vs Sentrum S B, T20 (Div 3) Match # 9
A thrilling summary of our latest exploits
1st Innings: Batting
Pratik and Matthew gave us a great start at the top of the order. Pratik played aggressively right from the beginning, while Matthew played steadily with great patience, building an excellent opening partnership to lay a solid foundation for our innings.
Following the openers, Dennis played a quickfire knock to keep the momentum going. Towards the end, Avra and David played crucial innings to push our total forward, highlighted by fantastic running between the wickets between the two.
2nd Innings: Bowling & Fielding
The opponent got off to a very strong start with a solid partnership, making it a tight chase. At one point, it looked like they might win very easily. However, the game turned when Milton took a fantastic catch to dismiss their dangerous opener, Abdul, who was playing a strong knock—a truly crucial moment in the match.
Prior to that breakthrough, Benan got an important wicket after a long spell, helping us break into their lineup.
After Abdul’s wicket, the opponent’s scoring rate slowed down as they continued to lose wickets. Our defensive effort was backed by excellent fielding in the ring and on the boundary from Matthew and Rahul.
Marcus and Lendle bowled few brilliant spells in the middle overs to keep the pressure on. Down the stretch, both Benan and Harry bowled fantastic overs to keep us right in the game.
The Finish
It all came down to the final over with Dennis handed the ball, defending 16 runs with just 1 wicket remaining. The tension was high, but a clutch run-out in the final over sealed a thrilling, hard-fought victory for Oslo Aliens!
A huge thank you and congratulations to all the players for their grit and effort. Good luck for the next session! 🚀
vs Alna, T20 (Div 3) Match # 4
A thrilling summary of our latest exploits
Aliens edged Alna by five runs in a match that had everything: a flying start, a classic Aliens middle-order wobble, a tense chase, late wickets, questionable tactics, and at least one near workplace safety incident.
Batting first, Aliens posted 123/6 from their 20 overs. Pratik Agnihotri led the way with 39 from 34 balls, striking three fours and a six, while David Kuhlwilm's composed 30 from 26 balls proved invaluable after a mid-innings collapse threatened to derail the total. Andrew Carvell added an unbeaten 17 and helped ensure Aliens finished strongly.
The foundation of the innings was a 45-run opening partnership between Pratik and Sudesh. While Pratik appeared to be participating in a T20 match, Sudesh seemed convinced he had arrived for the opening morning of a five-day Test. His 11 runs from 20 balls was an exhibition in patience, restraint and time management. Every defensive shot appeared to be accompanied by an internal reminder that there were still four days left in the match.
Before the chase developed, however, the crowd was treated to one of the tactical mysteries of modern cricket. Alna opened the bowling with a field that featured just a solitary fielder on the leg side. Most teams would interpret this arrangement as a strong suggestion not to bowl on the leg side. Instead, the opening spell unfolded as a determined effort to test the fitness, stamina and concentration of that lone leg-side fielder. By the end of the spell, Mohammad Imtiaz had conceded 23 runs from two overs, including a collection of wides, while the lone leg-side fielder had touched the ball often enough to qualify as a second bowler.
The most dramatic moment of the innings may not have been recorded in the scorebook. During Pratik's innings, Harry Waterston found himself at the non-striker's end when a particularly fierce strike left Pratik's bat and headed directly in his direction. Witnesses described the shot as less of a cricket stroke and more of a guided missile. Harry's official score of 2 from 5 balls does not reflect the athleticism required to avoid becoming part of the match equipment. Aliens medical staff were reportedly relieved to discover that evasive action remained one of Harry's stronger cricketing skills.
Aliens reached 45 without loss before losing wickets regularly. At 56/4 after 11 overs Alna appeared firmly on top. Suleman Ahmed bowled an excellent spell of 2 for 16 while Kashif Majeed and Mohammad Umar Akram chipped in with wickets. However, David Kuhlwilm rebuilt the innings and Aliens found a crucial late surge, scoring 13 runs from the final over to push the total to 123. Those runs would ultimately prove decisive.
