When: 6th July 2024

Where: Lade, Trondheim

Ntnui Ck 165/5 20.0 /20 ov

Aliens Ck 168/3 19.5 /20.0 ov

Aliens Ck won by 7 Wickets

See the scorecard at CricClubs

Another entry from the resident travel writer, this time on an overnight trip to Trondheim to play NTNUI. Everyone made their flights this time, however Branson's kit did not, preferring to hang at Oslo Airport for the day and meet him on the return voyage.

Spotty rain in the morning and a questionable forecast made for some nervous but hopeful tourists, with encouragement from a first time (and nervous-er) captain in yours truly. The toss was lost, and NTNUI decided to have a bat, leaving me to repeat "lose the toss, win the game" while we began our warm up drills.

NTNU innings:

NTNU'S openers came out with opposing mindsets, with Jabarkheil swinging for the fences while Khan seemingly played for the draw. Only bowling from one end, Aliens struggled to create chances early, and Jabarkheil (97) did the bulk of the work before Dennis (2/34) took his wicket in the 18th over. Things took an unwelcome turn half way through the innings, when Pratik was hit in the helmet by a bat during a full blooded pull shot. After trying to soldier on, he bowed out with what was diagnosed after the game as a concussion, and it was left to Dennis and me to take the gloves for the final 7 or 8 overs of the match. Fortunately for me, there weren't many balls coming past the bat in the final overs, so I didn't have much chance to embarrass myself.

Damo (2/31) and Gareth (1/25) picked up some wickets to improve the scorecard, but NTNU set a formidable target after completing their allotment on 5/165.

Aliens innings:

With some reluctance from other potential openers, Gareth stepped up to the plate, striding out with Sudesh to kick things off. Sadly Sudesh didn't hang around long enough to try a reverse sweep, returning without troubling the scorers. Milton (15) joined Gareth to put on 25, then a woozy Pratik managed 20 off 12 despite seeing 2 balls and not being able to run above a canter without getting first. When they cleaned up his stumps we were 3/52 off 10.5 and the students must have felt confident, but that was the last wicket they saw.

In the 14th over Gareth took a knock on the ankle and gallantly retired hurt for 11, bringing Dennis out to join Damo on 16 to begin a partnership that will surely go down in aliens folklore as the closest we'll see to Virender Sehwag batting with Dean Jones. Early in the Aliens innings Dennis was walking around saying something along the lines of "if we need 120 off the last 10 we can do it", and now he has a chance to show it wasn't just bravado. After a couple of overs to settle it was time to put the foot down, and with 83 needed off the final 5 overs they began to put the poor Trøndere bowlers to the sword.

After a brief rain delay, they took 27 off the 16th, with Dennis picking up 3 4s and 2 6s. The next 2 went for 12 and 9, leaving a still substantial 35 off the final 12 balls. But the northerners were rattled now, and the Aliens could smell blood in the water.

The rain got heavier and the umpires called for another break. Sindre and I were padded up in the sheds, and I dunno about Sindre but I felt pretty close to a heart attack. When they returned to the field it was Damo's turn to give 'em nightmares, cracking 15 off the 19th over and holding the strike leading into the last over with 20 runs required.

Under tough conditions the game was still in the balance, but it felt like our boys had a hand on the scales. Damo started the over 2, 4, 2, and by the time the 4th delivery, a no ball, rolled to the boundary for 4 byes, the wind was completely gone from NTNU's sails. Needing 7 off 3 nerves were still high in the dugout, but after a single and 4 wides off the next 3 deliveries Dennis took strike, evaluated the field, and cracked the 5th ball to the cover boundary!

What a way to finish - a trademark cover drive and an Aliens win, all with a ball to spare! Dennis finished on 40 off 19 and Damo had 56 off 31. Congratulations fellas, some of the best under pressure batting I’ve seen.