Scorecard

Ottershaw & Hamm v Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix on Sun 10 Aug 2008 at 2pm
Match was Drawn

Match report In the third year of the reign of king Solomon, he sent his princes, even Ben Hail, and Obadiah, and Zechariah, and Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. In Jason's third year in reign nothing of the sort is envisaged but could Jason's Argonauts learn from the experiences of the oracle and teach the opposition as well as their colleagues the game & etiquette of Cricket?

In the absence of the Saverimuttu brothers, Sanj led the Phoenix Red Caps to the quite picturesque ground of Ottershaw & Hamm. An overcast day presented itself to both teams with glimpses of the sun being seen and after a rainy few days the wicket & outfield were slow. The opposition captain on winning the toss had no hesitation in asking Phoenix to make first use of the wicket. Being a timed game Phoenix needed to bat until four forty five so to allow them the full benefit of the game.

After a early set back of the loss of Zahir, Phoenix batsman began to settle in and started to build a score. Tushar, Rahul and Nad all played well and reach the thirties but lapses of concentration made them lose their wickets. But two mini collapse dented the aspirations of big score when Phoenix looked comfortable, in charge and ready to take the game on. The two incidents were when Phoenix fell from sixty five for one to sixty seven for three in the fifteen over and then from ninety nine for four to ninety nine for six in the twenty fourth over.

Shaunak came out to bat with an hour to play and needed to bat time as well as make runs to ensure that Phoenix went into tea in a good position. He and Vishal batted sensibly and took Phoenix to a comfortable position at tea as they posted thirty nine runs breaking the highest ninth wicket partnership at the same time where Shaunak made an excellent forty two (which included four fours) out of the final sixty two runs that were scored.

At four forty five on the dot, Sanj declared the Phoenix innings to the surprise of the spectators, the opposition and the team. Sanj had decided to call it time as he promised the opposition batsman that this what they would do come what may due to the prevailing weather conditions and as well as due to the fact the opposition bowled forty one overs.

After tea, Phoenix needed to bowl well if they didn’t want to lose the game. Shaunak and Vishal opened the bowling with pace and movement but without much success. The Ottershaw & Hamm batsman rode their luck and then began to open up as they reached forty runs in just seven overs. Phoenix needed some inspiration and Shaunak & Indi obliged. Shaunak a ripped a ball thru with pace and Indi flying to his right, like a trout looking to escape, took an outstanding catch as the ever dangerous Keene nicked one behind. Soon after Shaunak had the other opener trapped leg before and now Ottershaw & Hamm were on the back foot.

The rain began to fall but that did not affect the way Nad bowled. He displayed his skill and experience with some fine spin bowling which resulted in Rahul taking a skier with ease. An excellent effort with the dark clouds above and heavy rain falling masking the ball.

With eleven overs left to play and forty four runs left, the heavens opened and the rain came thundering down. The game was finely poised as all results were possible. The rain never relented and both skippers shook hands and called the game a draw.

Shaunak led Phoenix out trouble when they were looking at defeat with both bat & ball and for this reason he is named Man of the Match. A special mention to Shaunak for passing ten wickets for the season thus far.

Well done to Ottershaw & Hamm for being great hosts and having the most wondrous of teas. The appreciation from their skipper of our declaration and above all coming of for rain is most welcome.

A Chinese Proverb states 'Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand'. As for Phoenix, they learnt alot about courtesy and playing the game as the game should be played today and to quote Patricia Neal (American award-winning actress of stage and screen) "A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.”

Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
161		        
Tushar Ilwahdi Caught  30
Zahir 'Zee' Hussain Caught  0
Rahul Ghai Caught  35 1
Nadeem 'Nad' Rashid Bowled  30
Amrit Toor Bowled  4
Richard Parker Bowled  4
Inderjit 'Indi' Jassal Caught  0 1
Shaunak Bhide Not Out  42
Shazad 'Ali' Iqbal Caught  4
Vishal Nehra Not Out  5
Sanjeev Kumar  

Ottershaw & Hamm Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Ottershaw & Hamm Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 3 wickets
0
117 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Phoenix Cricket Club Phoenix Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shaunak Bhide7.0029214.504.14
Vishal Nehra4.012000.005.00
Nadeem 'Nad' Rashid9.0319119.002.11
Sanjeev Kumar4.003000.007.50
Shazad 'Ali' Iqbal3.01800.002.67
Zahir 'Zee' Hussain1.00400.004.00