Match Report - Anza Champs vs MUCC 2

ANZA Champs vs MUCC 2 Match Report

Scorecard

Match Report ANZA Champs vs MUCC 2 Turf City 'B',
Sat 17th May
ANZA Champs 9/151(30 Overs) - MUCC 5/154 (23.1 Overs)
ANZA Champs lost by 5 wickets

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!

A game that delivered so much promise, simmering and sputtering away to a disappointing loss!

Another glorious day for cricket with the official temperature being logged at 32 degrees centigrade...........somehow I doubt that any Singaporean weatherman has ever ventured to Turf City on a Saturday afternoon - this one was hot! Come to think of it , is there any such thing as a Singaporean weatherman?

A massive crowd had gathered for the start of play, young and old of all race and creed...........the Champs are popular but surely their exploits could not have garnered such a gathering? What was happening here? Geoff Forday signing autographs? Adrian Cheahs' Champs League debut? No!........ It was Australian Socceroos goalkeeper (incumbent) and Qantas Ambassador, Mark Schwartzer, making an appearance to conduct a coaching clinic and book signing...... I wonder if he can play cricket?

Somewhat surprisingly, once Schwartzer disappeared so did the crowd and at the coin toss it was just the Champs vs MUCC 2 (VII against VII), the battle lines were drawn!

Toss won - great start!

Decision time though - to bat or to bowl? .............. the decision being made somewhat easier by the fact that the Champs would have been a few designated players short at commencement of play, the fact that it was hot and, with Lord Gibbs recent words ringing in the skippers ears that the bowlers would love a target to bowl at! The decision was a no brainer - "we'll have a bat"

Limbrick and Forday G strode to the crease with intent and confidence, ignoring the furnace like conditions they settled comfortably at the crease. But form is such a shallow thing, one week the cricketing gods are with you and the next they are agin' you........a Forday G nick on to the pad being missed by the umpire - no it wasn't LBW, much worse than that it was given a leg bye and in doing so leaving the in form (from last week) Forday on zero when he copped a nasty half tracker which he politely caressed on the full to the man strategically positioned at backward square leg. Forday G trudged back to the shade of the Turf City pavilion (such as it is) as leading contender to have to "pack the kit"!

Due to a combination of the golf channel, late taxis, daylight saving etc the Champs batting order undertook a bit of a re-shuffle. Not an issue for these experienced campaigners, flexibility is the key and a couple of handy partnerships ensued involving Limbrick with Chiro and Madni which took the Champs to a very well placed 2/74 at the first drinks break. A very solid platform had been set and, with plenty of batting to come, there looked to be no excuses for not setting the Champs bowling attack a decent target to bowl to - such was the confidence there was even mention of a declaration or, at the very least, invoking the mercy rule!

Again , it was not to be - the Skipper gone first ball after drinks, followed by a mini partnership between Munib and Klaus which continued the hope of a significant target before a combination of tight bowling and fielding saw the batting drop away. This despite an excellent 46 (3 X sixes) from Munib and Lord Gibb notching up his top league score (4 Not Out - his average no longer sits behind a decimal point) and at the end of the 30 overs a somewhat disappointing score of 151 was the result.

zzzzzzzzzzzz,...... one-five-one - still defendable, line and length, line and length - just have to hit the spot and the ball will do the rest.............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, sorry - I was dreaming there for a moment!

151 - was definitely still defendable!

A somewhat rocky start saw Munib clean bowl the left handed MUCC opener on the 12th ball of his 14 ball opening over (sorry Munib - the cricketing gods can be cruel) and more wickets to excellent catches - Munib and Ben Yeoh grabbing a couple of superb catches - suddenly made the Champs 151 look like 200. MUCC reeling at 4/64 and not much batting to come!

And then it happened, the Champs nemesis - a middle order partnership! one moment Champs were in the game, actually on top, and the next moment we were back in the pavilion (such as it is) drowning our sorrows on cheap beer!............ Who did this bloke "W.N Extras" , who made 43, think he was anyway?

A couple of good bowling efforts to reflect upon however, with Lord Gibb picking up 2 wickets in a handy spell of bowling and John Dick sending down a miserly 6 overs (17 runs) including a rarest of treats for the Champs - a maiden. Munib also picked up a couple of wickets, although in the process he managed to nett out his runs scored, with Klaus picking up the only other wicket to fall.

Also congratulations to Adrian who missed out with the bat (went down swinging) but took a handy catch . Thanks also to Shaun for managing to contain himself and not run through the umpire, a la Colin Croft, after a dodgy no-ball call. And apologies to Will for not getting a bowl - you were on the list but we just ran out of overs!

Another solid effort and another game where Champs created, and then let slip, a good opportunity.

This week it's out to Fernvale (Will's home ground) on Sunday afternoon to take on Lanka Lions - will need to bring our A games against these guys.

..........................Oh, and Geoff never had to "pack the kit" either!

Cheers Steve

(Over to Geoff for the stats update and associated commentary, and to Footrot to confuse us all with his analysis of same)