As the skipper was late to the ground ( along with at least three other players ), it was left to Skippers stalwart Amar to take the toss, which turned out to be inspired skippering by the skipper, as Amar won and elected to bat. Dave and Ashok handled the duties of opening the batting, and did so with reserved patience, with the first runs coming on the third over. From there the runs sputtered between big and small overs, until Ashok was out caught, followed quickly by number 3 Akash and the other opener Dave, with only 1 being added to the score. It was left to Sandeep and Paul ( the indomitable skipper ) to steady the innings and guide the team to drinks ( which actually occurred ), so at drinks we were 3/66, with the game in the balance.
After drinks, with the bowling stocks of the British Club waning, the run rate accelerated as both , batsmen had a go. After a mid pitch conference, it was decided that Paul ( the heroic skipper ), would attack the bowling, and Sandeep would hang around and guide the batting, so of course Sandeep was the next to fall on 32 while Paul flailed hopelessly at the other end. This brought in James, who started slow, but quickly found his form with a lovely 6 and plenty of 2s and well timed 1 at the end of the overs. Paul ( the weary skipper ), having run tirelessly for his team, chased his retirement as quickly as possible, but was caught off a marvelous catch, and was out for 34. This brought in Spirits virgin Zafar, a left-handed who had recently enjoyed a quick tour of Singapore by going to the wrong ground. With only a few overs left, he set about scoring quickly with his first two balls going for 4, but was out soon for 11. With the overs ticking over quickly, everyone wanted a bat, and soon James was back in the pavilion with 18, followed by Sean ( 0 ), Amar ( 2 ) and McKenzie ( 1 ) who stranded Madhu who didn’t get to face a ball. All out for 150.
The unquixotical skipper decided the keeper Sandeep should be in charge of field placements, as it was happening one way or another. Madhu and Sean took the new ball, both steaming in at top pace. After 8 overs, only Sean had grabbed a wicket, but the British club was a paltry 26 runs ( 35% of those coming from wides ( in a game where wides were judged very generously ) ). From the lunch break, the cognizant skipper remembered the wise words of young Akash, who recalled from the previous game that they liked the ball coming on to the bat. As such, and to give the openers a rest from bowling wides, virgin spirit Mckenzie and James took up the bowling duties, with Mckenzie proving himself a real find for the Spirits with his spin. James worked hard but no wickets meant he was dragged for the El Presidente Amar to see us to drinks, with his much, much, much ( well you get the idea ) spin twin McKenzie. At the break, British club were 1/54, with a few too many dropped catches giving them a sniff of victory, our tight bowling had us slightly ahead.
After the drinks break it was a different story with wickets falling the 16th, 17th, 19th, and to make up for no wicket in the 18th, 2 in the 20th, both McKenzie and Amar getting three apiece, with all the catches sticking. The catching prowess was led by Zafar, who refused to get more square as per fielding captain, and highlighted by a shocking catch at first slip by Spirit for Life Amar. After the 22nd over the British Club were 7/21, but as this was a revenge match ( don’t ask me what for, it just says that on the score sheet) , the merciless skipper brought an Ashok to continue to strangle the run rate. Picking up the 8th wicket in his third over. Dave replaced Amar at his end and was unlucky not to get a wicket, and Madhu was not going to give him too many more chances, executing a magnificent run out. Akash was brought on to show us his bowling expertise, but didn’t get much of a chance, picking up the last wicket with his third ball. British Club was all out for 89, with zero boundaries scored. Of course, after the game there were drinks and fine all round ( handed out by the vengeful skipper ) to celebrate a great victory. The series is now squared one a piece, with the third match to played on the British Club home ground
Man of the match: So many options, maybe the stalwart skipper who top scored and guided his team from 3/33 to 5/133, Amar for three wickets and a catch, the brilliant skipper for his inspired bowling changes and delegation of duty, Madhu for his bowling and having pushed himself to the limit with 3 cans of Guinness, the audacious skipper for handed off the toss duties to Amar, or Sandeep for his batting and keeping.
But ultimately it should go to McKenzie for his figure off 3/22 off 6 overs, as he has set himself and near impossible bench mark from which to improve
Wooden spoon: Do we really need one.
Maybe the tardy skipper for showing up 7 minutes late ( but I don’t think it is necessary, I mean really, it all worked out in the end )
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