Alna's innings began in disastrous fashion. Arslan Ahmed and Mohammad Umar Akram were both dismissed cheaply, leaving the chase at 3/2 before it had properly begun. Pratik Agnihotri and Trineth Rahul provided the early breakthroughs and Aliens sensed an opportunity.
After the early setbacks, Kibrya Sajjad Hussain steadied the innings with a determined 45 from 52 balls. Habib Ullah provided the aggression, scoring 25 from just 20 deliveries, and together they added a match-defining partnership of 50 runs. At 88/5 in the 14th over, Alna looked favourites. The required rate was under control, wickets were in hand, and Aliens were beginning to feel the pressure.
The match swung dramatically when David Kuhlwilm returned to the attack. Having already rescued Aliens with the bat, he removed Habib Ullah and Ehtesham Akhtar in quick succession to break the chase open. His spell of 3 for 17 was arguably the defining bowling performance of the match. Benan John Mathai was equally important, claiming 3 for 20 and removing the dangerous Kibrya at the crucial moment. This was off the back of Benan's matching winning display with the bowl in the previous match.
Alna fought until the end and still required only a handful of runs entering the final stages, but wickets continued to fall. David struck again in the nineteenth over and Benan finished the job in the final over when Kibrya became the last wicket to fall with the score on 118.
When the dust settled, Aliens had secured a narrow five-run victory. The scorebook will remember Pratik's 39, David's all-round heroics and Benan's three wickets and Harry surviving an attempted friendly-fire launch from Pratik's bat. A contest that swung dramatically from one side to the other before Aliens held their nerve in the closing overs. In the end, it was a classic club cricket encounter: a mixture of skill, drama, questionable running and near misses. 🏏😂
vs Sentrum S B SL (Div 2) Match # 3
A thrilling summary of our latest exploits
Aliens bodies warming up
Aliens arrived at Ekeberg 3 keen for a first win of the 2026 super league campaign. After a frustrating loss to Minhaj and a rain off against Bislett we were keen to get going.
Our openers got us off to a decent start with Pratik finding the boundary a couple times and starting to look good before being dismissed LBW.
This brought Dennis to the crease who initially struggled to get off the mark before scoring via a boundary on his 11th ball. There was a period of good bowling for Sentrum and after losing our other opener Marcus we needed to consolidate and not lose wickets in clumps.
Dennis and Damon saw off a few overs and then looked to up the scoring. Which then resulted in Damons dismissal for 15. Aliens 3/47 off 11… the innings could go either way.
Dennis and new batsman Avra though stayed together for 12 overs and put on 65 together to solidify our innings. Avra was run out for 21 bringing Jono to the crease. Dennis by this point had started to score more freely and brought up his 50 and needed someone to stick with him so we could post a winning total. Jono did that and together they put on a further 50 runs with Dennis finding the boundary regularly.
We finished off the last 5 overs reasonably well to get ourselves to a solid total of 170. Dennis dismissed finally dismissedon 82 on the last ball of the innings had held things together (with some decent mid order support) and got us to a total we could defend. .
Keen to make some early inroads, Aliens were potentially too keen and were wayward early on with some wides and loose balls. We tightened things up and brought rewards with Sudesh striking in the 4th over. In what was a recurring theme for our bowlers the change bowlers also took some time to find their radar after bowling a few wides.
Benan came on and bowled some tight overs and took a wicket to have Sentrum 3/60 after 14 overs. Match could go either way.
Jono and Lendle came on at an important time and bowled really well to make Sentrum drop behind the rate a bit. This pressure brought rewards with Lendle striking twice in the 20th over courtesy of some good catching, Sentrum 5/80 after 20.
The next few overs Sentrum did lift the rate and began to look threatening but after some further good catching we broke their partnership 6/131 after 26. The danger man who had begun to find the boundary was dismissed by Benan courtesy of a good catch by Nilo.
