2018
Highlights of the tour went as follows...
28 April Oslo Aliens vs Costa del Sol Crusaders- Markus Kopke
The Oslo Aliens kicked off their pre-season tour in Malaga with a game against the Costa del Sol Crusaders. With a far too early start of 9h30 the game started well when the Aliens won the toss and decided to bat first.
With the temperature starting to rise, and some Caribbean vibes on the speakers and in the air, the Aliens openers strode to the crease full of confidence but soon found the going tough on a slow, early season, wicket. David Kuhlwilm was the first man out falling for 6 runs. Although maintaining a healthy run rate the Aliens kept losing wickets at regular intervals which put pressure on the incoming batsman. Markus was unlucky to fall for a LBW decision, being hit high on the pad after having stepped far out of the crease. With Damon at the crease runs on the scoreboard increased steadily however the Aliens were eventually all out for 117 runs in the 21 over. Top scorer was Sunail with 24, whilst Damon finished on 23 not out. Special mention needs to also go to Peter “Jimmy” Lovegrove who hit his first 4 for the club, and his first in 20 years.
The Crusaders started their chase shortly after but found the going hard on a pitch that was not making it easy for new batsman coming to the crease. In the 15th over the Crusaders found themselves in a spot of bother with 7 wickets down and only 75 runs on the board needing another 43 runs to win. However some steady batting from Sam Boden their number 5, ensured that they passed the Aliens total in the 28th over, with 7 wickets down. The pick of the Aliens bowlers was Dennis Peter capturing 3 wickets in his 4 overs for only 12 runs. Their batsman also found the going tough against Shanta who managed to find some vicious turn on the slow, dusty wicket. He eventually finished with 2 scalps for 21 runs off his 7 overs.
Due to the game finishing early it was decided to play a 10 over an innings game but that’s not worth writing about as the Aliens players were already thinking about that evenings’ tapas dinner. We lost. The end.