Match report - 26.06.11

Written by Jamie and Damien.

In the first of the second round of games, Aliens came up against Alna CC. The teams met up at a damp but sunny Rommen, where Alna won the toss and elected to field. This was to the surprise of many considering Aliens were 2 men short, due to transport irregularities. Damien and Marcus padded up and headed out to get things underway.

The start wasn’t perfect with Alien’s first wicket falling in the second over due to a mix up between the batsmen, which resulted in Marcus getting run out. Malcolm was sent in number 3 but only lasted a couple of deliveries before edging one to the keeper, reducing Aliens to 10/2 off 2 overs. Next in was Jamie, who wasn’t in the best of touch and was lucky to survive a couple of chances early on. Damien was the next batsmen to go when he got a good outswinger, which he knicked through to the keeper, who took a good one handed catch, low to his right.

This left Aliens in a tricky situation at 20/3. However, next man in was Varun and he and Jamie managed to settle things with a 50 run partnership at about a run a ball. Jamie (40) was next to go when he missed a straight one and was bowled. With Aliens teetering on 80/4, Varun was joined by Gavin who seemed determined not to let Varun face a ball so long as he was out there. It didn't matter though, as Gavin kept the score ticking nicely and played some classy shots, showing that we're yet to see the best of him as a batsmen. He was unlucky when he chopped-on for 16, bringing Pratheesh to the crease.

Pratheesh set about quickly dispatching the bad balls to the boundary and together with Varun, managed another quick 50 run partnership. Pratheesh fell for a very useful 29, including 3 big sixes. Varun started opening up and hit his way to an excellent 41 at about a run a ball. With around 5 overs to go, Aliens had recovered well but still needed at least another 50 odd to reach a par score in good batting conditions. Those runs were provided by Dave, who smashed his way to a quickfire 41 (23 balls), including 3 sixes. He was very handily aided by Simon (15) who batted well despite tearing his hammy for a record 73rd time in Aliens colours. Aliens finished on a respectable 220 for 9 off their allotted 30 overs.

The Aliens attack was spearheaded by Venkat (1 for 28 off 3) and Gavin (0 for 39 off 3), both of whom struggled to find their length. This lead to Alna playing some good shots and racing to over 50 in the first 4 overs. The captain turned to his stalwart medium pacer, Max (2 for 33 off 5), who brought in the deep square leg and told the skipper to take him off if he dropped it short. Three long-hops later, the skipper was asking the umpire if he could replace the bowler mid-over.

But Max soon found his area and set up camp there for the next 4 overs. He showed how bowling a tight line and length can build frustration and lead to a wicket. After a few dot balls, the opener took a foolhardy swipe at one that wasn't there to hit. The height the ball reached had the Alna players cheering in anticipation of yet another six, but it held up just enough for Dave to snare it, a yard inside the fence at long-on.

Dave then came on to bowl and bowled a good tight line, which frustrated the opposition. With these two bowlers reigning in the scoring, Aliens picked up their second wicket, due to some sharp fielding by Damien, which resulted in an easy run out. After drinks, the skipper decided to save Dave and Max's last couple of overs and threw the ball to Malcolm who had put himself in the forefront of Damien's mind by crushing his foot with a yorker at training.

It brought an immediate result when Mal's first ball was hit straight back to him by Alna's best batsman, the same bloke who'd clobbered us to all parts in the first game of the season. Pratheesh was brought on at the other end and also picked up a couple of wickets in his five-over spell.

Malcolm, 6 overs 3 for 13, made it very difficult for Alna and earned himself the man of the match award, which didn't look likely when he'd trudged off the field earlier, after his second-ball duck. Pratheesh bowled well, but a wayward final over damaged his figures (2 for 45 off 5).

With wickets falling regularly and the run rate climbing, Alna fell behind and finally lost by 40 runs. The final wicket fell to Marcus who ended with 1 for 9 off 1 over.

One of the highlights of the game had to be the excellent contributions made by the middle and lower order, with 4 batsmen making between 30 and 45 runs. This is something Aliens have lacked a bit in the past, where we’ve relied too heavily on the top order to do the bulk of the scoring. The batting was very well supported by some excellent catching and ground fielding, something that probably ended up making the difference between winning and losing teams.