This slowed the momentum and we took more wickets over the next overs for not so many runs. Sentrum had 2 new batsman at the crease for the last over needing 20 to win. Sudesh though stayed calm and held them to just 6. Aliens winning by 13 runs in the end. We were at times wayward conceding 15 extras which gave them a sniff but that was contrasted by good bowling and catching at key times to keep us ahead.
Areas to improve but a good win to open our account.
vs Friends, SL (Div 2) Match # 4
A thrilling summary of our latest exploits
Dandelions, dropped catches, dubious LBWs and the unstoppable Friends train
It was a beautiful May afternoon in Oslo: sunny, windy, and absolutely ideal for cricket — assuming, of course, that your definition of an ideal cricket pitch is half dandelion meadow, half sandpit.
The Aliens arrived with ten men, meaning the warm-up consisted largely of not fielding, followed by a decision to simply go and bat instead.
Things got off to a promising start when the goal had to be moved.
Benan, in an effort to extract every last second of suspense from the afternoon, took his time shifting it — with the added bonus of trapping Damon’s leg in the process. A strong contender for “warmup assassination attempt of the season”.
Aliens Batting
Marcus and Avra strode out to open, with Marcus clearly deciding that the best way to deal with the swinging conditions was to swing first and ask questions later.
Unfortunately, on the one occasion the ball didn’t swing, Marcus nicked it to slip.
1 down.
Dennis came in and began the slow process of rebuilding the innings. The bowling was tight, the line was good, the length was consistent, and Dennis looked increasingly comfortable in the middle. His fielding was equally tidy, although his batting would eventually provide considerably more entertainment.
Avra then succumbed to a particularly jumpy delivery, nicking through to the keeper.
Damo joined Dennis, and with the score sitting at 14/2 after seven overs, the Aliens began the long stabilisation process.
Dennis survived one scare when a catch at point went down — the ball seemingly finding a way through the fielder’s hands before briefly reconsidering its life choices.
It didn’t save him for long.
A pull shot produced a one-handed catch, and Dennis was on his way.
Pratik, having only just arrived following his late call-up, was sent straight into the firing line. He was then given out LBW in a decision that could generously be described as confident.
The ball appeared to be heading somewhere around the car park.
Harry came in looking to inject some life into the innings and duly gave it a blast, before eventually picking out a man in the deep.
At this point, Matt was sent in with the very specific job description of run when possible, block when necessary, and generally keep things moving.
Unfortunately, he eventually hopped into no-man’s-land and was stumped.
Milton arrived with considerably less interest in blocking.
Damon reached his fifty, while Milton provided one of the stranger sights of the afternoon: running between the wickets without a bat in his hand.
At 105/6 after 25 overs, the Aliens were beginning to build something respectable.
Then came the Milton show.
A moonball was launched high into the Oslo sky and somehow found its way through the basket — twice, thanks in part to a slight communication issue between the fielders.
Milton then pulled one for six, while Damon went across the wicket and found the boundary for four.
The bowler followed this with a generously donated wide.
129/6 after 28.
Milton’s entertaining stay eventually came to an end when a loopy edge found its way to the keeper.
Sudesh arrived and immediately demonstrated excellent intent, going over cover for two from his first ball.
He then middled a drive straight back at the bowler.
Caught and bowled.
Benan was next in, and quickly found himself in a spot of bother after being hit in the box. Rather than allowing this to interrupt his rhythm, Benan responded by dancing around the ball, presumably in the hope of confusing both bowler and square-leg umpire.
An appeal from square leg followed.
Then, with the innings approaching its conclusion, Benan launched one for six.
The Aliens finished on a respectable:
143/8 off 30 overs
And so, with a slow outfield, a competitive total and the sun still shining, the Aliens headed out to defend.
Perhaps the decision not to practice fielding earlier was going to prove prophetic.
