Scorecard

Falklands v Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix on Sun 12 Aug 2007 at 2pm
Match was Drawn

Match report Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD) - participates in many redox reactions in cells, including those in glycolysis

Ram Lakhan - Bollywood movie directed by Subhash Ghai tells the tale of two brothers whose chosen way of life cross paths

Tushar Arun Gandhi - grandson of Mahatma Gandhi

Celtic God of Youth - Maponos alias Mabon


The stand-in skipper Sanj was still at the helm of the Argos as he lead Jason's Argonauts on to Newbury for a game versus the Falklands. A warm and sunny day welcomed both teams. This was Phoenix's second timed game of the season and on winning the toss the opposing captain invited Phoenix to make a score first on what was a very 'dodgy' pitch. On the pitch like this, Phoenix would need a score of one hundred fifty plus if they wanted to avoid defeat.

Nad and Tushar went out to open the innings and disaster struck as Nad fell in the first over. In came Senthil who dismissed the pitch and bowling as he went about his business. He made a quick fire twenty seven (which included four fours and a six) in the next five overs with some awesome stroke play but then played one shot too many and was out LBW.

Phoenix kept on making small partnerships but kept on losing wickets at the same time.

After the quick loss of both Tushar and Faizan, Varun came out to join his brother Rahul. Like the bollywood movie, this Ghai directed innings tells the tale of two brothers whose chosen way of batting was in dealing in boundaries. Varun was finally out after playing a tremendous innings showing his ability in both defence and perfect timing. He made twenty of all his runs were scored in boundaries, that being five fours.

Phoenix were ninety one at the loss of Varun and Rahul had only the tail for support. Rahul then eclipsed his first fifty of the season on tour with a batting performance of elegance and maturity. He played brilliantly as he rotated the strike so to face more of the bowling and put the bad balls away for runs. Rahul was unbeaten on sixty six (which included eleven fours and a six) as he helped Phoenix post a final score of one hundred and sixty six (off thirty six overs).

A special mention to Rahul for passing the two hundred run mark for the season thus far.

The game had started about twenty minutes late due to a car accident on the M4 which delayed Phoenix's arrival to the ground so it was agreed that Phoenix would declare their innings at five pm. Without warning and to the surprise of Sanj & the rest of the team, the umpire picked up the bails and declared the Phoenix innings at four forty five pm. With tea being thirty minutes and twenty overs starting at six thirty pm, it meant that Phoenix would bowl more overs than they faced.

After tea, Phoenix knew that they needed to bowl well so not to lose the game.

In the absence of any wicket keepers, Kashif volunteered for the role. Anup and Karthik opened the bowling with excellent movement & control had the Falklands batsman playing & missing more than they preferred to do. But the Falklands scoreboard kept on ticking over as runs were leaked through byes and edges. Sanj came on to slow down the scoring rate but never got into his rhythm and thus never looked like troubling the batsman.

Eventually the breakthrough came by Nad who got the ball to straighten. At twenty overs Falklands needed eighty six runs to win with nine wickets in hand.

Sanj then took himself off and made the change so that Nad came on at his end and Tushar from the other. This done the trick as Nad and Tushar bowled beautifully in tandem. Nad getting the ball to 'rip' turning the ball from leg stump to outside off and Tushar finding the immaculate line & length. They both clawed the advantage back to Phoenix as they conceded only twenty nine runs off the next sixteen and taking eight wickets.

Phoenix's Nad participation is never question as he started the Falkland glycolysis. The reaction causing the anaerobic catabolism of their defences took affect as he whittled away through the batting line up. In a two over spell Nad took four wickets without conceding a run - infact taking three wickets in four balls. His spell was a magnificent fourteen overs, six maidens, five wickets for twenty runs. A special mention to Nad for passing the twenty wicket mark for the season thus far.

Tushar, a man of a quite demeanour, would have made the Gandhi's proud with his non-aggressive and silent approach to bowling. He bowled with an excellent line and varied the length with his changes of pace. His spell was an excellent seven overs, one maiden, three wickets for nine runs.

Neareth the end, Phoenix had nine men around the bat as Falklands defended for a draw. Alas the overs ran out and at close of play Falklands were one hundred and fourteen for eight off thirty seven overs which included thirty two extras. Phoenix have now drawn both their timed games of the season.

A warm round of applause to Kashif who stuck in there behind the stumps and tried his level best given the situation.

Well done to Falklands for a nail-biter of a game and putting up with Phoenix's banter, laughter & joyous spirit. As for Phoenix, it seemed that the power of Mabon (Mabon's light is drawn into the Earth, gathering strength and wisdom) spread through all of Phoenix as the so called 'youngsters' came to the fore showing great resolve and attitude which fuelled the 'elders' to up their game.

Stand-in skipper has now not lost a game on a Sunday for the third consecutive time. Jason himself would have been impressed to see all his Argonauts growing in stature and improving their cricketing ability.

The effort today can be summed up by the quote from Ryunosuke Satoro (Japanese Poet) 'Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean'.

The season thus far can be summed up by the quote from Henry Ford (American industrialist) 'Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success'.

Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
166		        
Nadeem 'Nad' Rashid Bowled  0
Tushar Ilwahdi Bowled  13
Senthil Purushotaman (Guest) Lbw  27
Rahul Ghai Not Out  66
Faizan Shah Caught  5
Varun Ghai Lbw  20
Kashif Ihsan Bowled  3
Rajarshi Ganguly (Guest) Bowled  0
Anup 'Snoop' Jhooti Caught  8
Karthik Bhavanantham Not Out  4 1
Sanjeev Kumar  

Falklands Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Falklands Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
114 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Anup 'Snoop' Jhooti5.011700.003.40
Karthik Bhavanantham4.001300.003.25
Nadeem 'Nad' Rashid14.062054.001.43
Sanjeev Kumar6.032300.003.83
Rahul Ghai1.001100.0011.00
Tushar Ilwahdi7.01933.001.29