 4. Guarav joined another Englishman Dave Lee (where we playing with the British club or against them?) and fought back before Guarav retired for 39 off 34 balls when the score was 80. Laksh came in and went for 10 off 13 and the score was 4/94 off 17.3 overs. Dave Lee was still holding up the other end when Kiwi John Whitcher came to bat. Dave finally retired for 35 off 51 balls, better than normal strike rate, with the score at 120 in the 24^th over. That’s when another Englishman, Simon Ibbotson, came in to bat. Last week Simon struggled to get it off the square but this week he opened with a four and proceeded to smash 45 off 24 balls and John W made 27 off 31 balls. Logu came and went for 1 and another Englishman Mike Patterson was 0 not out. Sist was padded up number 11 but didn’t get to bat. Spirits finished with 184 runs off 30 overs with all the English bowlers getting hit for 7 runs per over whilst the colonies fared better at 4 runs per over with the best being Shavez getting 2/21 off 6 overs.

There was only one captain for the game, Batting captain Guarav, Field placement captain John Sist and bowling captain Guarav. So the bowling captain decided to go with English openers and ala Harminson, Mike Patterson started with 4 wides in his first over. Kalpesh bowled closer to the stumps and was hit for 10 in his first over and the British were 0/18 after 2 overs. The British fought back, Spirits British that is, with Simon catching Angus McLeod for 4 off Mikes bowling. After 4 overs the British club were 1/30. Guarav continued the British theme with James Healy and colonist Logu next. British Club were 2/52 after 8 overs with Logu getting a wicket and three boundaries. Captain Guarav decided to come on and bowl tightly and the next 3 overs went for 9 with James Healy finishing with 0/9 off 3. As Simon Ibbotson hit a few sixes with the bat Guarav thought he would give him a try with the ball and he did the job, got hit for two sixes, and British club were on track at 3/90 after 15 overs. Laksh went for 22 off his two overs but he did retire David Bennett, an Aussie playing for the British club, for 35 off 29 balls including 4 sixes. Once David retired with the score at 3/109 off 17 overs, Guarav brought himself on with Dave Lee. The next 6 overs produced 4/21 with Guarav finishing with 6 overs 3/15 and Dave Lee 4 overs 1/18 and the score was 7/130 off 23 with the British club needing 54 off 7 overs. Rule 33 was applied, do not get the batsmen out as we didn’t want big hitting David back in Simon and Mike flowed Rule 33 perfectly by dropping two catches, or so they say. John Whitcher was of the opinion just to get them out so he bowled the last few wickets, including big hitting David Bennett for a golden and British Club were all out for 147 off 26 overs.

Man of the match was a battle of the all rounder’s, Guarav 3/15 & 39 closely followed by Simon’s 0/23 & 45, John W 2/13 & 27 and Dave Lee 1/18 and 35 retired.

Packing the Kit award was Kalpesh with a duck and 0/13 off 2.

Plenty of drinks afterwards but not too many fines as a good overall performance.

Spirits v SCC Saturday XI

It was a struggle to get players this week even with Amar sending out 3 separate emails to entice members to put their name up. We ended up with 9 players so we got a couple of fill ins from SRC, part time Spirit Vivek and part time Bojangle (it has been that long since he last played with us!) Pankaj. On arrival Ralston gave up the captaincy as he is “too much of a nice guy” and gave it to John for the game. Singapore Saturday XI don’t have any league players so John thought it was the right thing to do to let them bat first. The IPAD was loaded but we started the game with only 9 players, Sandeep was still eating his McDonald’s lunch when the first ball was bowled and Varun not sighted. It was decided to give everyone 3 overs except John (WK) and Ralston (can’t captain, can’t bowl only bat!) so the extra 3 overs would go to a few of the better bowlers for the day. SCC Saturday XI has also warned Logu before the game that he would be taken off in a stretcher if he continued to bowl bouncers and head high full tosses like last time, they think Logu knows where the ball is going when he bowls - LOL.