Friends Chase
Dennis and Sudesh opened the bowling and immediately settled into a fine rhythm of dots and extras — a combination that would become something of a recurring theme.
Dennis then produced the first breakthrough, taking a caught-and-bowled in delightfully casual fashion.
28/1 after 5 overs.
Harry came into the attack for Sudesh and made a neat start, before Benan took over from Dennis and promptly returned excellent figures of:
4 overs — 0 maidens — 13 runs — 1 wicket.
Despite the tidy spells, however, the extras column was beginning to creep upwards.
By 12 overs, Friends were scoring at just over six an over.
The Aliens needed something special.
Enter Lendle and Damon, who proceeded to unleash their respective spin masterclasses.
Damon, in particular, seemed to discover something quite unexpected.
Having apparently spent his cricketing career believing his best figures would come from his usual pace-style bowling, Damon hesitantly accepted the possibility that perhaps spin bowling was actually his thing.
He promptly demonstrated this by producing a peach for a wicket.
Then, in his very next over, he picked up two more — one bowled and one LBW.
Suddenly, the scoreboard read:
91/4 off 16 overs
Game on.
Lendle then found his groove and began turning the screw on the incoming batsmen.
After a lengthy interruption caused by the scoring app crashing, Lendle returned to his mark.
He then trotted in.
And aborted.
The batsmen, already impatient after the delay, were forced to wait just a little bit longer.
Whether intentional or not, this appeared to be some form of advanced psychological warfare.
It worked.
Wicket next ball.
They don’t call Lendle “the dead-ball specialist” Pascal Zacharias for nothing.
Unfortunately, the Aliens’ other contribution to the Friends innings was somewhat less impressive.
The Seven Dropped Catches™.
No names will be mentioned.
But if you were there, you know.
Some were difficult. Some were very difficult.
And some were, frankly, the sort of chances that make you briefly question whether the cricket ball has somehow become invisible.
The Friends kept being given opportunities to stay in the game, and — rather inconveniently — they kept taking advantage of them.
As the innings progressed, sensible batting consisting largely of singles and twos began to make the target look increasingly inevitable.
The Aliens continued to chip away with late wickets, but by then the Friends train was already gathering too much momentum.
Eventually, Friends reached:
144/6 off 27.2 overs
They had done it.
When all was said and done…
A thoroughly entertaining game, but one that ultimately slipped away from the Aliens.
143 was a perfectly defendable score on a slow field, and the bowlers did enough at various stages to put the game firmly within reach.
But cricket has a nasty habit of punishing teams that give the opposition seven lives.
Between the dropped catches and the increasingly generous collection of extras, the Friends were given just enough opportunities to keep their chase alive — and eventually the target became inevitable.
Still, there were plenty of positives: some excellent bowling spells, Damon discovering a potential second career as a spin bowler, Lendle mastering the psychological art of the aborted delivery, and Benan proving that getting hit in the box is no reason to stop dancing.
The Aliens head back to the drawing board, where the priorities are clear:
Catch the ball.
Appeal for LBWs.
Reduce the extras.
And perhaps, just perhaps, practice fielding before the next match.
The season is far from over.
The Aliens will bounce back. 🛸🏏
vs Fjord B, T20 (Div 3) Match # 9
A thrilling summary of our latest exploits
☀️ Oslo Summer Run-Fest Ends with an Alien Invasion at Ekeberg
7 July | Ekeberg 1, Oslo | T20 | 6:00 PM Start
Ekeberg served up one of its finest summer evenings as Fjord B and Aliens met under bright sunshine at Ekeberg 1. The weather was perfect, the outfield quick, and while Fjord B posted a formidable 174, by sunset it was the Aliens who had taken over Ekeberg.
Interestingly, there seemed to be only two genuine neutral spectators in attendance. Sitting comfortably in their camping chairs, they watched what turned out to be an excellent evening of cricket while everyone else around them was either playing, umpiring, scoring or passionately supporting one of the two teams.And what a game they picked.
