Match Report - ANZA1 v SCC Cougers

ANZA1 v SCC Cougers at SCC, Sunday 13 July 08

Scorecard

After two wins on the trot we were keen to make it a rare triple against the SCC Cougars at the home of cricket in Singapore, the Padang. On another somewhat typical start to game-day the stage was set with clear skies, Kev losing the toss, and the opposition deciding to bat on a benign-looking pitch. ANZA opened up with Tim May and Rajesh Sanal who both bowled tidy spells without much luck on a slow deck. The jack-of-all-trades abilities of Kev initially saw him don the wicket-keeping gloves due to the late arrival of Kenny Kishore. Although he was slightly less chirpy than "The ball is red and round, now hit it" Kenny, Kev deputised admirably.

Their openers put on a handy 94 run stand off 25 overs, without really being allowed to accelerate due to the tight bowing that continued through Mark Christensen, Renato Rainone and Ragavan Thuraisingham. Renato bowled especially well through the middle stages of the innings (as we are now accustomed to). While SCC kept wickets in hand with the supposed intention of having a crack in the last 10 overs, the combination of tight bowling and a number 5 batsman - who appeared more concerned above preserving his average and getting a couple of nice pics for his blog than accelerating the runrate - meant that we were able to restrict them to 217-6 off their full allotment of 50 overs.

Special mention must be made of the last over of the innings, bowled by Rags, where the aforementioned well-set batman played out three dot balls before being dropped on the boundary, only for the fielder concerned (continuing the tradition of last week, initials: PA) to parry the ball over the rope for six, then played out the next balls in defensive fashion for two further dots. In all, five of our blowers bowled their allotment, with the summarised figures of:

• Tim 2-36 off 10
• Rajesh 1-55 off 10
• Mark 0-49 off 10
• Renato 1-27 off 10
• Rags 2-45 off 10

After a typically delicious SCC lunch of broccolli soup (maybe a smidge too thick for the palates of some), tomato pasta (the added eggplant was a nice touch) and the customary vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce (which the bowlers were finally permitted to eat after usually having to bowl straight after lunch) we began our chase of the gettable, but tricky on a slowing pitch, target of 217. Kev and Benny Burgess were looking to get us off to a solid start until Kev got another dodgy decision (not from Phil, but the other umpire), where he grazed the grass as the ball swung away with the keeper taking it in front of 1st slip.
That brought Renato to the crease and he and Ben made excellent progress. Neither batsmen looked in any trouble as they unleashed their full array of shots against the tidy but non-lethal SCC attack. The pair added exactly 100 before they both got out in the same fashion, holing out to deep square leg off rank bad balls. Ben made an extremely classy 60 and Renato a polished 42, which set us up nicely. From 117-1 off 23 overs we stumbled to 127-4 when Rags was given out LBW to another questionable decision, but with our very long batting lineup we remained confident. The middle order all chipped in, with Pete Alexander 19, Gav Hitzeroth 22, Craig Richmond 19, making valuable contributions.

However, with seven overs remaining 27 runs were still required with only 3 wickets in hand – a situation tailormade for the nerveless Kenny Kishore. Run rate was never going to be a problem with Kenny at the crease, and when he smashed a ball into the training nets to take us past 200 everyone on the sidelines breathed a huge sigh of relief. When the target had been whittled down to three the stage was set for a text book Kenny finish, and sure enough he delivered with an enormous six into the tennis court in front of the pavilion to win the game by 3 wickets. Great stuff. Kenny finished with 34 not out to complete a well-rounded batting effort.

• Ben 60
• Renato 42
• Gav 22
• Pete 19
• Craig 19
• Kennie 34*

All in all, another strong win against quality opposition for the ANZA 1s who sit mid-table now, and are looking better and better with each game.

- by Tim May