Game 8: Aliens vs United
With the team selection comes the dreaded Match Report nominated person, and yours truly had the dubious privilege of drawing the short straw. Peter, with his first match report, had raised the bar so high, that us mere mortals are quite happy to stay in his slipstream. It would not be a bad idea to have Peter do the match report for the final match of the season, so the rest can bask in the glory of their 15 minutes of journalistic fame.
A beautiful Monday afternoon, with the ground bathed in glorious sunshine, and the temperature more akin to Delhi or Perth. Dennis won the toss, and as he said, if I call I win. Batting first was a no brainer, so out strode Shahbaz and Asad,(with a gut full of a kilogram of mangoes,) he calls them stabilisers. Asad swiped at a couple to find his range, and then it was time to stand and deliver. Aliens raced to 25 in no time. Asad, having done his bit, chanced his arm and got caught on the boundary. Out came Simon, and back came Simon, without disturbing the scorers. A short ball, which he could not decide, where to plant, ended up giving a dolly to the keeper. Dennis was next in the queue,determined to make amends for his meek dismissal in the previous match. United bowled wide and even wider to the skipper, he succumbed to the temptation, and fished one to the keeper. Damon, joined Shahbaz, who by now, was displaying his full array of strokes, on the lightening fast outfield, punished. The United fielders had forgotten the old adage of keeping your legs closed, especially the boundary fielders made ones into fours. Damon started off confidentally with a first ball flick for four, which is obviously a sign of a batsman in good nick.
Halfway through the innings, 107-3, meant a projected score of 248. Shahbaz got to his 50 with a colossal six, and runs started to flow at 8 an over. And in no time we were all rising to a fantastic hundred by Shahbaz, his first one for the club, and I am sure, many more will follow. 100 off 67 balls, phew.
Damon managed to cross the cursed 30s , but fell soon after for a very elegant 44. Benan, played some nice shots, but suddenly decided to go for a non existent second run. His mind was willing but the legs were going at the rate of a juggernaut trying to get some speed up hill.Run out by a country mile,and we found out the the only thing in common between Benan and Bolt is the letter B.
Marcus cruised through to 26, mainly in boundaries or singles, and with the capable batting of Hinchy, guided the team to 230, normally a defendable total, but the fast outfield was at the back of the skipper`s mind.
United openers came out all guns blazing, having a swing at everything, and they were up to 50 in no time. Hinchy came on with his looping off breaks, and put an immediate stop to this agricultural cricket. The introduction of Marcus at the other end, fetched the skipper another wicket. Game on.
The number 3 and 4 for United, set about batting sensibly and just waited for the bad balls, which they duly despatched to the boundaries. The Aliens dropped catches department reared its ugly head, and suddenly not only were the bowlers bowling some high quality trash, the fielders were responding with a plethora of drops. The easiest one fell to Marcus, who couldn`t decide whether to take it left or right handed, or do a little twirl before catching it, by the time he decided on the format, the ball was in and out of his sticky hands.
By now, the skipper had a few things interfering with his thought process. Where to hide the fielders, and which bowler would serve up the least number of trashy deliveries. A dot ball became a lotto winners ticket. all to no avail. Wides, no balls,free hits became the norm and the United batsmen were loving feasting on these grand scale offerings. In next to no time the game was over. United triumphant by 8 wickets with 5 overs to spare.
Congratulations to Shahbaz on his magnificent 100, pity it was in a losing cause.
Aliens will lick their wounds, and bounce back against Alna, another ton for Shahbaz and a winners medal to go with it.