Match Report - ANZA1 v Lanka Lions 1

ANZA1 v Lanka Lions at Turf City B, Sunday 17 August 08

Scorecard

With the perfect preparation of a night on the booze, ANZA 1 lined up against the star-studded league leaders Lanka Lions on the hottest of Sunday mornings (although they were disappointingly without Russell 'the muscle' Arnold). The hangover gods obviously felt gracious as Kev won the toss, although at this time most people were still in bed, and the Führer elected to bat first.

Ben and DJ opened up, putting 41 on for the first wicket against one of the strongest bowling attacks in Singapore. Both batsmen indulged in what can only be described as some lovely cover driving, with Dave making 26 before he was caught at the wicket. Ben played a characteristically solid knock and shared a handy partnership of 86 with Kev, who this week continued his trend of successful self-demotion – coming in at number three. When Ben was run out for 54 we were 127-2, and Kev carried on the good work, sharing a partnership of 43 with Rags, who is seemingly immune to rainfall after wanting to continue batting during a downpour. With the game reduced to 49 overs a side, Rags fell soon after the rain break as did Kev (65) a few overs later; attempting what can only be termed as an ambitious run straight to mid-on. With Anza 180-4 after 45.1 overs we needed a final boost to give ourselves a competitive score of over 200. What happened next was not so much a boost as an explosion with Gerard smashing 36 off just 18 deliveries (with four 6s and one 4), giving us the much needed impetus. Westy and Rob both perished unselfishly and Tim scored a frankly superb leg bye in the last over to allow the big fella to finish off the innings with a 4 and a 6. With 220-6 for our 49 overs we were well pleased with our work and retained a positive attitude going into field.

The opening few overs went well, with Jye and the Kiwi beating the bat on a consistent basis. Jye got the scalp of their number two bat in the third over after he squirted one to Kev at extra-cover for 8. The wicket and appeal of the day however were Tim's as he struck the venerable Chaminda plumb in front first ball, giving us a real advantage with Lanka 14-2 after 3.2 overs. Things did, however, soon succumb to the suck of the shite spiral. Their number tfour Buddika looked shaky early on but after a dropped catch of Tim he started to find fluency. After closing our innings so well, Gerard became a member of an undesirable club (of which I am a member) after being forcibly taken off by the umpires for bowling two beamers (although the second one was questionable). He did, however, finish with the rather unique figures of 2 runs of 0 deliveries. Ben then got his big moment as he was finally brought on to bowl (this may be explained by the fact that Kev was off having a lie down at the time), but the Lankans motored on. Their number one and four batsmen sharing a vital partnership of 81, with Rags eventually getting the wicket of the number four for a well played 36. Rob came on for a solitary over and produced arguably the long hop of the day to remove the number five bat for 12, and our luck/skill continued as the opener Johan was snared by Rags for a good 59 off 63 deliveries in the very next over. The number six and seven Lanka batsmen shared a fortunate stand of 48, with some excellent tight bowling from Rags and Jye. Westy then produced a tree snake of a delivery to get their number six after he had lobbed, edged and chipped his way to 24. With the score 190-6 we had an outside chance and Jye made a breakthrough in the very next over, removing the number eight batsman for a duck. By this time however we were due a rain break (when we discovered that even the lightest drizzle impairs the most innocent batsman clad in eyeglasses), and with parabola working against us their target was reduced to 212 from 45 overs. With the number seven bat well set he slapped and nudged his way to 40 not out and with a little support from "that guy with a beard who can't field for shit" at number nine, Lanka crossed the finishing line with six overs to spare.

Overall a disappointing loss, as we were on top for long periods, which meant we couldn't gift El Presidente with the leaving gift of a victory but at least he has that nice cover drive as a parting memory from us as Tuff City.

(by Clyde 'like a horse in more ways than one' Seabright)