Sometimes scorecards tell the story. On this occasion, Ankit Soni's blistering 90 and Pratik Agnihotri's unbeaten 89 were the innings everyone will remember. One looked to have propelled Fjord B to a match-winning total, only for the other to script a remarkable chase that left both teams with plenty to talk about long after the final ball.
________________________________________
Ankit Soni Fires, Fjord B Post 174
After electing to bat, Fjord B found themselves wobbling at 66/4. The Aliens sensed an opportunity.
Then Ankit Soni happened.
His sensational 90 from just 43 balls—packed with 8 fours and 6 sixes—turned the innings on its head. Every over seemed to bring another boundary as he counter-attacked with confidence and flair, dragging Fjord B from a precarious position to a commanding one.
Deepak Kumar Koneri played the ideal supporting role with a composed 32 off 29, rotating the strike and allowing Ankit to dominate.
Fjord B eventually finished on 174/7, but there was a feeling in the camp that the total could have been even bigger.
The final five overs produced one of the funniest moments of the evening. As one batter struggled to shift through the gears, teammates on the boundary jokingly urged him to pretend he'd picked up an injury, retire hurt, and let one of the designated sloggers come in instead! The suggestion was, thankfully, ignored, but it summed up the mood perfectly.
For the Aliens, Dennis Peter kept things under control with an excellent 4/24, while Harry Waterston quietly delivered four economical overs for just 18 runs.
________________________________________
Aliens Forget Their Last Score
If there was one person more confused than the opposition, it was Dennis from the Aliens camp.
Only a few days earlier, Aliens had been bundled out for 129 in a 30-over match.
Now they were chasing 175 in a T20.
As he exclaimed:
"I don't understand our team. Last game we were all out for 129 in a 30-over match... today we've chased 175 in a T20 with balls to spare."
Fair enough. Nobody else could explain it either.
________________________________________
Pratik Takes Over
After an early wicket, Pratik Agnihotri produced an innings every bit as impressive as Ankit's.
His unbeaten 89 from 57 balls was a masterclass in pacing a chase. He never looked rushed, picked his moments to attack, and steadily wore down the Fjord B bowling attack.
When Harry Waterston joined him, the pair never allowed the required rate to become an issue. Harry's unbeaten 38 from 28 balls, including three sixes, provided the finishing touches as Aliens reached 176/2 in 19.2 overs, winning by eight wickets with four balls to spare.
________________________________________
The Chances That Went Down
Fjord B will replay several moments in their heads.
The chase featured more than a few dropped catches, each one handing Aliens another life.
One drop, in particular, stunned everyone from Fjord B because it came from one of Fjord B's most reliable fielders—a player whose teammates insist never drops catches.
The chorus around the ground afterwards was unanimous:
"He never drops those!"
Well... until now.
As it turned out, those missed chances proved just as costly as any boundary.
________________________________________
Score Summary
Fjord B – 174/7 (20 overs)
• Ankit Soni – 90 (43)
• Deepak Kumar Koneri – 32 (29)
• Dennis Peter – 4/24
Aliens – 176/2 (19.2 overs)
• Pratik Agnihotri – 89* (57)
• Harry Waterston – 38* (28)
Aliens won by 8 wickets.
________________________________________
Final Word
This was one of those matches that perfectly captures the spirit of club cricket.
A glorious Oslo summer evening. Two neutral spectators enjoying the show from their camping chairs. Teammates trying to "retire hurt" one of their own batters for tactical reasons. A fielder dropping a catch nobody expected him to miss. And an Aliens side somehow producing one of their best batting performances just days after being bowled out for 129 in a 30-over game.
In the end, though, everything came back to two extraordinary innings.
Ankit Soni's explosive 90 gave Fjord B every reason to believe they had enough. Pratik Agnihotri's unbeaten 89 had other ideas.
