Div 2 Round 18: Aliens Vs Grønland
When: 25 SEP 2016
Aliens Cricket Club 102/5 (20.1 ov)
Grønland Cricket Club 101/10 (20.4 ov)
Aliens Cricket Club - Won by 5 wickets
Where: Ekeberg 1
Aliens make more history during season finale victory
Aliens carried on their strong late season form to record a comfortable victory over Grønland at Ekerberg, leapfrogging the central Oslo team to finish fifth place in the table. Following the previous game’s record breaking ten wicket victory, this win was characterised by a much improved fielding and bowling display which led to a new name being etched on the Aliens honours board.
The game got off to an inauspicious start with the opposition arriving late, meaning Grønland had their permitted overs reduced to just 22 whilst the Aliens were given 26. The tardiness of the opponents allowed a rope to be passed over the field to mop up the early morning dew before the start of the Grønland innings. Grønland never looked comfortable with the pace of Damon Crawford and Tariq Omar with the former sending down a fizzing delivery which grazed the helmet of a wide-eyed batsman. Despite threatening to bulldoze through the Grønland top order both bowlers finished with only a wicket apiece from their first spells, so the emphasis was on the change bowlers to continue to apply the pressure. Benan John bowled a tight spell and got up well to claim a return catch off his own bowling whilst Arif Sahil was unlucky not to claim a wicket after passing the edge a number of times.
When the captain took himself off after two overs, little did he know what was about to unfold. David Kulwilm started his spell in the best possible fashion with a full length delivery, followed by a hearty appeal and raising of the umpire’s finger. And it did not stop there. After outfoxing a batsman Simon Gazdowiscz executed a stumping whilst Dennis Peter took a couple of catches on the edge of the circle. Damon Crawford showed great technique to take two catches in the deep, which would have been a hat trick of pouches if he had managed to hold onto a sliding attempt. However, the effort was representative of a committed performance in the field with Simon Gazdowiscz scrambling half way down the pitch to take another catch off Kulwilm, only for it to agonisingly spill out of his glove as he hit the deck. Peter Lovegrove almost troubled the scorer’s card for the first time in his Aliens career, leaping with the athleticism of an arthritic salmon, only for the chance, off the bowling of Benan John, to burst through his fingers.
David Kulwilm led the team off the pitch, ball aloft, the first player to claim six wickets in Alien’s history.
Set 102 to win, the Aliens chase got off to a shaky start with both Marcus Lyon and Toufiq Omar sent back to the hutch early on, both bemoaning the lack of DRS at Norwegian second division level. It was left to the President Crawford and Captain Peter to play sensibly and steer the Aliens towards victory. When the third wicket fell the position was so comfortable, Peter Lovegrove was afforded his first taste of batting since he was a spotty 15 year old. He expertly played around the first delivery, with the ball going on to beat both the stumps and the wicket keeper for four byes. He then marked his first run in Alien colours with amateur cricket’s time honoured call of “no, no, YES, YES, YES.” After Lovegrove gave the moustachioed slipper some catching practice, Kulwilm marched in with promises of Dilshan scoops, only to be sent packing with a single run to his name. Fittingly, it was left to Damon Crawford to hit the winning runs, bringing up the eighth victory of the season with a reverse sweep.