Spirits Vs. SCC 6 August 2011

On one of the hotter days to play cricket, it would be a massive advantage to win the toss. So of course skipper Shankar lost it and the spirits were sent to the field. Ankit and John Sist took the new ball, and the opening batsmen took to them, with their new opener Cooper retiring after too many dropped catches. The skipper made the needed bowling change, bringing on Ravi and Kaustabh, both brining immediate results with Kaustabh claiming the other opener to a diving catch from his father, and Ravi securing an LBW.  From there the wickets continued to fall ( as well as Shankar for every catch ) , with only the number 4 for SCC offering any resistance. Of course, the batsmen were ably assisted by the Spirits fielders, whose dropped catches reached double figures. Even more outstanding, is the skipper holding all four of his catches, and offering to hold a catching clinic the next day at CSC ….. at 4 in the morning. Eventually the catches did stick, and combined with a couple of run outs saw the retirees come back with 4 overs to go. Luckily they were unable to go on with it, with Ankit claiming the last wicket of the retiring opener for 48. SCC all out for 153, Kaustabh with figures of 3/17 off 5, Ravi and Dave both picking up a couple, and Shankar 4 catches and no drops.

It was up to Paul and John to lead the spirits to victory, but Paul, maybe sensing a bit of arrogance in the Spirits batting, sacrificed his wicket to ensure they were on their guard. And a successful ploy it was as Sravana came out at three and continued to amass runs with John. It wasn’t long before John had reached his retirement, it was up to the skipper to stride to the field, but he slipped down the order and Rammy came out next. With Saravana retiring soon after, Skipper Shankar continued his slide down the order and Dave was in next. More runs were added, however with only one run to go before, Dave was stumped, to ensure 1) Paul was not the only wicket to fall and 2) after his two run-outs last week, his troubles with finding the crease continue.  With fewer than 20 runs to get, it was left to the skipper to again slide down the order and put Akash in. With Rammy retiring, and the runs needed in single figures, the skipper strode purposefully out to the field, and victor was soon assured.

Fines were plentiful due to the many dropped catches, as we tried to figure out where the series is at with SCC (either 2 all or 2 -1 our way)