Sometimes scorecards really do tell the story.
vs Minhaj A, T20 (Div 3) Match # 3
By the skin of our teeth…
The scorebook said Aliens 122 for 2, Minhaj 121 all out. Which is a neat way of recording events, but not necessarily an accurate one. Cricket is rarely so simple.
Aliens began as though they had been handed the wrong script. Simon, playing his first match of a seasons, scratched his way to five from fourteen balls before Shinwari removed him with the score on 11. The required urgency was absent, perhaps misplaced in somebody's kit bag next to the bails! Avra and Pratik then settled into a partnership built on patience, caution, and the shared understanding that panic is often overrated.
Avra compiled 30 from 37 deliveries, a score with all the glamour of accountancy but considerable value. At the other end, Pratik slowly went through the gears. There were only six boundaries in his innings, five of them clearing the rope, but despite lacking his usually fluency he didn’t panic and throw it away. By the time Avra departed with the score on 88 in the sixteenth over, Pratik had established himself as the man the score was built around.
Dennis joined in the innings late on but talked bigger than he managed to hit after giving the spectators a chat about going from ball one, he finished unbeaten on 9 off 13.
In some ways that was a bit the story of the innings, solid, mostly untroubled but just lacking that little extra to take the score up to an above average one. The innings closed on a fractionally under par 122.
However, like many modest targets, it grew in stature the closer anybody got to it.
The chase began chaotically. Minhaj lost two wickets inside two overs and three within four, with Dennis getting two and Sudesh grabbing one in two overs that can only be described as action packed. 33-3 after 4. After this frantic start Minaj settled down a bit, with former Alien Tariq rebuilder in chief.
Benan, then the three-pronged off spin attach of David, Rahul and Lendle rattled through the next 9 overs for just 38 runs, a spell of cricket that resembled somebody quietly stealing bricks from a building while nobody was paying attention. Two more wickets fell in this spell, the first a sharp catch ground the corner form Lendle and the second a brilliant diving catch form Arva to snaffle the ball inches from the turf that probably deserves its own report.
At 71 for 6 after thirteen overs, the chase looked to be all but finished on paper. But anyone involved in aliens or Norwegian cricket knows that cricket here rarely works that way, there is nearly always a sting in the tail
In this case, His name was Abdul Baker.
Baker began cautiously enough. After five balls he had two runs. After ten balls he had nine. Then Matt's over arrived and briefly resembled a charitable donation.
A no-ball six. A four. Another four. Another no-ball. After the second no ball Matt was removed from the attack (he didn’t look too disappointed) and Sudesh was given the task of starting with a free hit and a batsman who’s suddenly found form.
Baker hit Sudesh’s first ball straight down Pratik’s throat at long on, and Sudesh’s celebration suggested he had forgotten it was a free hit, much giggling in the field ensured!
He got through the rest of the over unscathed, however 19 runs coming from the over was enough to swing the momentum in a low scoring match and the required rate had collapsed to 5.2.
By the end of the 17th over Minhaj were 107 for 6, needing only 16 from 18 deliveries and with Baker flying. It felt very much like a film we’d seen before.
The 18th over brought eight runs more. Baker slapped a short ball for 4 through square leg and then threaded lovely back cut behind square for a couple. The target shrank to eight from thirteen balls.
Then came the first twist.
On the final ball of Lendle’s over, Baker went hard again, trying to launch a length ball over midwicket, this time he didn’t quite get all of it and Rahul took an excellent catch on the rope to end his cameo. He walked off for 39 from 30 balls, having transformed the chase and then left it unfinished.
Minhaj were 115 for 7.
Still favourites.
Almost certainly favourites.
Dennis took the nineteenth over himself (captaining as Pratik was off the field)
Tariq on strike
Dot ball.
Two runs.
Dot.
Dot.
Dot.
A single pushed back past the bowler
Three runs from the over.
Five required from the final six deliveries.
