Match Report - ANZA1 v Lanka Lions 1

ANZA1 v Lanka Lions at IA, Sunday 08 October 08

Scorecard

The day started well with all but one person turning up on time. However from here on things started to go downhill.

As is usual the toss was lost, but this time we were put in to bat on Ben's least favorite wicket in Singapore. Rajesh and Ben opened the batting but Rajesh was soon bowled by Kodikara bringing Kennie to the crease for some fireworks. This was not to be though as Kennie followed Rajesh, both being bowled as the result of the not-so-true bounce of the IA wicket. 15-2. Kevin joined Ben with hopes of repeating their successful partnership against the same opponents in the previous encounter and things were looking promising as both started to work the singles and pick boundaries off the loose balls. Shortly before drinks though Kevin became the third 'bowled' victim of the day, playing around a leg stump half-volley for 14. Sadly this partnership of 25 turned out to be the biggest of the innings. 40-3.

'Uncle' Gav and Ben made it to drinks without incident and were both looking comfortable against some tight bowling (opening bowler 10-2-19-1) until Ben stepped out of his crease and played what has been described by some as a fairy shot, 'smashing' the 7th legal ball of the over straight into short mid-wicket's hands. 63-4.

4 quick wickets in the next 6 overs with only 6 more runs added brought the innings towards a swift end. Gav was run out attempting a second run. Spainy got a (valid) LBW decision from the umpire before having time to settle in at the crease. Tim hit the ball straight to cover and was run out attempting a risky single. Gerard chipped a drive up to be caught at cover. At 69-8 Ashok and Matt provided a faint glimmer of hope as Ashok, in particular, played some entertaining shots over the infield to bring the score up to 84. Two wickets in two balls though and the innings was closed. Matt gave catching practice to slip with the ball coming not off the edge but right off the middle of the bat, and Venkat was comprehensively bowled by the spinner.

Since we only survived 30 overs we were obliged to head straight back out to field for a while before we could have lunch. With such a small target this was not likely to last long either way. A 6 off the first ball and two more boundaries and they were cruising at 14-0 by the fourth ball. Rajesh got his revenge as the batsman again attempted to put the ball into space but this time only managed to top edge the ball straight back over bowler Rajesh's head. Mid on and mid off both proceeded to run for the catch and with neither calling for it a disaster was on the cards. Fortunately Venkat took the catch and neither he nor Gerard ended up the worse for wear.

A couple of overs later and we were right back in the game with the second wicket falling - a routine slip catch for Ben off Tim's bowling. Some uneventful overs later and the rain that had been threatening all innings finally called a halt to play after 8 overs and lunch was taken early. After lunch and a further delay for the rain the skies finally cleared and a pitch inspection was possible. Holes in the covers meant the artificial wicket was wet, and the remainder of the field was already ankle deep in water when the covers were removed which only served to release yet more water onto the infield. We thought we might have got out of jail and were hopeful of calling it off and sharing the points since the game hadn't yet reached the required 20 over mark, but with the sun beating down and only 35 runs required for victory by the opposition this started to look less and less likely to materialize. In the end we chose to get on with it and play on a rather wet field.

When we went back out the opposition's intent was clear - to finish the game as quickly as possible. One more over from Rajesh, another from Tim, and Gav was thrown the ball for the first time since that memorable game at CSC. He managed to make the once confident opening batsman look rather silly for a couple of balls, and would have taken his wicket with a caught and bowled if not for delayed reactions. A few balls later though and the game was sealed with a six by the other batsman.

Batting
    Ben 30
    Kevin 14
    Ashok 11*
    Gav 10

Bowling
    Rajesh 5-0-41-1
    Tim 5-0-33-1

(written by Kevin Robertson)