Some basic rules in setting the field was dictated by the captain. At the end of each over stay where you are, except the keeper and slip, and let the bowler set the field, they do anyway! The orange balls were bouncy and Gaurav was punished early 0/23, Logu at the other end pitched it up and got 0/10 off 3. As Varun still hadn’t turned up, our lone supporter in the ground, Percy donned the whites. Sandeep, with his stomach full of McDonalds, bowled the next spell with John Whitcher. Both bowled very tight, John a little slow for a big man but was very accurate, they finished their 3 overs with 0/13 and 0/12 respectfully and SCC were 0/58 off 12 overs. Sandeep could have had a wicket when David Wright walked out of his crease and John stumped him but the batsman thought he was bowled and that is why he left the crease, or so he said, so John called him back. The spinners came on and instantly wickets fell, Pankaj 1 for 16 and Sivan 1 or 11, SCC were 2/86 off 16. More spinners came on with Vivek and Captain Ashok rolling their arm over. Vivek, with Div 1 scalps to his name, was treated with contempt and Ashok was the star bowler of the pair with 1/14 off 3, Vivek 0/32 off 3 needs to go back to bowling school. Percy put his hand up to bowl but when the first ball bowled nearly hit the square leg umpire, John was a bit worried but Percy got them on the stumps later and finished with 0/24 off 2. Percy should have had a wicket when the ball hit the face of Narayanan’s bat and he refused to walk, so much for John calling back two of their players for incorrect decisions! Sandeep 0/21 off 4 and Pankaj 0/22 (adjusting the 5 byes to wides due to being well down leg side) off 5 overs, were chosen for the last few overs but Logu complained that he was the best bowler so was given the last over and finished with 0/15 off 4. SCC compiled a competitive 175/5 off 30 overs.

Vivek opened the batting with a four over cover and even better straight drive beaten long off who was on the boundary, Salty had 0/12 off his first four balls. Sandeep was at the other end facing that great Aussie bowler named Bruce. They were on a flyer to be 0/44 off six overs when Sandeep called a single to the most agile fielder at SCC, Byfield, and was duly run out by yards for 19 off 19 balls. Pankaj was next in and was facing and old foe Mahtani but Mahtani got the last laugh when he bowled Pankaj with a dipping Yorker, 2/58 off 9 overs. Ralston came in next and brought back some test cricket to Spirits, but this didn’t stop Vivek and he finally retired for 50 off 34 balls. Kiwi John was in next and rotated the strike with Ralston have a rush of blood after hitting a straight drive over the top for 4 then holed out the next ball for 14 off 26 balls, 3/96 off 15 overs. Gaurav was on a mission and a quick fire 44 not out off 37 balls out the match firmly in Spirits grasp. Gaurav retired with 15 runs to go at the fall of John Whitcher’s wicket (23 off 27). Gaurav let John and Logu have a bat, maybe he didn’t want to go out? It got to the 27^th over when only a few runs to win Gaurav screamed to Logu “hit a six”, of course Logu tried and was caught on the boundary for 3. Gaurav came back in and John scored the winning run (8 off 11). A good runs chase and plenty of beers for the few people who stayed back, a number had other commitments, watching rugby games and BBQ’s!

Seasoned Pro League: Sprits vs Overeasy

May 5th Vs Overeasy

First game ever in the cage....  Similar to the previous game the rain came.  It absolutely p**sed down. This time the cage was ready. After a delay of 30 min the rain had soaked through and play started. Game shortened to 28 overs.

Spirits lost the toss and bowled.  Slippery conditions led to the first 3 overs of Gaurav going for 30 runs.  Laksh probably would have been worse but was dumped after his first over went for 17. The ball ending up in the hands of Martyn and new Kiwi John Whitcher. Finally the first wicket fell at 9.3 overs for 75 runs, a sharp C&B to Martyn.  At this stage things were looking pretty ugly but then, in Darwinism natural reaction /selection or whatever, the Spirits screws tightened.  Gaurav finished his final 3 overs for 9 runs, Martyn bowled well for his 1-32 off 6, John threw it up and frustrated them for pace picking up 3-29 off 6.  This was followed by the final act where Varun  and Andy Covel combined to stun the opposition.  Varun a tight 1-27 off 5 and Andy 2-32 off 4 despite both Guarav and Laksh dropping easy chances.  In total the following 19 overs went for just 100 runs and the Over-easy boys not feeling too easy at a score of 175. 