Defeat still seemed likely, with just one swiped boundary probably all that was needed.
Benan was given responsibility, with his tail up after an excellent spell the week before.
First ball: Tariq drove the ball firmly to Dennis at mid off, who half stopped it, the batsman came through, and then Tariq, keen to get back on strike, called for a second that went against everything your taught as a kid about running on misfields, and Babar was run out by half a pitches length.
Second ball: dot.
The field crept closer. Conversations shortened. The noise around the ground changed.
Third ball: Tariq punched the ball over mid off, and it seemed it would run away for a boundary to tie up the scores. However this is Norway, a land where they rarely cut the outfield and when they do they leave the gangs set to 2cm! The ball stopped up a few meters short of the boundary, and the batsmen were only able to scamper two.
Two required from three deliveries.
One clean boundary would still end it.
Or, more likely one thick edge. Or misfield.
Instead came another dot ball.
Two needed from two.
Tariq had now spent 39 balls compiling 19 runs, an innings of endurance rather than adventure. The sort of knock that survives by avoiding mistakes. Unfortunately for him, one arrived at just the wrong time.
Fifth ball. Benan coming around the wicket, looking to cramp the batsmen for room. Tariq had given himself some room looking to poke a single on the offside, however the ball sneaked past his prod and rattled into off stump, ending his vigilant innings.
One run still required.
One ball remaining.
A new batter, Shinwari, walked in. There is no lonelier journey in cricket than the one from boundary rope to crease when a match depends on your first ball, was he imagining a match winning 6 or a despairing swipe and miss.
One run needed.
One ball left
Last man on strike
Chaos likely, fielders telling each other to stay calm in the least calm manner possible
Benan ran in. Cleaned bowled in a copy of the previous ball. Game over.
Minhaj all out for 121.
Aliens had defended 122 by a solitary run
The scoreboard records that Benan with figures of 3-0-12-2 and that the final over yielded only three runs while claiming three wickets, including a run-out. Those numbers are accurate, but incomplete. They don’t capture the sensation of watching hopes of victory fade, pause, reverse, and then reappear. Nor do they explain why we keep coming back.
Perhaps because every so often the game produces a finish like this, where 39.5 overs are merely a preamble to the last one.
And because somewhere, years from now, we’ll remember only two things: we won by one run, and the Manchester Super Elefants promo video!
vs Siddis, T20 (Div 3) Match 2
A thrilling summary of our latest exploits
When: 30th May 2026
Where: Lassa
Siddis 134/10 (19.1)
Aliens 102/9 (20)
Siddis won by 32 runs
To Stavanger then, for the Aliens’ annual jaunt westwards to play cricket in the rain. Following a tortuous process to identify 10 Aliens willing to travel, an auspicious start as we boarded the Norwegian flight LYON ready to try and tame a fearsome Siddis XI.
Sent out to bowl first on a sodden outfield and in overcast conditions, we made the perfect start. Benan intercepting a fierce drive to take a high catch in the second over. Aliens being Aliens, we then managed to shell four catches, of varying difficulty, in the next three overs as the Momand brothers put on a rapid partnership of 38 in the next 16 balls. Sudesh ended their fun with a sharp stump-botherer, 40/2 off 4 overs.
Benan and Marcus then calmed proceedings down with a nagging display of line and length, with just 9 runs coming off the next 4 overs and each of them bagging a wicket.
When Gareth and Jitendra then whistled through the next 4 overs for just 14 runs and also bagged a wicket each, things were looking good. 63/6 off of 12 overs. But we hadn’t reckoned on the mighty Aryan Khan (jaber). Boasting a top score in the league of 168 and hitting a six every eight balls, he came in and transformed the match with an innings of 37 off 19 balls. Gareth was dispatched onto the roof of the training nets and then, next ball, into the adjacent field.
