Spirits took on the British Navy this weekend on a scorching Saturday at CSC. Raj Mohan as captain managed to earn himself a fine for turning up late but all was forgiven when he won the toss to put the Navy boys into the field. Rammy (18) and Saravana (21) were appointed openers and made a good show of getting Spirits off to a running start. The top order continued to fire after they departed with both Paul McLean (35n.o.) and Bryan Deane (35n.o.) reaching the pre-determined retirement score with ease. Vasu (3) chipped in with a few runs and new spirit Phil McNicholas (15n.o.) steadied the middle order despite short stays at the crease from Richard Kohler (1) and Madhu (0). Dan Saunders (27n.o.) then came in at no.9 and completely hogged the strike. Spirits made a good total of 186 for 5 of the 25 overs, a total made all the better by the fact that if we were playing a stricter wide rule then we would have probably reached about 220-230.
Raj (3/0/17/0) (who had magnanimously opted to bat at no.11), opened the bowling with Madhu (3/0/1/24). Their figures do not accurately reflect how well they bowled as they suffered from bowling to the opposition skipper who was the best batsman the Navy had by a long way and who ended up making 48n.o. before he ran out of batting partners. Madhu's wicket was the stuff of genius - a very slow and very straight full toss which floated elegantly on to the batsman's pad after the batsman had attempted to hit it three or four times before realising that the ball still hadn't reached him. Paul (2/0/20/0) came on for a short spell and was joined by Phil (3.3/0/18/4) who was clearly the bowler of the day. There were two very handy run outs effected by very good fielding - at one end Vasu fired one in to wicketkeeper Rammy who dislodged the bails and at the other end Paul provided a great throw from near the boundary to Dan to send the batsman on their way. Dan (5/0/34/3) replaced Paul at the road end and picked up a few wickets courtesy of Rammy who was having a blinder behind the stumps, taking three stumping during the course of the innings. Dan managed to dislodge the only other Navy batsman that was making headway with a one handed caught and bowled which he is pretty sure may have fractured his thumb. Yiqi (3/0/21/0) came on to bowl and despite a few wides, has the distinction of being the only bowler that did not have a boundary hit off them.
Everyone stuck around for a drink afterwards and it was agreed that it was a great day of cricket - the Navy boys were in good spirits and enjoyed themselves despite receiving a bit of a walloping. Their skipper noted that they would mention the Spirits in the port guide, which goes out to all British Navy ships, so we can expect to have a few more games like this. They also presented us with a plaque commemorating the game - picture attached.
Result: Spirits won by 50 runs
Man of the Match: As chosen by the other team - Dan Saunders
Wooden Spoon - No one, everyone played well for a good win.
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