Game Report - August 9, 2008
MCC verses PCC
Teams from:
Alok
George
Khan
Miten
Nish
Paresh *
Nishant
Jay
Mohit
Zafar
Lokesh +
[ ## Roshan started behind the stumps when MCC had only 10 players at
the onset of the game. But, when Johnny-come-lately Khan and Zafar
showed up, Roshan was gracious enough to give up his spot for smoking
& cheer-leading opportunities.]
Match Details
With lion share of its super stars missing, MCC's encounter with PCC
was with a cast consisting mostly of its supporting stars and few of
its extras. There was an overcast sky over the boonies of North
Plains; the weather was mellow by mid-summer's mid-day measure:
probably in the low 70's, I reckon. Nearby, Hills-burrito airport was
hosting its annual air show concurrently, and thus eclipsing Roshan's
enthusiastic cheers.
Paresh, pinch-hitting as the skipper for the absent Shuaib (and
absent-minded enough for not showing up on time Zafar), won the toss
and elected to field. He opened the bowling with MCC's star
strike-bowler from its 20/20 season: Nish. This brilliant decision
produced instant results, as Nish bowled the PCC opener Palitha, in
the opening over. He later added two more wickets aided by a pair of
well judged catches by Nishant. Miten, opening at the other end,
produced a pair of wickets at a slightly higher cost. The captain then
tried with his new breed of bowlers, but this "experiment" back-fired
as the MCC sprayed far too many runs in wides. At the mid way mark,
the Portland scoreboard stood at 81 for 5 - with 40 odd runs coming in
the form of extras.
With some disciplined bowling from Paresh and Zafar, there was hope
that PCC's inning could be curtailed around 125. But such hopes were
too short lived; a number of good partnerships anchored by Saad, Ravi
& Daniesh evolved and pushed the PCC score to 180.
Jay and Zafar opened the MCC's reply. Zafar once again, went after
the bowlers and began to produce an air-show of his-own. Jay
concentrated his efforts on making the bowler tire and on removing
shine of the ball. Worried by Zafar's batting, PCC fielders began a
campaign of intimidation and verbal assaults – often louder than the
over flying jets (those Republicans!). One blabber-mouth was even
more annoying in the field than our buddy from Corvallis! These
tactics, however, seem to have worked as Zafar top edged to
deep-forward for 27.
With Zafar's departure, MCC's wickets began to drop like John Edward's
pants. Roy took four of the top order MCC wickets. At the half way
drinks mark, we were at an ominous total of 71 for 5. Energized by
succulent and nutritious McDonald's chicken sandwiches (courtesy of
Lokesh?), Nishant took charge and made a series of extra base hits and
pushed the total to three digits. With Nishant's wicket (for 34 runs)
ended MCC's chance of successfully chasing 180.
Aided by some clever hitting and running (and indeed also by the
chicken sandwiches; Golden Arches should be the next "breakfast of
champions", I think) Lokesh and Mohit propelled MCC to a
semi-respectful 145/9 from a meek score of 114/8. MCC obtained some
sorts of bonus point for passing 130 runs. Apparently OCL is a
generous entity; it awards points to the looser as well!
With 160 being the next consolation point mark, the man who
specialized in batting #11, yours truly, made the crease appearance.
Some clutch hitting by Lokesh made sure that MCC lasted 30 overs with
a final score of 165/9. Lokesh remained unbeaten for 27 runs, and
further anchored 50 plus runs for the last two partnerships. There was
a controversial appeal for run out against me. The author strongly
believe that he made the crease just in time (as everyone knows,
Kerala Express reaches the station just in time – at least, most of
the times!) and the brave and impartial leg-umpire (Miten) concurred.
This made Roy really 'pissed' and he began to shout in "Jamaican" (No,
I am not referring to the word "Mon"!).
Wides seem to playing the same role in MCC games as Amrish Puri in
Indian Cinema: the role of perpetual villain! The net difference in
extras was more than twice of the loosing margin. We did not drop any
catches in this game (this is more to do with fact that no fly ball
came by the people who would normally drop them). Zafar made a good
catch & there was a good take by the keeper. Miten made a good
run-out; Paresh made a number of great stops.
I will stop blabbering ....and wish everyone a great week. Particular
greetings to the fellow Indo-Pak crowd for the Independence Day.
Wasn't it great to get ride of those English. But, I guess we will
hold on to their silly game!
-George Mukalel