We needed something to disrupt the might Aryan’s concentration and it came in the 16th over. With confusion over the start of the bowling powerplay and how many overs were remaining, the game stopped for 20 minutes while we tried to figure out the score. Upon closer inspection, the umpires discovered the scorer had inserted an entire extra over, bowled by “Unknown 2 Aliens Ck”. And what an over it was, conceding just the one run, a wide, from his 6 deliveries.
We were left to wonder – had the scorer hallucinated the entire over? Or perhaps we on the field had suffered a mass case of amnesia and in fact the masterful “Unknown 2 Aliens Ck” had reeled off an economical over so dull and easily forgettable that we had all forgotten it. Perhaps the aliens really were visited by Aliens and they had erased the entire episode from our minds?
It took a while to delete this hypothetical over from the app and from cricketing history. With so much to ponder, it was no wonder Aryan holed out soon after in the deep to give Sudesh his third victim. A couple of irritating cameos followed from Siddis’ number eight (16 off 17) and number 10 (13 off 7) to further take the game out of reach. But Benan closed out the other end masterfully to finish with figures of 4-1-7-3 and Damon took the final wicket in the 20th over to leave Siddis on 134 all out.
Aliens reply started steadily. Siddis, somewhat unfairly, utilised their advantage of being much younger and more agile than us by opening the bowling with a couple of young speedsters. Number 97 in particular hit some impressive speeds and run-scoring was difficult on a typically lush Norwegian outfield.
We finished the Powerplay on 25/0 and the required run rate steadily rising. With pace on the ball not working, Siddis’ then unleashed their secret weapon, Qamar Gk, a bowler with an enormous run-up culminating in slow, loopy, moon balls. How could we resist? Qamar soon had Marcus (11) caught at point and then Milton (9) trapped LBW.
Avra and Damon rebuilt the innings with a tenacious partnership, until Avra was dismissed by jaffa, gone for 30 off 34 balls.
Damon now had to contend with a rising run rate, a clatter of wickets at the other end and – an added dimension in a run chase – the impending threat of missing his flight home, as further scoring app issues meant the match dragged out deep into a fourth hour. The returning Number 97 (4-0-16-2) bowled both Gareth and Hinchy with some impressive pace bowling. Benan performed a trademark run out to depart for a duck, and eventually Damon holed out for 26. With him, departed Aliens last hopes, finishing on 102 for 9 off our 20 overs.
On reflection, the better team won. Siddis fielded better, bowled with good discipline and managed to find some pockets of good hitting at moments when Aliens were in the ascendency.
vs Grorud-Spektra
A thrilling summary of our latest exploits
When: 01 May, 2026
Where:
Oslo Aliens 160/3 (20)
Grorud 165/5 (20)
Grorud won by 5 wickets
Some new faces and a new captain set the stage for Aliens' first practise match of 2026 against Grorud-Spektra Cricket Club. Captain Pratik started his Aliens Captaincy solidly by winning the toss and electing to bat first.
Oslo Aliens posted a strong total of 160/3 from their 20 overs, built on two retired-not-out contributions at the top of the order. Pratik led the charge with an aggressive 55 off 35 balls, striking 5 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 157.14. He later called it the worst 50 ever made in the world of fifties, on the background of him not hitting it well. The performance was well supported by David , who anchored the innings with a composed 50 off 53 deliveries, timing the ball quite well from ball 1. Matt added late momentum with a quickfire 24* from just 15 balls, ensuring the innings finished on a high note.
In response with the ball, Marcus Lyon was the standout performer, delivering a highly economical spell of 1/10 from his 3 overs, maintaining control throughout. Sudesh Adhana picked up 2 wickets and when the opposition needed 4 of the last over, Sudesh delivered a gem of a last over that saw Aliens losing on the last ball of the match. Sindre Ottesen and Nilojan Gnana chipped in with a wicket each.
Overall, the match was defined by controlled aggression and solid partnerships, while the bowling side found its rhythm after a while. A solid performance for the start of the season and a lot of positives to build a season upon!