Game Report - September 7, 2008
MCC verses Crusaders
Match Details
The 2nd match of the weekend was scheduled to be played at a neutral ground, in North Plains. Couple of weeks ago many in MCC were not sure, if we will be able to field a full team. There were talks about conceding the game … but once it was realized that it could jeopardize our standings in the 2nd round, many raised there hand to be available. Special thanks goes to our coach/player John Dunlop, who despite of having some serious knee injuries agreed to come out and play for the team. Thank you John! Not only John agreed to play himself, but also convinced semi-retired Shaun Burke to come out and play. Such efforts from all members enlisted a full team; in fact we had 12 players on the field.
Our game against Crusaders started a bit late, because there was another game going on the same field between BCC and NWCL. Shuaib, as usual won the toss, and decided to bat first, which is against the norm on that ground. The simple logic was that it will get dark in the end and we may not be able to see the ball. Khan and Zafar opened for MCC. This time around Crusaders were making a concentrated effort to contain Zafar, or some how get his wicket. The first over that Zafar faced from Jana only conceded 2 runs. Such containment efforts in OCL's short history is an anomaly, particularly when Zafar is batting. Persistent good bowling efforts, however, got them Khan’s wicket (5 in 11). Lokesh came as one down and started to build an outstanding partnership with Zafar. Lokesh played one of his best knocks for MCC scoring 37 in 31 balls. Even though, Crusaders were bent on taking Zafar’s wicket, as they bowled all their front bowlers, but Zafar stayed there and scored a pragmatic half century (66 in 44 balls). After losing the third wicket, MCC skipper joined the party and scored a quick half century (71 of 41 balls). John Dunlop also showed glimpses of his batting, by pulling and cutting hard. Though, he was out, in pursuit of scoring fast. In the end MCC scored a challenging total of 239 for 8 in 30 overs. That is a very competitive score on this pitch, considering the par is between 140 and 180.
When Crusaders came out, they knew, they had a tough challenge, 8 run an over was not an easy task. Shaun Burke proved that in his first over, by cleaning up the more aggressive batsman. As the innings progressed, Shaun was not done yet, in his second and third over he clean bowled couple of more players. Once Crusaders were put on back foot, MCC let their guards down, and allowed the most aggressive batsman of Crusaders to settle down. He formed a 70 + run partner ship in less than 30 balls. As the game became more interesting, Paresh bowled a beauty, just clipping the bails of dangerous man. MCC wasn’t out of the woods yet, as their skipper joined and started scoring runs at ease. After the break, MCC introduced Zafar, who literally changed the game in matter of two balls. He clean bowled the Crusaders skipper in his first over, and in his second over he bowled the last recognized batsman. MCC felt the game was still hanging, but Zafar (4 wkts) and John (2 wkts) made sure that, none of the remaining batsman would settle down. In the end MCC won quiet comfortably by securing a place in the 2nd round. MVP of this game is AGAIN Zafar Khan. Looks like Zafar is hogging the MVP spot, someone else in MCC needs to step-up and challenge him … any challengers? :)