Spirits sniffing the winds of an achievable target on a drying wicket went to hunt.  Logu sent to open decide to start playing like an opener leaving everything except the one on his stumps.  1 run off 7 balls. Mahesh M got a golden duck. LBW.  Apparently continuing a terrible run.  He hasnt scored in his last 4 innings but told us this AFTER he got out.  Mahesh B was run out for 0 off 5 through an incredible throw.   Rajesh decided that two batsmen at one end is better than one.  The Overeasy boys didn't see it so and sent him home.  Nor did Graeme for that matter who just turned and stared at him and said "what did you say?"  Later to find out it was "run!" off the misfield.   6 of 11 for Rajesh... Graeme hung around and got 28 of 40. John got sent home early with the second golden duck of the game... So its was back again to Laksh and Gaurav to provide the last resistance.  Laksh scored well and got 18 off 26 but Gaurav after smashing a beautiful drive into the golf range was given run out by the umpire when Laksh hit one straight drive back to the bowler end stumps. The bowler, from that part of the subcontinent where they seem to scream at everything fooled the umpire who couldnt see he didn't touch it into giving him run out.

Spirits all out for a disappointing 92...  

Groundsman sent off in his golf cart to get a carton of beers from Giant. We all sat there drinking warm beers in our misery. The only happy man being Martyn, the sole Englishman in the team....

Game Lost.

Seasoned Pro League: Spirits vs Avadh

On what started out quite a nice day the team ventured onto Turf City B. Ground a bit roughed up from Rugby but a new pitch in place which proved to grip and spin.   Our Captain warned us that the guys could be a tad annoying at times and his prohecy turned true.

Spirits into Bat. 

Dave and Rajesh opened and seemed to be handling the conditions of the ball not coming onto the bat well. Runs were tough as they bowled a tight line. Dave (9 of 14) finally got one that kept low and trapped in front. Of course there was that inside edge involved and a bit of gesturing from Dave as to what the umpire could do with his bat. Rajesh (14 of 23)  followed playing through a slower one and putting it back to the bowler.  Spirits a bit behind at this stage 2 for 34 at the beginning of the 8th over but not too worried as the opening bowlers had almost bowled out.  Graeme followed and couldn't hit the barn door. Ralston (2 off 8) didn't make much a dent trying to pull a shorter ball off his nose, hitting the splice and sending it back to the bowler. The run rate stopped and Spirits found themselves 3 for 63 off 15.  Trying to up the run rate graeme proceeded to offer chance after chance... 4 dropped catches & 1 missed run out later he finally holed out on the 5th attempt for a big fine (16 off 32). Some comfort was when Gaurav said the record is 8 drops.  Didn't say who!

Gaurav down the other end was slowly building his anger as the other side got chirpy....   Laksh came in and between the two they set about slowly getting their eye in then silencing thier critics.  Lachs scored 18 off his 24 and Gaurav the more agressive one with 3 4's in a well composed 23 off 29.  Captain Chiro was left holding the fort following their departure.  With some well time flicks down leg the run rate quickened with a 13 & 15 run over.  Deathly silence followed from the overly chirpy opposition.  At 136 for 7 and 4 overs to go, it looked like Spirits would post > 150 which given the wicket was a very good score. 

Then of course what had been threatening for the last 30 min happened and it just p**sed down.... After a wait with no beers at 4:30pm the umpires decided 12 overs were possible for the opposition. At this stage Spirits were faced with play and the target was 71 off 12 overs for Avadh or just take the 5 points.  Despite G-man wanted to tear some heads off and a few others wanting to risk the conditions Chiro, cognizant his team was full of overly ambitious 40 + year olds pulled the pin and sent us for the nearest bar.  This co-incidentally was found at Turf city in the form of a curry shop...

Match Drawn

Game on Sun 7th April vs "Cricket for all"‏

Two months since the end of rainy season and the Gods still haven't forgiven us for something. On cue, at 1pm, it poured and the sky rumbled with thunder and lightening as they took a good dump and try to put the game out of play.  Our skippers made us wait, watch women's cricket on TV (sadly we realize they play & look much better than we do) until it slowed to a drizzle and the openers walked out.  Normally a groundsman would say "no taking the covers off when its still raining" but we knew he wasn't too familiar with the rules when he tried to use the face of Akash's bat to hammer in the stumps. So the opening blow was delivered under a drizzle by Akash with a sharp "What you doing man!"

By now you can guess Spirits won the toss and decided to bat against Giri's "Cricket for all". A few players were left in the bar from the previous night so they only had 9 but we lent them Spirit Zac and it was 10 a side.   

Akash didn't last long and Rajesh followed with the CFA boys bowling a tight line in the first few overs, especially Anand and Thambu.  They both faced 12 balls but got 3 & 5 respectively with one stump knocked out of the ground a piece.  The run rate truly died and Spirits were 2-25 at the end of the 7th over and it was looking to be a low, slow & wet scoring game. 

