Scorecard

Cypos v Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix on Sun 05 Aug 2007 at 2pm
Phoenix Cricket Club Won 4 wickets

Match report Conan - The Barbarian and The Destroyer films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

Warbird - Romulan fighter plane introduced to Star Trek in the episode 'Balance of Terror'

Mars - the Roman God of War who had two son's Romulus and Remus.

Anuradhapura Dynasty - the most notable historical example from this period is the epic struggle between two popular Sri Lankan Kings, Dutugemunu and Elara. Dutugemunu (Gamini) 161-137 BC defeated Elara 205-161 BC in an epic battle (15-year war), described in the Mahavamsa.


The Phoenix gladiators came out into the arena baying for blood so avenging the previous defeat that was met by their forefathers. With vengeance in their eyes and commitment in their heart the mighty warriors came out to battle.

If this was an historic event the above is very close to describe the feelings running through the Phoenix camp.

But this is cricket, and a hot day welcomed both the players of Phoenix and Cypos. Nothing betters the sound of willow on leather and the eruption of noise that follows the scoring of the winning run.

Today was such a day.

Stand-in skipper Sanj once again lost the toss on a hot day and the opposition captain had no hesitation on asking Phoenix to enjoy the heat of the sun and field first.

Tushar and Karthik opened the bowling and soon had the Cypos batsman playing and missing. The opening bowllers were impressive with Karthik's in-swinging deliveries, Tushar's slower ball and Faizan's pace. The scoreboard continued to tick over as the odd ball was punished, edges flying away for fours and extras adding its valubale contribution.

After thirteen overs Cypos were going well on seventy five for no loss of wickets. It was time to slow things down and Sanj decided to bring Nad and himself on. They both bowled brilliantly and soon stemmed the Cypos run flow with Nad, as per always, finding the perfect line & length from ball one and Sanj getting into his groove with his flight & turn.

They conceded only sixty runs and took four wickets in their sixteen over spell. Nad and Sanj bowl well in tandem as Nad keeps control at one end by drying up the runs and Sanj takes the wickets at the other end as the batsman try to hit out in frustration. Mars may had Romulus & Remus but Phoenix have their own sons of war. After their spell, Cypos were on one hundred and thirty five off twenty nine overs.

Cypos went for the push as they tried to post a score past two hundred. Fabian kept the batsman guessing as he continually changed his pace as he embodied 'Conan The Barbarian' and blew away the tail with four wickets (with two fine catches by Karthik and Kashif) and in the last over Sanj's finest hour in the field was witnessed as he swooped, picked up and threw the ball all in one motion to excute the perfect run out.

Cypos final total was one hundred and ninety five off their alloted forty overs. A formidable but gettable target for Phoenix to chase.

Indi continues to be impressive behind the stumps with his agility & diving preventing bye as well as a level head as he took another catch (that's four in four conseqative games).

Phoenix came out after tea feeling positive that the run chase can be successful. Phoenix lost Kasif and Senthil early but Nad and Rahul then settled to build a score. They batted with ease and looked untroubled as they quickly took Phoenix to eighty runs off eighteen overs. Nad cunning as ever put away the bad balls & kept rotating the strike that unsettled the Cypos bowling with Rahul being the brash youngster hitting himself out of any discomfort. Their partnership was fifty four in twelve overs.

But tragedy and drama always follows Phoenix and they then lost three wickets for three runs in the next three overs as Nad was out for an excellent forty (which included five fours), Rahul for a hardworked ninteen and Amrit 'taking one for the team' as he was run out by Fabian.

Indi came in and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking with Fabian when lightning struck twice and Indi 'took another one for the team' as he was run out by Fabian. Their partnership was thirty six in five overs.

In came Tushar with Phoenix needing seventy six runs off the next fifteen overs to win the game. Nerves and pressue took hold of Tushar who played & missed a few deliveries and then to settle down defended a few more deliveries. As the Cypos fielders closed in on the edge of the square, Tushar then produced a sublime straight drive for four to dispell the growing tension. Tushar's game didn’t faulter and whenever Cypos thought they had him pegged back, Tushar hit a sublime straight drive for four.

The battle of the Sri Lankans then came to the fore as Sritherithan 'Elara' the Cypos Skipper came head to head with Fabian 'Gamini' in this fifteen over war. Who ever won this batte would have the victory.

Fabian uncloaked his warbird and the 'Balance of Power' shifted to the side of Phoenix as he went on the offensive and started the onslaught. He embodied 'Conan The Destroyer' and powered his way to magnificent unbeaten seventy five (which included eight fours and two sixes) and with the help of Tushar who was unbeaten on twenty, took Phoenix home with nine balls to spare.

A very special mention to Nad who passed 300 runs for the season thus far and to Fabian who passed the incredible 500 run milestone.

In this era the Saverimuttu Dynasty was victorious and this victory can be best summised by the following quote by Edward Gibbon (English Historian, 1737-1794) 'A heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.'

Well done to Cypos for another nail biting game which was played in greatest of friendship and spirit. A bond is growing between these two teams and it can be seen that this fixture will be ongoing.

As for Phoenix, the attitude and determination to succeed shown by the team can be best described by the quote from Denis Waitley (American motivational Speaker and Author of self-help books. b.1933) 'Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you.'

Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
198		        
Nadeem 'Nad' Rashid Caught  40
Kashif Ihsan Caught  2 1
Senthil Purushotaman (Guest) Caught  3
Rahul Ghai Stumped  19
Amrit Toor Run out  3
Fabian Saverimuttu Not Out  75
Inderjit 'Indi' Jassal Run out  7 1
Tushar Ilwahdi Not Out  20
Faizan Shah  
Karthik Bhavanantham   1
Sanjeev Kumar   1

Cypos Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Cypos Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
195 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Tushar Ilwahdi4.002000.005.00
Karthik Bhavanantham6.012200.003.67
Faizan Shah8.004800.006.00
Nadeem 'Nad' Rashid8.0122122.002.75
Sanjeev Kumar8.0038312.674.75
Fabian Saverimuttu6.002746.754.50