Ralston, glad the game wasn't cancelled after driving from JB,  joined Dave and they labored, struggled and scrapped through the next 8 overs of the shortened 25 over game hitting shots along the sodden ground and running lots of 1 & 2's. When drinks were called the score had accumulated and stood at a more respectable 2-80 off 15 overs with 150 looking to be the target against a team that was bowling and fielding well in the conditions.     At the end of the break, Ralston realized "I'm stuffed" walked out grabbed his bat and returned to the shed without facing a further delivery... Retiring for a hard fought 28 off 30 balls.  Dave finished off his retirement a few overs later scoring 44 off 41 balls just getting over 100% RR.     17 overs, 3 down and 98 on the board, 150 still possible.    

Seeing a need for acceleration Ashok shook up the batting order sending in Sandeep, fresh from arriving at the ground 2 hours late for the game.  The extra sleep must have worked as Sandeep played some classic shots.  4,  4's in his 26 off 14 balls he was down on one knee cover-driving in Brian Lara fashion....  Darhsan, Jai and Zac's getting a bit of punishment.  Logu, the other heavy hitter was called up the order and the battle of the only two players on either side without beer stomachs ensued.  Logu batting with his new, not knocked in bat in the wet, and Zac lent to CFA, whom had been firing in recent games, bowling.   Despite the promise it ended up being a one sided affair as Logu went berserk hitting 20 runs off the over and Zac not finding his footing in the wet.  Logu retired for 29 off 16 (4, 4's), his new bat knocked in and Zac knocked out. 

The loss of Sandeep brought in Graeme. He started with 4 & 6, and finished with 6 & 4... a few balls in btw, and he also retired for 40 off 16 (3,  6's).  Ashok, didn't trouble the scorers going for a swing and Suresh played a little cameo giving the hitters the strike with his 5 singles.  Overall Spirits through a Sandeep inspired rage and Logu's bat at the end managed a solid 5-204 off 25 overs.

CFA knowing they had a big chase on a wet ground started off solidly. The opening bowlers Dave and Sandeep were taken for the requisite 7 or so an over though Logu bowled very well with his confidence riding high from his new bats performance.   After a good first 6 overs a cheeky single to Sandeep didn't pay off when he and Chiro combined to take a sharp run out and the second wicket came shortly after from a ball that didn't bounce, hitting the soggy seam rolling onto off stump. This was all prefaced though with Rajesh dropping an absolute dolly of a catch...!  

2 down 60 on the board, CFA now were starting to see issues...  By now Rajesh had, had time to reflect what went wrong.  Next over a catch presented itself and instead of running over taking it in his chest he deployed the stumble, dive and roll in the mud approach. Snapped up.  His parents and daughter on the sidelines cheering at their sons/dads athleticism... 

Ashok, In his wisdom saw the best bowlers are his batters turned to Himself, Akash and seeing he was on a roll, Rajesh.    Ashok was unlucky to not take more wickets and shared a few choice words with his bad luck 5-34-1.  Akash threw the ball up and bewildered the batters with his spin bowling and finished with a very respectable 5-0-25  at the time when the CFA should have been knocking it out of the park.   The real story though was that man Rajesh. A low caught and bowled (followed by a roll) and another mid wicket catch (and roll) saw him take two quick wickets off his own bowling.    He combined with Chiro from that point on to get a further two wickets. The first, being a looping, spinning, slow, bouncer that went Batsman Stomach, Bat, Chiro's Stomach to Glove in one of the more unusual dismissal for the year.... Finally he was taken out of the attack with the figures of 3 overs, 4 wickets for just 8 runs!

On the CFA side there were some good batting performances.  Their openers fought well at the start.    Mani 12 off 13, Annad scored 21 off 30. Thambu 43 off 38... The middle order struggled against spirits spinners so Zac became the last man standing and compiled 26 off 33 in the tough conditions.  Though it was said he probably could have had more if he used Logu's bat.

All in all a very enjoyable and satisfying win for Spirits.  CFA 8 for 137 off their 25 overs and victory by 67 runs.  The CFA team were a good bunch of lads and the captains made a good choice by pushing ahead with the game at a time most people would have caved in and headed to the bar.....

Many thanks to Zac for taking Paul Mclean's roll of being the guy lent to the other side!

With a full schedule in the next few months please clear your weekends and hope you also remember the AGM on Tuesday,  April 23rd at Harry's Boat Quay.... 7pm....

Cheers,

Spirits.